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-   -   Print/Export created content. (http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=47475)

EightBitz December 2nd, 2013 06:41 AM

Print/Export created content.
 
If I create content in Realm Works, I would like a portable, printable version of my work to share with friends or to use or reference offline. Right now, I do my work in Word or Scrivener or Evernote or LibreOffice or FreeMind. With any one of those, I can print a document that I can put in a binder or on an E-Reader and work from there. As it stands, if I put all my work into Realm Works, I would have no way to take my work with me in a printed form. To do so, I would have to double my time and effort by maintaining two separate copies of my work in two separate formats, manually cloning changes in both products.

I've watched your videos, and the product looks great, so far. But I'm almost certain that many other people are going to want a feature to export their content to a printable form. It doesn't have to be in 1.0. People who have waited this long for your official release of 1.0 will wait longer for added features. I would guess that a well-designed export-to-document feature (Word, ODF, HTML, PDF, EPUB, something like that) will double or triple the usefulness and desirability of Realm Works.

For example, something even as basic as the following example would be very handy.
  • TOPIC (People, Places, Things, etc)
    • <Object Name> (Person, Place, Thing)
      • Snippets
        • <Snippet 1> (full text, any links can be bold or underlined)
        • <Snippet 2> (same as above)
      • Relationships
        • <Relationship 1> (listed by name only, just for reference)
        • <Relationship 2> (same as above)

If the topic or object is a plot, you could have additional subheadings of:
  • PLOTS
    • <Plot group>
      • <Plot Element, by name>
        • <Element Text/Snippet>
        • Preceded by: <Immediately previous element(s)> (Multiple elements can be comma delimited or listed as separate bullet points.)
        • Followed by: <Immediately following element(s)> (Multiple elements: same as above.)

But, that's just a suggestion to give you an idea of what I'm thinking in regards to my request.

What about all you other gamers? If I'm right, chime in, so they know.

EightBitz December 2nd, 2013 11:48 AM

Hey, everyone, I see I'm getting a lot of views, but no replies. If this feature is important to you, please reply, as the developers need to hear from you. If you don't speak up, they won't know, and if they don't know, they won't make this a priority.

If you have no interest in this feature, that's fine. Carry on. Otherwise, please let them know that this is a feature you would like.

Thanks.

pyremius December 2nd, 2013 12:18 PM

I doubt you'll get much from the staff in the short term - they're currently pushing to get things nailed down to try for a pre-Christmas release. If you read through the progress notes Rob has been posting you'll find out about the remaining issues, and a number of features they already have scheduled for addition after v1.0 ships.

Included on the list is export capability. The current priority is getting data _into_ the system: once that's done (and some other features), they'll worry about getting data back out. Printing is . . . iffy, I'd say. They want to do it, and a lot of people want it, but formatting options for something this flexible make it significantly more difficult then we tend to think. My best guess is that in the nearer term they'll come up with an export solution, and leave it to the user to import into a word processor so they can format the results exactly as they wish.

EightBitz December 2nd, 2013 12:24 PM

So, forgive me if this is a stupid question, but where can I find the posting of progress notes?

pyremius December 2nd, 2013 12:52 PM

Some of the monthly newsletters are available on the main website, and contain information on their progress. Also, you can use the Advanced Search capabilities to look only at the Upcoming Products section of the forum to limit your queries to the relevant forums. In the case of printing, one of the early hits has a response from Rob pointing back to the KickStarter comments where he made a more in-depth response.

I must apologize for not noticing that many of the update posts I've read are for the KickStarter backers. Much of the general information has been made public, but since there are multiple channels being used to communicate I suspect many of the more specific details haven't shown up everywhere, and I need to make sure that if I suggest "look it up" that it is as possible for you to do so it would be for me.

EightBitz December 2nd, 2013 01:24 PM

Still, I appreciate the info. Thank you for responding.

Bidmaron December 8th, 2013 06:13 PM

I am (as another user put it on another thread) over half a century old (btw, can't help resent the assumption that I am therefore not tech savvy), so you are probably thinking "Yeah, here comes someone who wants printing." If they provide that feature, I don't see me ever using it. Back in the pencil and paper days, the most frustrating thing was trying to keep track of all the reams of handouts. Hurray for the digital age! It is, in my opinion, far more useful to have hyperlinked information to bring up what you want, but that is just my two cents. If you can make the print-outs work, go for it. I was just never good enough (nor were my players) to figure out an organization scheme that actually worked.

Now what I do want is an xml export that can be wickered into Fantasy Grounds data module format (stand by, someone over 50 can code LUA!). That I'd really look forward to!

Avi December 9th, 2013 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bidmaron (Post 171695)
Now what I do want is an xml export that can be wickered into Fantasy Grounds data module format (stand by, someone over 50 can code LUA!). That I'd really look forward to!

My dad will be eighty this May and he codes just fine, thank you very much...

EightBitz December 13th, 2013 01:52 PM

I am both the one who made the "half a century old" comment and the one who wants the printing feature.

First off, all I meant by the age comment (and I'm not far behind him, BTW, just to clear that up. So I didn't mean any offense to anyone) was that given the ample opportunity he's had to show an interest in learning how to set up a server (especially with me as his friend), he never has, so he likely never will. I didn't mean that we wizened folk are incapable of using and learning about technology, just that we usually have our interests sorted out by this age. His are history, literature and writing.

Second, as far as printing, as much as I love computers and technology, sometimes I like to just sit in a library or a restaurant booth with a pad of paper and a pen. It'd be nice to be able to have my previously written materials handy without having to do double entry whenever I write something and double editing whenever I change something.

Bidmaron December 13th, 2013 04:58 PM

Hey, I am right there with you on the book, 8Bitz, but ever since I stareted playing and GMing on a computer, I'm done with paper.


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