The text features in Sibelius are, to my mind - though probably due to my years of use - quite logical. Whilst I agree with you that some of the terminology is, by modern standards a bit outdated, at the time it was quite advanced.
If you can't see the page headers, turn to the view tab of the ribbon and switch on hidden objects. You should see some greyed-out text that says "full score" ( if you are viewing the score). In a part, on the 2nd and subsequent pages, those headers are usually visible.
I think the original team had a concept of having separate functions available for different text uses. In sib, text is not just text. Like any other part of the notation it has a purpose. They set up a default position, but you can change that if you want to. All of this is in the manual if you read it properly - that is how I learned about it and I'm sure many other folks on here did too. What we also did, I suspect, was play with it. See what could be done and, if we found something we didn't know how to do, we asked.
I don't know which headerpartname stuff you read, but you obviously didn't read it thoroughly. That particular wildcard takes the text in the instrument name field of the backstage area and inserts it into the header. Instrument names is the default use for the headerpartname wildcard, but it can be used for any piece of text you want. Replace the default instrument name with a piece of random text and that will appear instead. When you can see the header text, double click it and then write your name after the wildcard. I recommend leaving a space between, then click in white space on the page. Now your name will appear at the top of the 2nd (etc) page on the parts alongside the partname. You could, as previously suggested, add the title or the entire works of Shakespeare (maybe not) and it will automatically be transferred to the top of the parts. That is what a header is for.
There is no automatic running footer, but you could create a new style based on, say, the header style and select below the staff as its position and you can include text there as well.
The wildcards have most use when you are designing templates of your own for particular setups or types of music where you might require specific things in specific places in every piece of music. You don't have to use them but they are there if you want to.
There is no trick involved. Again, there is a difference in use between the headerpartname and partname wildcards. The latter has most use as the instrument name at the top left of the first page of a part. The former, as we now know, is generally used in a running header. (That's probably why the wildcard has "header" in its name.)
In terms of Avid actually doing anything of any real value to the software, I think you are out of luck. Since they sacked the original development team and outsourced the coding, apart from some minor changes, nothing new has been added and very few bugs have been fixed - even many of those from the early days. I would never work for Avid. I think they have taken a truly great piece of software and stifled it. However, with the right approach from the user, Sibelius is capable of great things in terms of its original purpose - an engraving tool.
BTW, I am a retired classroom music teacher. Only in the sense that I was an early adopter of computers in the classroom and especially in music, could I be described as "an IT guy". I speak as one who is prepared to put a lot of effort into learning the individual quirks of the software - much as I would those of an instrument I was learning - in order to get the best out of it that I could.
FWIW, I am awaiting developments at Steinberg with breathless anticipation.
--
1.6GHz Intel i7 Quad core, Win 7 Pro (x64), 8GB, 7TB HDD, Scarlett 6i6, Sib 6.2, 7.1.3, 7.5 EWQLSO Plat, Miroslav Phil, NotePerformer, Harmony Asst, EWQLSC, GPO, COMB2
Si me castigare vis, necesse est me intellexisse. |