Dr. Nathan Parker Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Now that I've moved back to a Mac, I've been mainly using as much built-in Apple apps as possible and only installing third party apps when I need them. With most apps, I'm using single apps as much as possible for work (only using Apple Mail for email, only using Photos for managing photos, only using Numbers for spreadsheets and Keynote for presentations, only using iMovie for editing video that isn't screencasts, etc.). When it comes to Mac word processors, I currently have three installed: Pages, Nisus Writer Pro, and Nota Bene (under WINE I brought over from Windows). My goal is to use Nisus Writer Pro for everyday and quick documents, Pages for documents where I need better page layout stuff (like letters, etc), and Nota Bene for academic writing. I don't need Microsoft Word and I'm letting Office 365 go. I'll be using Numbers for spreadsheets and Keynote for presentations. I also have a license to Mellel. Since I have the other three installed, would there be any reason I'd need to also through Mellel on my system, or am I pretty well set with the other three above? The main advantage of Mellel is its Hebrew support, but I'll be using Nota Bene for that anyway, so I'm not sure if there's another advantage. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Nathan Parker Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 In terms of word processors, Nota Bene is still going to be my go-to word processor for academic research and writing (I love the integrated workflow). Pages has been great for when I need to create print-worthy documents or do high collaboration with my iPad since it all syncs with iCloud. Nisus Writer Pro has been great for every day word processing, and I see no reason to mess with Word when I work with Nisus Writer Pro. I still installed Mellel on my Mac and iPad for the occasional times when I need to do a little more intense writing on my iPad Pro. I can take my iPad Pro with me and start research and writing on the iPad Pro using Mellel since it's more powerful than Pages, then have it sync the documents with Mellel back on my Mac, then when I get back to my Mac, I'd likely export the documents into Nota Bene and fold everything into Nota Bene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 I do all my research and writing and sermonating in Scrivener, (NB version 3 coming soon!) but I get frustrated by its limited formatting capabilities (or I just haven't taken the time to learn its formatting capabilities). Then I paste it all into Pages for formatting and pagebreaks before printing. I have Nisus Writer Pro from a Mac Bundle deal some time ago, and also Mariner Write from a similar deal years ago. Maybe the next iteration of Scrivener will enable me to get the flexibility I want in a single app. Having a background in professional graphic design and typesetting is sometimes more of a hindrance than a help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Nathan Parker Posted September 29, 2017 Author Share Posted September 29, 2017 I've heard about Scrivener and haven't decided if I should try it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 (edited) I've heard about Scrivener and haven't decided if I should try it yet. There is a 30 day demo available but you might want to hold off until version 3 is released (prob before Christmas). https://www.literatureandlatte.com/trial.php Anyway the demo will get you used to the non-linear way of structuring your documents and projects, which was a game-changer for me. I used to arrange all my teaching notes by using nested folders (and sequentially numbering them) in the Mac OS Finder! Edited September 29, 2017 by Alistair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer. Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Ulysses removes the pain of formatting and saves a lot of time. There are templates you can download that allow fast export to PDF, HTML, ePUB (useful for digital preaching), etc. If you are familiar with Markdown, this is the way to go. But even if you're not I would recommend giving it a try. It saves so much time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Ulysses removes the pain of formatting and saves a lot of time. There are templates you can download that allow fast export to PDF, HTML, ePUB (useful for digital preaching), etc. If you are familiar with Markdown, this is the way to go. But even if you're not I would recommend giving it a try. It saves so much time. I've looked at Ulysses, but frankly I want formatting. There are many rave reviews of Ulysses and its workflow, but I've decided I'm too old/stubborn/stupid to learn Markdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Nathan Parker Posted September 30, 2017 Author Share Posted September 30, 2017 Thanks. I'll check out Scrivener 3 after it released. I can look at Ulysses as well, but I don't know Markdown. I'll still likely use NB as my main academic word processor, as I've finally gotten the hang of NB and the workflow of it, and I am super happy with NB as my main academic word processor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Nathan Parker Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 I watched some videos on Scrivener, and I emailed them about getting a trial when Scrivener 3 is launched. I also chatted with some NB users who have integrated Scrivener into their workflow. It's something I'm definitely interested in looking into. Scrivener would be super handy for planning/outlining papers and projects, plus it'd likely be good for rough drafts. Once the draft would be done, I'd send it over to NB for formatting, polishing, citations, etc (since my citations are stored in Ibidem). My research would remain in NB and Orbis, but with the iPad app, I could also collect research in Scrivener then sync it to my Mac and send it to NB later. I just like the idea of Scrivener allowing me to flexibly outline papers and start a rough draft I could work on with my Mac or even my iPad, then send it all to NB to polish up and format it before submitting. Working with a couple apps and between my iMac and iPad would also allow me to spend more time proofreading my papers and reflecting on them more instead of chunking them out quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Nathan Parker Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 By the way, Nisus Writer Pro recently released an update that resolved many of the issues people were having with High Sierra. It's great that they sent this out, and for those who had issues with Nisus Writer Pro and High Sierra, you should be set now. On the flip side, NB12 is coming, and I've been beta testing it and found a few last minute major bugs the developers need to know about, so I'll get those reported ASAP so they're not in the shipping version. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohanan Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Hi Nathan, What is your experience with NotaBene on MacOs ? I bought it two days ago and I have not yet installed it. First the download was messy and could not be completed, then I fall on a Setup.exe install program and I fear to install this on my brand new iMac as well as my MacBook. I asked there, but the reactivity is a bit slow (I guess this is a small company, which is not bad). Would you say I risk not to corrupt the Mac with an alien to MacOs app. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Hi Nathan, What is your experience with NotaBene on MacOs ? I bought it two days ago and I have not yet installed it. First the download was messy and could not be completed, then I fall on a Setup.exe install program and I fear to install this on my brand new iMac as well as my MacBook. I asked there, but the reactivity is a bit slow (I guess this is a small company, which is not bad). Would you say I risk not to corrupt the Mac with an alien to MacOs app. ? Yohanan, Nathan uses NotaBene more than me, so I'm sure his words will be more instructive. I have NB 11.5 installed on my Mac, although I don't actively use it at the moment. I launched it right before I wrote this message to make certain it was still working and up to date. It is on both counts. You mentioned the setup.exe file. There should be a download version for Mac users that comes with a WINE installer. That's how I installed mine, but it's been a while, and I don't remember all the specifics. If your concern about "corrupting" your Mac is literal--in that it might hurt your file system or iMac itself--I wouldn't worry about that. If you mean that figuratively...well, I'm not the best judge as I have lots of Windows programs on my Mac installed through WINE or Parallels :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohanan Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Thanks Mithril for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohanan Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I would not encourage people long used to MacOs to use the Nota Bene. It is a native PC app. Strong tutorials could help make the way, but there are not and you have to go to the intern help, try to pile up infos in your memory, then get back to your data base (using Orbis). The one technician is very nice, but he is alone as far as I understand. Until now I was unable to succeed doing anything and it seems this small company has no forums of discussion and help online. This is partly due to ma age, but I would caution people of a certain age with a long and exclusive use of MacOs before going into this app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 ...no forums of discussion and help online... Although there are no Nota Bene discussion forums (that I know of), there is a discussion list that is fairly active. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohanan Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Thank you. A little nightmarish all this. To make it short, after some difficulties to register, I am now told that this is a fraudulent site and I should not log in. All this seems to me rather amateurish. So, decision made: the small amount I paid for this, I now consider as a gift to amateur people trying do do (hopefully) something better. I should have be more attentive to the fact that this was a native PC app without adaptation to the MacOs. Anyway, thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I am now told that this is a fraudulent site and I should not log in. Which site is fraudulent, and who/what is telling you that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Gilbert Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Hi, FWIW, Nota Bene has grown on me and is now my preferred word processor. But being an almost life long Windows user didn’t help me understand NB any better. In fact, I tried it over several years with different one month trial versions, and only with the last one, 11.5, did the lights start going on, and different work flows began to actually flow.There is a big learning curve, but, it also promises to do so much more than almost any other word processor. Working with English, Hebrew, and Greek is brilliant. And, once you learn how to customize toolbars and keyboards, you’re pretty much set to write any sort of text. I’m not sure about its graphics capabilities yet.That being said, I still fall back on Word or Mellel when I need to do something quickly that I haven’t learned how to do yet in NB.Here is a screenshot of my writing this in NB in Linux, but it looks the same on my Mac upstairs. Regards, Michel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohanan Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) Dear Mithril, This is what I am told when trying to connect with the site you mentioned. Moreover, it was hell to register and it is still hell if you want to communicate there. I receive mails, that my mails have to be confirmed and when I do so, I receive mails that this is not the correct form to communicate, etc. I am renouncing to use this 279 dollars app. I guess this was an app designed by a genius who is now retired or not interested anymore in it except for the royalties. The rest is for insiders in PC and informatics in general. I wonder how simple people like me could use this app, there is not even a good explicit and complete manual. There is internal help, but you have to switch from the help to your document where to experiment, this requires a very good memory. And people there are nice, but not able to react in a reasonable delay of time. There is a point where a service for such an app should be expanded, enlarged, or whatever. Frankly this is not seriously managed. Edited January 13, 2018 by Yohanan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Here is a screenshot of my writing this in NB in Linux, but it looks the same on my Mac upstairs. When I grow up, I'm going to run everything in Linux, too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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