The Nisus Files: Converting to the Nisus Writer word processor

By Kirk Hiner

September 30, 2001

I tried doing this a little differently today. Now that I've got my Alltel ADSL hook-up...which, by the way, is phenomenal. If any Mac user out there is considering home DSL and is within Alltel's service area, I highly recommend them. Their Mac support is top notch, and I haven't been down in a month. A far cry from the other DSL providers with whom I've had the unpleasant experience of dealing.

Anyway, as I was saying. I was planning on writing this column while listening to the online radio broadcast of the Seahawks playing the Raiders. This, of course, proved to painful to accomplish. Being a Seahawks fan, you'd think I'd've grown accustomed to the pain by now. Not so. It never stops hurting.

I could attempt to make a weak analogy to Microsoft Word, here; again, another Seattle area product that has caused me nothing but pain over the years. But all analogies are fallible, and although the Seahawks are owned with Microsoft money, I'd really rather not associate the two.

So now, with Oakland leading 7 to 0 and driving, let's finally get into Nisus Writer. Last month, I said I was going to take a look at the header/footer features of Nisus with this column. I'm afraid that's going to be pushed back another month because, as usual, I received some great feedback from Nisus Writer writers that has pushed me in another direction.

First, in case anyone has missed it, Nisus has updated the program to v6.0.3, fixing a bug in which "...if you have a multi-column document with headers and/or footers, the headers and/or footers would neither print nor display in the Layout Page window." The patch can be downloaded over at Version Tracker.

Now, in my last article, I talked about using the Catalog to display your Stationery Documents. This has its benefits, but there's another method that can be more efficient; File Access. This handy feature sits happily under the File Menu, and it allows you quick access to any Nisus file, whether it be a document or a stationery file. Your most recent files are automatically placed into this menu, but you can also assign files to it using the Essential Files command. A simple dialogue box allows you to move files to the Essential Files list from anywhere on your computer. Now, I won't have to bother with the Catalog each time I load up. I can just open Nisus Writer and start working on a previous document or a new one using the "essential" stationery file of my choice.

This is fine for getting into your documents, but the next tip I received is a wonder once you're in your document. When I spoke last time of Nisus Writer's minimal keystroke command set, I didn't expect to proven wrong so quickly. Ends up that Nisus has one of the more powerful keystroke components out there, it just needs a little guidance to get going.

I've complained in the past about programs that ask its users to do its programming. We're users, after all. Users. We use, we don't program. But I'm hypocritical in that I also have no patience for programs that don't allow me to tweak their settings to suit my needs. Nisus meets me halfway with its Shortcuts customability.

Say, for example, you really love page breaks. Can't get enough of those page wonderful breaks. In Word (98, anyway), not only do you have to click on the menu bar to pull down to Insert Break, but you then have to tell the program what type of break you want to insert. In Nisus, you can assign a keystroke to that function, and you can even tell it what the keystroke should be.

All of this is done from within the preferences. In there is a Shortcuts option that allows you create new shortcuts by simply clicking the Create button, then choosing the function you want to perform by using the menu bar as you normally would. Nisus then asks you for the keystrokes you would like to assign to this function. For my page break shortcut, Command-P was already taken by print, and bold was hogging the Command-B slot. Sure, I could use Option or Control instead of Command, or even throw in the old Shift modifier, but why not try this instead? Nisus allows you to assign up to four modifier keys held down together (Command, Option, Control and Shift) and three other keys hit serially, but I chose to keep it simple. Now, whenever I want to insert a page break, I only need to hold down the Command key and then hit P and B. PB = page break. What's easier than that?

Shortcuts can be assigned to just about anything. How's this for convenience? Remember the Essential Files feature I mentioned above? By placing my novel stationery into that menu, I was able to create a shortcut for that as well. Now, whenever I launch Nisus Writer, I need only hit Command+Option-NOV to pull up a new template. Sound difficult to remember? Nope. After a shortcut is assigned to a menu function, that shortcut appears within the menu, as is illustrated below:

Before

After

Removing shortcuts, however, is a bit more cryptic. After pulling up the shortcut dialog in the preferences, you then have to use the menu to select the option you'd like to delete or change. This pulls up the assigned keystrokes in the dialog box that can now be altered or removed. I'd much prefer to simply pull up a dialog box containing all the shortcuts currently assigned and just delete them from there.

Still, this is what I mean about Nisus meeting me halfway. Yes, I have to assign the shortcuts myself, but Nisus made this powerful feature very easy to use. As my use of the program increases, I'm sure I'll be assigning shortcuts left and right...or Command and Option, but I don't think that phrase is as well known.

Now, those who have been following the Nisus Files will note that mostly everything discussed within has been about setting up files. I'm happy to report that my previous novel (written in Word) is finally through it's final round of revisions and is now on its way out to publishers. This clears up room for my next venture, so I'll finally be able to dig deeper into the myriad editing features Nisus promises. I'll hopefully get to headers and footers, and who knows what else will turn up during the next month?

I know one thing that won't show up; a Seahawks victory. 38 to 0 in the third? It's enough to move a man to tears.

See next article.

See past article.

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