Novelwriter

Release Notes

This is a beta release of the next release version, and is intended for testing purposes. Please be
careful when using this version on live writing projects, and make sure you take frequent backups.

Please check the changelog for an overview of changes. The full release notes will be added to the
final release.

Detailed Changelog

**Usability**

* When the main window is resized, the change in size is only assigned to the editor and viewer. To
resize the project tree area, its slider needs to be moved. PR 1388.
* The default text font on MacOS is now Helvetica instead of Courier. Issue 1463. PR 1479.
* Backup files now contain the project name again. Issue 1476. PR 1484.
* The backup success dialog now displays the file size of the backup file. Issue 1453. PR 1484.
* New root folders in the Project Tree now appear next to the root folder of the item selected when
the request to make the root folder was made. Previously, it would appear at the bottom of the
Project Tree. Issue 1259. PR 1487.

**Features**

* A new Manuscript Build Tool has been added. The new tool allows for detailed handling of which
documents are included in a build, as well as a much better tool for formatting headers. It also
allows for saving multiple build presets. PRs 1389 and 1466. Issues 971, 1315 and 1448.
* Exported ODT documents now have an accessible style for scene separators. It is also possible to
define page size and margin sizes from the new build tool. Issue 622. PR 1477.
* A proper light colour theme has been added. The default theme will usually default to light
colours, but in Qt6 it will not depending on host OS settings, so creating a proper light theme
is needed. This also allows for some tweaking of the colours. The contrast of the dark theme has
been improved a bit as well, and a default icon theme is now selected based on the lightness of
the background if an icon theme is not specified in the theme definition file.
Issues 1472 and 1473. PR 1475.
* Documents, folders and root folders can now be duplicated from the Project Tree, including all
child elements. The duplicated content is stored next to the source items, and can then be moved
to wherever the user wants a copy. Issue 1469. PR 1480.
* A set of new keyboard shortcuts have been added to make some types of navigation in the Project
Tree easier. `Alt+Up` and `Alt+Down` will move between sibling items in the tree, skipping child
items. `Alt+Left` will move to the parent of the selected item without triggering the collapse of
the node like the `Left` key does. `Alt+Right` does the reverse, and both expands the node and
moves to the first child in one click. Issue 1348. PRs 1488 and 1489.

**Packaging and Installation**

* Support for Python 3.7 is no longer maintained, but has not officially been dropped. It is
expected to be dropped for the final release of 2.1. PR 1452.
* The `lxml` package has been removed from the source code, dropping it as a dependency of
novelWriter. The standard Python `xml` library is used instead. The standard library is somewhat
limited, which is why it wasn't originally used, but when dropping support for Python 3.7, it is
now good alternative. Issue 1257. PR 1452.
* The `setup.py` file has been removed. The custom packaging utilities in the old `setup.py` file
are now available in `pkgutils.py` instead. Issues 1437 and 1438. PR 1483.

**Code Improvements**

* All imports of modules are now direct imports instead of going via init files. All subfolder init
files have been reduced to empty files. PR 1262.
* The mocking of the main config object in the test suite has been rewritten to be easier to deal
with when writing tests. The new approach also removes the need to access the config object via
an attribute in many classes, and is now instead accessed directly. This should give a tiny
performance boost as a bonus. PR 1447.
* The building of manuscript documents from novelWriter source text is now handled by a core
builder class, thus separating it from any GUI module. Previously, this was baked into the build
tool. PR 1316.
* SVG icons have been optimised in terms of storage size and object complexity. PR 1456.
* The file names for the project meta data files have been simplified and references to legacy
formats removed. The wordlist has been converted to a JSON file, and the session log to a JSON
Lines file. All old files are renamed or converted on the fly when opening the project. PR 1464.
* The core project item and tree classes have been modified to improve how items, and in
particular, orphaned items are handled. These are mostly internal changes that simplifies how
items are accessed in the source code. Issue 1481. PR 1482.
* Many of the above PRs adds type annotations to classes and functions in the source code. These
will be added gradually to the entire source code going forward.

----

Release Notes

This is a patch release that fixes a few issues and adds a Japanese translation.

The issues were mostly related to spell checking. In particular, issues with finding the word
boundary when using underscore characters for italics markup. These issues should now be resolved.
In addition, escaped markup characters are now rendered properly in HTML and ODT build formats.

A few usability improvements have also been made. The Add Item menu in the project tree no longer
shows the options to create Novel Documents when an item in the tree is selected that cannot hold
such a document. In addition, the "Change Label" context menu entry has been changed to say
"Rename", which is a more logical choice.

Detailed Changelog

**Bugfixes**

* Fixed an issue where novelWriter sometimes shows up in the desktop environment on Linux under
another name than it's supposed to, which meant it would show up without the correct icon. The
desktop environment was apparently guessing its name based on various values. It is now set
explicitly. PR 1405.
* Fixed an issue where the syntax highlighting for spell checked words were not cleared when spell
checking was disabled. Issue 1414. PR 1416.
* Fixed a series of issues with spell checking of words and sentences with italics styling using
underscores. The spell checker relies on RegEx for splitting words, and RegEx considers the
underscore a word character. Issue 1415. PR 1417.
* Fixed an issue where escaped markup characters were not being cleaned up when building HTML and
ODT outputs. Issue 1412. PR 1418.

**Usability Fixes**

* The context menu entry "Change Label" in the project tree has now been changed to say "Rename",
which matches with the main menu, and is also more in line with what users expect. PR 1403.
* The entries for creating new Novel Documents in the project tree's Add Item menu are now hidden
when the select item in the tree does not allow Novel Documents. This is less confusing than the
previous behaviour where it would just create a Project Note regardless of selected file option.
Issue 1404. PR 1406.

**Internationalisation**

* Added Japanese translation, contributed by hebekeg. PR 1407.
* Updated existing translations. PR 1407.

**Packaging**

* Legacy AppImage formats have been added to support glibc 2.24. This is a temporary solution until
the AppImage base image is deprecated later in 2023. Issue 1391. PR 1410.

----

Release Notes

This is a patch release that fixes a few minor bugs and a broken feature.

When opening a document from the Novel Tree or Outline View, the Project Tree would receive focus
even when it was hidden. This has been corrected and no focus change is made. The Project Tree now
also receives focus automatically when a new Project Item is created.

The backlinks in the Reference Panel below the Document Viewer were no longer working. They have
now been fixed. They were broken due to a change in the link format in 2.0.

Detailed Changelog

**Bugfixes**

* The Reference Panel link would no longer recognise the new, shorter links after the 2.0 project
index change. The explicit check has now been made more lenient and will accept any link that is
at least 13 characters long (the length of a document handle). Test coverage has been added for
handling Reference Panel links. Issue 1378. PR 1379.
* The `setSelectedItem` method of the project tree class had a `setFocus()` call. It should not do
this as global focus is handled by the main GUI class, and doing this explicitly in the
`setSelectedItem` method is presumptuous. Issue 1369. PR 1379.

**Usability Fixes**

* When creating new items in the project tree via shortcuts, the project tree receives focus. Since
these actions can be accessed when the project tree does not have focus, a user would have to
switch focus to be able to open new items. The tree now automatically receives focus when a new
item is created. Issue 1376. PR 1379.

----

Release Notes

This is a patch release that fixes a number of minor bugs and usability issues.

The Project Details dialog now properly updates when another project is opened, and the "Total
editing time" value has a less ambiguous time format. The editor no longer inserts blank lines if
block formats are applied to an empty line. The optional last column in the Novel Tree will now
show all items of the selected type, not only the first, and the column size can be adjusted from
the same menu where the column content is selected. The Open Document build output has been updated
to ODF 1.3 extended format, and passes validation.

An Italian translation has been added, and Russian is currently available for project builds. A
full translation into Russian is on its way.

Detailed Changelog

**Bugfixes**

* Fixed an issue where the Title, Project Name and Author values of the Project Dialog would not
refresh when a project was closed and another opened. The issue is with the Qt library and
caching of the dialog, but novelWriter forces a refresh of the labels. These three were
previously missing though. Issue 1336. PR 1339.
* Add a check to the data storage class that a path exists before it is returned to other classes
that uses them for file I/O. Issue 1317. PR 1342.
* Fixed some issues with the Open Document build format as the produced document wasn't compliant
with the standard. It is now compliant with ODF 1.3 extended format. Issue 1359. PR 1360.

**Usability Fixes**

* The "Total editing time" label on the Project Details dialog now uses the same time format as the
status bar. That is, HH:MM:SS for times less than 24 hours, and D-HH:MM:SS for times from 24
hours and above. Issue 1335. PR 1339.
* Fixed an issue where applying block formatting to an empty line would insert a blank line before
it. This is a consequence of the change from 1175. The line break is now only added if the line
is _not_ blank. Issues 1349 and 1350. PR 1354.
* The optional third column in the Novel Tree now shows all references for the selected category
instead of just the first one. The maximum width of the column can also be selected from the
Novel Tree config menu. Issue 1351. PR 1355.
* The Open Document produced by the build tool now has the necessary title and author meta data set
so that it can be used in LibreOffice. Other meta data has also been added. Issue 1359.
PR 1360.

**Internationalisation**

* Existing translations for US English, Norwegian, Brazilian Portuguese, Latin American Spanish,
and German have been updated. French and Dutch are partially updated. PR 1341.
* Russian project variables have been added. Full translation is forthcoming. Contributed by
Aleksey (SKYnv). PR 1341.
* A complete Italian translation has been added. Contributed by Riccardo Mangili. PR 1341.

**Packaging**

* Added App Bundle and DMG packages for MacOS. Contributed by Ryex. PRs 1276 and 1340.

----

Release Notes

This is a patch release that fixes a bug where novelWriter would crash if PyQt5 version 5.15.8 was
installed and imported.

Detailed Changelog

**Bugfixes**

* Fixed an issue with the version check against PyQt5, which was imported from the wrong package
when running novelWriter with PyQt5 version 5.15.8, released 2023-01-28. Issue 1324. PR 1325.

----

Release Notes

This is a patch release that fixes a few bugs and usability issues. The editing of status and
importance labels in Project Settings should now be a bit more intuitive. Opening a document from
the Outline View that is already open in the editor should now switch to the editor view. The
convert folder to note or document feature in the project tree has also been fixed. Some icons have
been updated and a rendering issue with one of them fixed. Chinese, Norwegian, US English, German
and Spanish translations have been updated as well. A new credits tab has been added to the About
dialog box, replacing the Credits section on the main About tab.

Detailed Changelog

**Bugfixes**

* Fixed an issue with one of the active icons for the project tree. The SVG paths were not properly
joined. Issue 1297. PR 1299.
* Fixed an issue where the new open project routine for 2.0 would not check that a project exists
before trying to open it. This resulted in the open process creating all the expected folders in
the designated location before realising there was no project there. Issue 1300. PR 1301.
* Fixed an issue with the convert folder to document or note functionality was no longer working.
The context menu entries were actually just calling the function for converting a file.
Issue 1305. PR 1306.
* Fixed an issue where the app may crash if an item is added as a child of an item that exists, but
has invalid settings such that it is rejected by the project tree builder function when the
project is opened. Now, only items with a parent item that has already been added will be allowed
into the project tree. The issue was caused by an invalid project file, and is not likely to
occur during normal use, but such events should still be handled rather than crash the app.
Issue 1283. PR 1309.

**User Interface**

* The CREDITS.md file has been updated, and its content is now also available in a "Credits" tab in
the About dialog in the app. The old credits section of the "About" tab has been removed.
PR 1298.
* Fixed a usability issue where double-clicking an entry in the Outline that belongs to a document
that is already open in the editor does nothing. Now, the app switches view to the editor when
the heading is clicked. Issue 1291. PR 1306.
* Change how the editing of status and importance labels work in Project Settings. The form at the
bottom of the tabs is now always active when a label is selected, and always inactive when none
is selected. Issue 1290. PR 1308.

**Internationalisation**

* Update Chinese translation. PR 1298.
* Update Norwegian, US English, German and Spanish translations. PR 1311.

**Other Changes**

* An icon theme can now be loaded from the user's data folder alongside a custom user theme.
Issue 1297. PR 1299.
* Some Inkscape format SVG files have been converted to Plain SVG. PR 1299.

----