Caution! Pages 5 has lost key feature... templates

[glawrie]

The template functionality from Pages 09 has largely disappeared in Pages 5.

In Pages 09 you could define multiple 'sections' within a template (using the Capture Pages... and Manage Pages... commands). These sections could have meaningful names, and contain specific content to appear when you added the section to a document (e.g. each section could have its own layout elements, placeholder items etc.).

This template information was kept with each document - so if you opened a multi-section template, you could continue to add / remove / adjust these sections.

In Pages 5 all this functionality is missing. If you open a Pages 09 template (or document) in Pages 5 the ability to manipulate templates sections is simply absent.

What is worse, if you 'roundtrip' a file through Pages 5, any information relating to the multiple section template is stripped from the file (i.e. if you edit a Pages 09 document in Pages 5 and the 'export' it back to Pages 09, the exported file has no template information within it, and the 'section...' control is greyed out (until you create new sections).

This is a very unhelpful unannounced 'feature'.

 

[onekerato]

This is a very unhelpful unannounced 'feature'.

Best to think of the new Pages 5 as a new app, optimized for working across Macs with OS X Mavericks, iOS devices with iOS 7, and iCloud.com - it's a new "optimized" file format after all. Be glad it opens Pages 09 documents in the first place unlike what FCPX early adopters went through

 

[jacg]

Best to think of the new Pages 5 as a new app, optimized for working across Macs with OS X Mavericks, iOS devices with iOS 7, and iCloud.com - it's a new "optimized" file format after all. Be glad it opens Pages 09 documents in the first place unlike what FCPX early adopters went through

Exactly. Missing templates is the tip of the iceberg.

Pages 5 should have been given a different name to avoid association with the much more powerful (but 4 years old) Pages 4. They should have called it 'Pages for iCloud', 'Keynote for iCloud' etc. Simple, free companion apps for iOS / iCloud.com users.

Meanwhile, it would have been nice to see some love and development given to the OS X apps. I just did a quick search and I have over 1000 Pages documents. I wonder how many of them will be compatible with new Pages? Few have opened correctly so far.

I would have paid lots to see the original iWork mature. There are some limitations and irritations that I am presumably going to have to live with indefinitely now, or until I switch to other apps.

 

[onekerato]

I would have paid lots to see the original iWork mature. There are some limitations and irritations that I am presumably going to have to live with indefinitely now, or until I switch to other apps.

iMovie has FCPX, GarageBand has Logic Pro X, iPhoto has Aperture.

Now that iWork has feature parity across Mac, iOS and Web, I guess there's room for an "iWork Pro" on the desktop.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

They did state during the keynote, that the apps had been rebuild from the ground up, so one can hope that they just spend the next couple of years adding features.

I think I'll wait with the iWork upgrade, although I have been looking forward to it for many years now. Don't want to learn a new app from the bottom, while writing my thesis.

Edit: Can you have iWork '09 and 'New' installed at the same time?

 

[firedept]

Edit: Can you have iWork '09 and 'New' installed at the same time?

Sure can. I currently have both. Both function as they should.

 

[mjcharlton71]

Sure can. I currently have both. Both function as they should.

Indeed.... updated mine and it thoughtfully shifted the previous versions into an "iWork '09" folder within the Applications folder.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Excellent! Thanks guys, I'll download them right away then.

 

[firedept]

Indeed.... updated mine and it thoughtfully shifted the previous versions into an "iWork '09" folder within the Applications folder.

Also created folder for old versions of iMovie & Garageband. Not with iPhoto though.

 

[cheekyjeremy]

This is the part that is amazing to me. You cannot even delete a page out of a document, you cannot duplicate a page in a document, and you cannot move pages around in a document. This renders it 100% ridiculous never mind unusable.

Amazed that this actually got to the point of release without someone saying "hey, wait a minute, you can't even delete a page in a document

 

[BobVB]

Is there a full featured replacement for Pages! 5.0?

Now that Pages had fewer features than AppleWorks, is there a 3rd party replacement? Mail merge, layers, object placement like the old Pages had?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

You can keep on using the old version, it works just fine.

Of note though, after installing the new version, all documents open by default in the new Pages - Even if you try and change it to the old Pages and hit the 'Correct all' button under 'New info', it jumps back to the new Pages. It works for individual files though.

 

[newagemac]

This is the part that is amazing to me. You cannot even delete a page out of a document, you cannot duplicate a page in a document, and you cannot move pages around in a document. This renders it 100% ridiculous never mind unusable.

Amazed that this actually got to the point of release without someone saying "hey, wait a minute, you can't even delete a page in a document

Are you sure? Whenever an app gets a major overhaul, there are always people making claims that it can't do this or that any longer. Some of it might be true, but often a lot of it is just the fact that there is a new way of doing it and the person just hasn't figured it out yet.

I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that is the case here. Especially since you can do those things on the iOS version. There was someone on another thread claiming they dropped alignment guides in the new Pages when come to find out they didn't. The feature was just off by default.

 

[cheekyjeremy]

Are you sure? Whenever an app gets a major overhaul, there are always people making claims that it can't do this or that any longer. Some of it might be true, but often a lot of it is just the fact that there is a new way of doing it and the person just hasn't figured it out yet.

I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that is the case here. Especially since you can do those things on the iOS version. There was someone on another thread claiming they dropped alignment guides in the new Pages when come to find out they didn't. The feature was just off by default.

Ok, when you figure it out, let me know. I can't the apple forums are filled with others who can't either. I'd love to know how to duplicate a page within a document too while you're at it

 

[jacg]

This is the part that is amazing to me. You cannot even delete a page out of a document, you cannot duplicate a page in a document, and you cannot move pages around in a document. This renders it 100% ridiculous never mind unusable.

Amazed that this actually got to the point of release without someone saying "hey, wait a minute, you can't even delete a page in a document

Pressing delete removed a page in a legacy document I had opened but I can't repeat this in a new document...

I can't find anything in the help files about deleting, duplicating or moving pages. Ironic? http://help.apple.com/pages/mac/5.0/#/

I've been trying to find a work around to duplication. You can't just create a new page and copy & paste objects, because Pages still can't paste a selection of objects in the same place*. You'll have to create the page then Alt-drag your selected objects and try and match their position on the new page.

(*you'd think when they built from the ground up they might have addressed this issue. You could group the objects first but only if the group is smaller than the page)

 

[rorschach]

The template functionality from Pages 09 has largely disappeared in Pages 5.

In Pages 09 you could define multiple 'sections' within a template (using the Capture Pages... and Manage Pages... commands). These sections could have meaningful names, and contain specific content to appear when you added the section to a document (e.g. each section could have its own layout elements, placeholder items etc.).

This template information was kept with each document - so if you opened a multi-section template, you could continue to add / remove / adjust these sections.

In Pages 5 all this functionality is missing. If you open a Pages 09 template (or document) in Pages 5 the ability to manipulate templates sections is simply absent.

What is worse, if you 'roundtrip' a file through Pages 5, any information relating to the multiple section template is stripped from the file (i.e. if you edit a Pages 09 document in Pages 5 and the 'export' it back to Pages 09, the exported file has no template information within it, and the 'section...' control is greyed out (until you create new sections).

This is a very unhelpful unannounced 'feature'.

That's not the only feature missing. No outline view. Can't drag and drop to reorganize pages, nor can you copy/paste them. No endnotes. No mail merge. No facing pages view. Can't customize the toolbar. Can't select non-contiguous text. No function shortcuts.

And on and on. No wonder it's free now.

 

[firedept]

Hopefully everyone has kept the previous version and not just deleted it after they upgraded. Lots of features missing and searches are coming up blank or the same responses being had here.

I realize it was rebuilt from ground up, but some of the most simple features are currently missing. Duplicate page should be a no brainer. Hopefully Apple will listen and do some quick updates for them.

 

[benthewraith]

Pages seriously lost a lot of functionality. I miss the toolbar at the very top of the page that allowed you to change the font, set border styles, justify the text, etc, without having to open the inspector or some other window. The bar that acted pretty much like the format bar in Microsoft Office.

Hopefully everyone has kept the previous version and not just deleted it after they upgraded.

I didn't do an upgrade. I did a clean install.

 

[snberk103]

Sure can. I currently have both. Both function as they should.

Indeed.... updated mine and it thoughtfully shifted the previous versions into an "iWork '09" folder within the Applications folder.

So, just to confirm... the old iWork applications will work if they are moved to a new folder?

Thanks for the heads up...

Two questions
Q1 - If you accidentally open an iWork 09 document in the new iWork, can you close it without iWork 5 mucking up the contents?

Q2 - Is there any reason to install iWorks 5 at all if I don't need iWork on an iOS device?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

So, just to confirm... the old iWork applications will work if they are moved to a new folder?

Thanks for the heads up...

Two questions
Q1 - If you accidentally open an iWork 09 document in the new iWork, can you close it without iWork 5 mucking up the contents?

Q2 - Is there any reason to install iWorks 5 at all if I don't need iWork on an iOS device?

Yes! But all new files created with the .pages extension open by default in the new Pages. You can change each individual file to open automatically in the old Pages by using the Info window in Finder, but you can't change all by using the "Change all" button in the same window.

Q1: As long as you don't save, your document will remain unchanged.

Q2: Well, there's also Keynote and Numbers.. And I like the new interface in Pages a lot - There are just missing features. So for non-advanced documents, it should be fine.

 

[jacg]

Q2 - Is there any reason to install iWorks 5 at all if I don't need iWork on an iOS device?

I've been searching for reasons, other than the iOS / collaboration features. Here's what I got so far:

If you select multiple cells in a table with multiple formatting and copy and paste the style onto other cells, it now copies the formatting of all cells, not just the first one (like in Excel).

If you mess around with an image then press reset, iWork no longer randomly messes with the sharpness.

These are just a couple of incredibly annoying limitations that I went to the trouble of reporting to Apple that I will apparently have to live with forever in Original iWork as the new 'for iCloud' versions are huge steps backwards: Keynote just a little bit, but Pages massively.

 

[swindmill]

Mail Merge

Is the 'mail merge' function gone? In '09, it's in the Edit menu item. I can't find it and 'Help' doesn't return any results.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Is the 'mail merge' function gone? In '09, it's in the Edit menu item. I can't find it and 'Help' doesn't return any results.

People above says it is missing.

 

[swindmill]

People above says it is missing.

Thanks. I read through it too quickly.

That's disappointing; iWork '11 is useless to me without this feature. I tried entering data into Numbers '11 and merging it into Pages '09, and it didn't work. I'll have to stick with iWork '09.

 

[rick d]

New Pages 5

Definitely not a $20 upgrade, first time I paid for a downgrade!!!