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WhizFolders vs Scrivener for Windows
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Posted by Jon Polish
Nov 28, 2011 at 04:55 PM
Can someone please weigh in on these two choices? I know both programs well enough to be confused about which would be more suitable for non-fiction, academic writing projects. I use (and like) Ultra Recall and find that many of the features in WhizFolders exist in UR. What do you suggest and why?
Jon
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Nov 28, 2011 at 06:20 PM
Jon,
I’m more familiar with Scrivener than with Whizfolders, although I have a license for both and have used both, so I hope my thoughts will prove helpful.
I would choose Scrivener over Whizfolders in a heart beat. I can’t think of anything Whizfolders can do that Scrivener can’t, but I can think of a lot that Scrivener can do that Whizfolders can’t. Namely:
Scrivener has a cork board view, which is handy for brainstorming and planning your work.
Scrivener has an outliner view, not super powerful, but not bad.
Scrivener has the scrivenings view, which allows you all or selected documents in your project in one single, flowing window. This is a very fine feature for writers, because it allows you to judge how your material flows. (Whizfolders has a similar feature, but it feels much more cumbersome to me.)
Scrivener allows you to attach synopses to your documents.
Scrivener allows you to attach various pieces of meta data to your entries (in Whizfolders you can attach keywords, but I believe that’s all).
Beyond this, I find Scrivener so much more user friendly. Whizfolders has two different editing modes. The interface feels cluttered in Whizfolders. I’ve always wanted to like Whizfolders, having bought a license seven or eight years ago, but even before Scrivener came along I had abandoned it because it never felt very intuitive.
Steve Z.
Posted by Jon Polish
Nov 28, 2011 at 07:16 PM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>friendly. Whizfolders has two different editing modes. The interface feels
>cluttered in Whizfolders. I’ve always wanted to like Whizfolders, having bought a
>license seven or eight years ago, but even before Scrivener came along I had abandoned
>it because it never felt very intuitive.
>
>Steve Z.
Thank you for your thoughts. I read your posts and reviews and respect your opinion. I too have licenses for both programs. WhizFolders interface has changed somewhat with the latest version, and appears less cluttered to me. Even so, the tool bars can be customized and made as simple as you like.
Jon
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Nov 28, 2011 at 08:24 PM
That’s nice of you to say, Jon.
I should have mentioned at least one advantage Whizfolders has over Scrivener (for Windows), is a longer history, and a developer who have demonstrated their commitment to continually improving their program. I’m confident in the Scrivener crew, but they haven’t proven themselves to the extent that the Whizfolders people have.
SZ
Posted by Dr Andus
Nov 28, 2011 at 09:42 PM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>Jon,
>I would
>choose Scrivener over Whizfolders in a heart beat. I can’t think of anything
>Whizfolders can do that Scrivener can’t, but I can think of a lot that Scrivener can do
>that Whizfolders can’t.
>
I’ve always wanted to like Whizfolders, having bought a
>license seven or eight years ago, but even before Scrivener came along I had abandoned
>it because it never felt very intuitive.
>
I had a similar experience to Steve. I had high hopes for Whizfolders 5 years ago, when I bought my licence (I haven’t upgraded to the latest version, so my comments relate to the previous one). I wanted to use it as a central wiki and database for my academic writing. I never really made much use of the wiki features (ability to link items), although I did end up using it as a kind of a hierarchical database of my reading notes. I liked using the “Watch clipboard” feature, which allowed me to capture quotes from PDF articles by hitting control+C.
However, since Scrivener for Windows arrived, I hardly ever turn Whizfolders on. It still stores my old notes but I do all my academic writing now in Scrivener, for the reasons Steve mentioned. I’m not quite sure what I’ll be using Whizfolders for next. Somehow I feel that its development did not move with the times and it is becoming gradually less relevant.