Show footnotes pane

Question

In Paratext 8.0.100.35 it seems to be the default that the Show Footnotes pane is open whenever I open a project. Is there a way that this can be changed so that the default is no showing of footnotes? When I have several projects open, I only want to see footnotes when I actually need to see them, because the pane takes some of the space away from the main window, I think this was changed in a recent update, but I do not know why. It is cumbersome to remove the pane in all windows each time.

Answer 1

Nothing was changed (at least deliberately) related to showing the footnote pane and I can’t reproduce what you are seeing on my machine. Paratext opens new windows with the footnote pane closed and restarting Paratext remembers the setting of each window.

Comments

It does not happen if I close Paratext and reopens. It only happens when I switch from one saved text combination to another, and then it only happens if the windows are unstacked. So, if they are stacked in, say, 2 columns, it does not happen.

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Ah, I see. A saved text combination remembers the setting of the footnote pane. So if you saved it with the footnote panes open, then they will be open when you restore that text combination.

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Well, it sometimes also happens when stacked in 2 columns. I have not been able to pinpoint why it happens. Windows 10 Home, version 1709.

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In order to test your hypothesis, I have made sure that I saved two different text combinations without the footnote panes open. As soon as I switch from one to the other, it shows up with the panes open.

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Ok, it is apparently important that all the windows have closed footnote panes. If one is open, all will be open.

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I think my last comment was wrong. What seems to have happened is that the text combinations were carried over from 7.6 and in the transfer process, they were somehow set with the pane showing even if that was not the case when they were saved in 7.6 Anyway, my problem is now solved. Thanks.

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I have seen a similar case on other computers but never been able to pinpoint why.

Yesterday, a translator 7.5 on Windows 10 build 1709 had his Windows in Unstacked arrangement, but the main Paratext window was not maximized.

-I maximized the main Paratext window
-I moved/resized his existing windows (not have the Footnotes Pane showing), but did not create a new text combination.
-I closed and reopened Paratext
-All of his windows had the Footnotes Pane showing and taking up about 90% of each project/resources window.

I guess I should have sent a Problem Report, but I didn’t think about it. I’ll see if he is still around.

SIL+LSS+PNG

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I have seen the Footnotes pane taking up 80-90% of a project window too. Seems like I am always closing the pane, over and over for the same project. I will try to send some details.
KimB

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Now the problem is back. Maybe there is interference from P7? It is difficult to find the reason.

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Whenever I open a saved text combination in PT8 afresh, all text windows open with footnote pane open automatically. In one text combination I have twenty text windows in four columns for checking parallel passages. Each time I return to this text combination from another text combination, I had to click twenty times to close footnote panes. It is cumbersome as Iver+Larsen mentioned. Is it always this way by design?

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In order to try to rectify the erratic behaviour of (the latest
version?) PT8, I have gone through all my text combinations, removed the
footnote pane in each window and then saved each text combination again
under the same name. It is better now and I hope it stays that way. When
a text combination is saved, PT8 is suppose to remember whether the
footnote pane was showing or not.
Iver+Larsen

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Well, it did not stay, but at least now I have one scenario where I can
repeat the problem. There may well be other scenarios.

If I have BART open and have asked it to send Scripture references, and
if the reference is coming from the search pane, then P8 will show the
footnote panes when you open any saved text combination, even if that
combination was saved not to show the footnote panes. It looks like P8
wrongly interprets the search pane in Paratext as if it was a footnote
pane, and therefore assumes that you want to look at the footnote panes
in all your Paratext windows in all combinations. The view does not
change in a text combination already open, but once you open any of the
saved combinations, the panes are also opened. From now on, your saved
combinations are set to open with the footnote panes until you save them
again without the panes and make sure that the reference from BART is
not from the search window.

Iver+Larsen

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Thanks Iver+Larsen. I follow your instructions and it works fine now.

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Sorry to say that the same problem happens just now with footnote pane automatically opening. I guess something needs to be looked into and fixed.

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Are you using BART together with PT8? If so, does BART send references?
I know that this can cause the problem, but there may well be other causes.
Iver+Larsen

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After a bit more testing, I have sent in a bug report. It seems to be a
problem in the latest version of Paratext 8 where it handles references
that are sent from other programs like BART and TW. For some strange
reason, the program goes in to the place where the settings for the
saved text combinations are stored and changes the views to open with
the footnote panes. It does not change the view in the currently loaded
windows, but as soon as you open a text combination, you can see that it
has changed from the way it was saved.

Iver+Larsen

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Just a quick follow-up. After I uninstalled version 100.35 the problem
disappeared. Version 100.33 works fine. In Windows 10, there is a list
of installed updates in the Programs section of the control panel. I am
not sure how it words in other operating systems.

Iver+Larsen

Answer 2

I’ve noticed the footnote pane being open and taking up about 80-90% of the window when I open a window (text) combination. I’ve just got used to always closing all the footnote panes. A bit of a pane, but not too bad. This is in 7.6, but it’s an old issue - from 7.5 at least.

Comments

You say a bit of a “pane”, was the pun intended.

D anon467281

Global Publishing Services
Scripture Typesetting trainer & Regular Expression "specialist"
Dallas, TX

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I’m afraid it was. I couldn’t resist.