Found this solution really useful but I probably won’t remember the specific shortcuts as I dip in and out of using Dorico. I am currently using version 5. It would be to be great to be able to select a note and just apply the dynamic directly to the piano LH/RH stave. Similarly I have completely forgotten how to generate a pickup note. I ended up just importing an XML file directly from staffpad, as I gave up trying to use the popover. Again adding more than one lyric to a note. I understand shortcuts work for many people but as someone who doesn’t use the software as frequently as I would like, they are really unempowering.
It can be difficult to remember so many popover commands. Here’s a chart for D4.3 that is still relevant to D5. Have not found a D5 popover chart if there is one.
dorico-popovers_4.3_221121.pdf (491.3 KB)
Pickup notes: Shift M for meter popover. Type meter. Then type , (comma) and the fraction of the beat for the pickup you want. Example 4/4,1 is a quarter note pickup. 4/4,.5 is an eight note pickup.
You can add dynamics using the mouse very easily: select the note on the RH or LH staff where you want the dynamic to be added, then expand the right-hand Dynamics panel in Write mode, and click the dynamic you want to add. It will be added at the selected position, on the selected staff.
To add a pick-up bar, you can find options for this in the right-hand Time Signatures panel in Write mode, if you struggle to remember how to do this via the popover.
With lyrics, you can open the popover from the right-hand side of the screen in the notations toolbox when it is set to show popovers, but you do need to remember to use the up/down arrow keys to switch between lines of lyrics.
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The Dorico 5 updated popover document is here.
You can find the latest resources relevant to Dorico Pro 5 on this documentation landing page.
To create a pick-up bar, you can also:
- Start with a full first bar (i.e. a normal time signature), and write the pick-up notes you want at the end of that bar (treating the 2nd bar as the first full bar)
- Activate Insert mode
- Select the “Global Adjustment of Current Bar” scope
- Select the excess rests at the start of bar 1
- Press Delete
Instant pick-up 
It’s a key command I’m afraid, but you can press Shift-Alt/Opt-Space when inside the lyrics popover to insert a non-breaking space, letting you type another word without advancing the popover. See: Navigation during lyric input
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