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I am considering Nisus, but from using it briefly, I have some concerns:

1. Don't see a way to view the same document side by side. Needed for long documents.

2. Didn't see a way to easily apply custom styles I created. An "MRU" facility that tracks which styles I've recently used and then presents those to me would be good.

3. Word compatibility. DOCX. I've already run into issues with documents with Word so I am not sure about the overall compatibility.

Thanks in advance,

- o

Hello Oliver,

I am considering Nisus, but from using it briefly, I have some concerns

I had concerns too in the beginning. It takes more than 2 weeks trial time to discover the full potential of Nisus Writer Pro (NWP).

1. Don't see a way to view the same document side by side. Needed for long documents.

NWP does not have this feature. I agree with you that it is an important feature. Please use "Send Feedback" from the Help menu and send them a feature request. Tell them why you think the program should have this feature. Your vote will be added to a wish list.
I know it's not the same, but I suppose you know that you can view two sides vertically if you reduce the size. Instead of doing this manually, you can use a macro (or macros) to quickly toggle the size. This will bring back the original size of 150% (or whatever size you want.) Another important feature that's missing is Split View. If you need that, then send them another feedback to help improve NWP.

2. Didn't see a way to easily apply custom styles I created. An "MRU" facility that tracks which styles I've recently used and then presents those to me would be good.

You keep track of your styles in Style Libraries (see "Maintain a Style Library" in the Nisus Writer Pro User Guide.) You can save all the styles you need daily in your [1] empty Nisus New File. They are then already "embedded" in all your new future documents and can be accessed right away in the Styles palette, which you can drag around, enlarge and place wherever you want on your screen. Or you can create one or more new [2] Style Libraries for, let's say, each type of document you create: One for novels, another for dramas, another for personal letters and so on.
The [3] Document Manager gives you an overview of all your Style Libraries. Selecting a Style Library in the Document Manager will also show you all the styles that are in that library.
If you right-click on 'Style Collection', you can enable a display-option called "Last Accessed". Clicking on "Last Accessed" will sort your Style Libraries according to this criterion. This should come close to your MRU (= most recently used) feature. Importing a new style is easy from the Style Sheet View. You can also use the Document Manager to drag a whole Style Library directly into your document, or just the one right style you need.

One thing is important to remember: If you create a custom style, then don't forget to *save* it to a Style Library or to your empty Nisus New File—or to both, for that matter—so you can easily find and use it again later. If you don't do that, then the style will only exist in the document you created it in; and it can be difficult to remember later in which document the style was. However, if it is in a Style Library, then a Content Search in Document Manager can find the libraries in which the style resides. Having found it, you can then easily import or drag it into your active document.

Some Nisus users have only very few basic styles stored in the Nisus New File. They find too many styles in the Styles palette distracting. – After experimenting with several different options, I decided in the end to keep all my styles in the Nisus New File, and I make sure that all new styles I create are saved with a macro into that file. I also keep those styles saved in several Style Libraries, grouped according to document type.

It takes some time to fully figure out how the Document Manager and Style Libraries work, so don't be discouraged.

3. Word compatibility. DOCX. I've already run into issues with documents with Word so I am not sure about the overall compatibility.

The truth is, only Word can guarantee full compatibility with Word documents! That's how it has always been. Having said that, a successful conversion depends on how complex the formatting is. If possible, always use the RTF format.
Sometimes I have used LibreOffice as a go-between converter, when even Word 2011 was unable to open old Word documents (from the early 90ies.)

Track Changes are converted correctly, both from Word to Nisus and from Nisus to Word.


If you have more concerns, please don't hesitate to ask.

___________
Þorvarður

Wow, thanks for your excellent reply!

I'm using Scrivener as my primary writing tool and sometimes Ulysses also. MS-Word is my primary go-to product with (paying) corporate clients so there is no possibility of any compatibility problem. (Word users don't like it when you scramble their documents with change tracking and such.)

I love the Nisus' "find" options. Truly amazing.

But, ...with no document (side by side horizontal or vertical) "Split" function (I've seen requests for this in Nisus dating back to 2006), I can only assume it will NEVER happen. And, that product hole is a deal-breaker for me as I often work on huge documents and the whole Nissus approach -> "work linearly-only, please" is not how I work.

With Scrivener, for example, you can outline what you do and think that way. For large projects, a linear approach just isn't good in my view. Scrivener will let you view a document side by side, vertically, or all in one pane. Attach metadata to document objects, etc. For large projects, like a book, that's perfect for me. Also Scrivener has a neat area you can add all your project notes, files, and other documents as a reference and keep with your writing "project" (not just a document). And, Scrivener looks modern and supports RegEx in finds.

I think Nisus is a cool product but with the current product holes, and it's document-only focus I can't justify it as another piece of software I might not be able to use.

Thanks again!

- o

Though it has never been openly admitted or explained, the developing of Nisus did already reach its final stage a long time ago. In the last five years or so, only small adjustments have been made, which almost invariably were motivated by new features in Apple's system software or hardware.

So Nisus is what it is. If you like it, use it and be happy with it; it's a good program. If you miss certain features which are important to you, don't expect they will ever be part of Nisus; and sending feature requests is a waste of time. In that case, simply look elsewhere.

Timotheus wrote:Though it has never been openly admitted or explained, the developing of Nisus did already reach its final stage a long time ago. In the last five years or so, only small adjustments have been made, which almost invariably were motivated by new features in Apple's system software or hardware.

So Nisus is what it is. If you like it, use it and be happy with it; it's a good program. If you miss certain features which are important to you, don't expect they will ever be part of Nisus; and sending feature requests is a waist of time. In that case, simply look elsewhere.

Well put. Thanks.

Timotheus wrote:Though it has never been openly admitted or explained, the developing of Nisus did already reach its final stage a long time ago. In the last five years or so, only small adjustments have been made, which almost invariably were motivated by new features in Apple's system software or hardware.

So Nisus is what it is. If you like it, use it and be happy with it; it's a good program. If you miss certain features which are important to you, don't expect they will ever be part of Nisus; and sending feature requests is a waste of time. In that case, simply look elsewhere.

I agree that users should buy software for what it is now, not for what may or may not be added in the future.

However, development on Nisus Writer certainly has not ended. And we do like to hear from our users, here on the forum or privately via email or our in-app feedback reporter.

I'm happy to hear that development of Nisus has not ended yet. Yet facts remain facts; and the facts are:
- Nisus 2.0 was launched in may 2011, almost six (!) years ago.
- Nisus 2.1, which was launched exactly two years ago (march 2015) was certainly a useful update (64 bit etc.), but didn't include any of the many features that users of Nisus had been asking for so long. Since then, there have been only a series of very minor updates.

For this reason, it is difficult for me to believe that Nisus is still under active development in the sense this term is commonly understood, and that we'll ever see a new update like version 2.0, the last significant update of the program.