I'm exporting to both HTML and PDF

How do I use %StepNumber%, can I just enter that into the title of the step? what happens if I use %StepNumber% and export to PDF, will it just show the placeholder?

Also, when adding the feature, make sure you could use the chapter or Lession number in the step too.. so I could do something like 

%Chapter% . %Lesson% . %Step%   
and get a labeling for steps like 

1.1.1  ,  1.1.2,    1.1.3,  1.2.1,   1.2.2  etc

I would also appreciate this feature, but it would be neat if you could choose which step to start the numbering with. Sometimes, in addition to an explanation of the purpose of the lesson, I add a step for "If you have already set up your..... proceed to Step #" and "If you are starting from scratch..... proceed to Step #". So, the ability to choose to bypass this introductory step and begin numbering on the next step would be useful.

If there is another way to visually inform users to go to a different step based on where they are in the process, that would be great.

Fantastic.  I need this too.  I need to be able to say "if you did <blerk> in chapter <feh> step <blah> then <blither>".

Russ has a generalised solution that will add a heap of functionality:

• Provide a mechanism for name-value pairs
• Some are assigned by the system (such as step no for this step, chapter number for this chapter)
• Steps can be named, so the name can be used to retrieve the step number for referencing steps
• Names can be defined by the user as meta-texts (e.g. for working product names that might change later)
• Some are created by the user but maintained by the system (such as named number sequences that allow intermittent step numbering, and step numbering across chapters)

Step referencing

Allow a name to be assigned to a step, then use the name as a link in any text. It might allow you to retrieve all kinds of info in the step, such as the heading, the image, or the image with markups, (so an image can be reused throughout the text and updated throughout by replacing the original.)

Single-valued vs Multi-valued

This means that some names have simple values.  An example is "Product Name" = "Product we can develop then sell to some sucker for billions", later to be changed to "Skype")

Other names are multi-valued, such as step and chapter names (and I cannot think of another example) where the name provides access to step or chapter numbers, step or chapter chapter titles, images, etc.

User-defined Names

Names might be assigned in the inspector. It would allow definition of simple text replacement pairs, named sequences (which could be alphabetic, numeric, even a set of words) and any other hideous possibility that comes to mind.

Name references

To use the value stored in a name, it might be inserted from the inspector.  Names with multiple values (such as step names) open out to offer all their values - e.g. for a step: number, chapter, image etc.

Can be used everywhere

Ultimately, named references should be included anywhere text can be typed.  This means chapter headings, step headings, step descriptiongs, and texts marked onto images.

Syntax of References

A syntax like %StepNumber% must be typed exactly every time and will require escape chars so it can be literally included in the document if we need it. I think we should insert the name of the label from a list in the Inspector.  In the text it is replaced by its value, but with an indicative rendering such as a coloured underline or background, that tells us it has been supplied by a placeholder.  Perhaps the usage is a link which takes us to the declaration in the inspector

Text Templates

If we are going to have the ability to create numbered steps and titles then we need a consistent way of generating the title texts that include the number.  Typing "Step <stepno>: " consistently at the start of each step that needs it is a bit 20th Century, really.

Not all steps need a sequence number - some steps are prescriptive and tell us what to do, so they might need a step number.  But other steps are descriptive (they tell us what we have done, how to check it worked, explain some theory etc) so they don't need a number.  Such numbers can be provided by a named number series that increments every time it is used.  This allows us to have multiple concurrent sequences in operation.

Further possibilities

Another place where named sequences can be used is with numbered dots and numbered lists.  It is often useful to carry these across steps and maybe even chapters.  At the moment, we have to set the starting number for each step for the dots, and we hav no option at all for the lists.  With named sequences, we can assign the same sequence to to the dots and to a list in the text.  This will maintain the sequence across steps and synchronise the dot and step numbers within a step.

For example, we might define title templates such as "Step <doStepNo>: <text>".  In the title bar for a step, we click a drop-down, select the template which appears as "Step 294: <text>"  Double-click the text and start typing to complete the title.

Other Options

Step creation date and date of last change to step are both useful system-defined values.  The format for these should be taken from OS I18n settings initially, but in the future it might be useful to customise the format in the inspector, or even use the system date to feed a user-defined name that has a custom format.

Conclusion

A basic name-value replacement mechanism will provide a platform for a whole bunch of useful development in ScreenSteps.  It can be incrementally implemented, so user benefits can be delivered early in the development process.  It should be possible to elegantly integrate it into the existing user interface, and it will provide a consistent (and easy-to-learn) means of delivering many outrageous user demands.