I am using the Guide called First Steps with Dorico New Project. It wants me to enter music, but does not show me the whole piece so that I can do so until p. 52. Is there something I’m missing. Also, periodically a message crops up as follows: The current present or project was created with a previous version of HALion Sonic. If you modify the present using new features of this trial version, a previous version might not be able to load it or the preset might sound different. I don’t even know what that means or what to do about it.
Hello Kay,
and welcome to the Dorico forum.
If you enter music into Dorico, the end of the piece will extend on the go - while you are inputting music. You could theoretically add empty bars to the end (only if you have set up a time signature), but that’s actually not necessary. Just keep inputting your notes.
Does this cover your first question?
Thanks for the reply. No, the number of measures is not the problem. The directions in the guide had me add the full number of empty measures in the beginning. There is a sample piece in the Guide from which I am supposed to enter notes. It shows me the first four measures as I follow the directions, but after that, it wants me to enter the next four measures per the full piece sample, but that doesn’t appear until p. 52 of the guide. You may have to look at the Guide to see what I’m talking about. Are there any other Finale users out there that received the email with the link to the Guide?
Welcome to the forum @Kay_Brightnan !
It sounds like you’ve not downloaded the supporting resources attached to the guide, here’s a link to the webhelp guide where you’ll find starter projects and a reference pdf on the “attachments” tab.
If you’re getting warnings about it being saved in an earlier version, that could be because you’ve access the older guide on our archive help site, or because you’re using Dorico 5.1.60 and the resources attached here were saved in 5.1.50 (things move fast in Dorico-land!)
Was this shared by Finale via email? If so, can you post here the link you were given to the guide?
Wow! Thanks. I didn’t see an attachment in the e-mail, When I tried to send the link, a message popped up saying I can’t include links in posts.
Anyway, just go to the steinberg archive help and search for Dorico First Steps.
Kay, no this is not what Lillie kindly suggested. There is a link in her post just above this one, which points you to the most recent version of the First Steps (not the archive one - that’s old):
https://www.steinberg.help/r/dorico/doricofirststeps/5.1/en
You will find the attachment there (and not as an attachment to your email from Finale MM):
And now I see the attachments with that link. Thank you for all the help.
That’s good Kay. You might give Lillie’s contribution the Solution flag, in case other readers of the forum are searching, having the same issue.
In this forum, if you see a thread title with a Solved flag, you will see the answer which has given the Solution flag directly under the initial question. Very effective and convenient for the users. That’s modern forum software:
A second thing: it is still possible, that Make Musik sends out their emails with an old link, pointing to the old archived Dorico First Steps version. If you can confirm this - as a person who received that email - someone of Steinberg might give MM a hint on that - so no other users might get confused by an obviously old/wrong link.
That’s probably why Lillie asked:
Yes exactly: don’t worry Kay, as the author of First Steps, I know exactly where to find all of its versions 
I’m interested to know which link you were given by Make Music, in case other users are also going to be directed to an older version.
Hi Lillie:
I’m not sure any more whether I received the email for the guide from Finale or Steinberg, but I ended up, after clicking Get the Guide, at a site where I picked English and pdf and then arrived at the archived site. When I try to post the link I used, it says I can”t do that. So how do I give you that information. When I replied to that original email stating my problem, I thought it said something like Finale, but when I look now at my sent emails box, the original email seems to say info at news site at Steinberg. Maybe I did something wrong. Although I’ve been a musician, arranging music in Finale since 1997, I’m now 86 and not really adept at the changing workd any more. I will try and mark solution by your post, if I can figure out how to do it. I certainly thank you for all the help you have given me.
Kay
Don’t worry about it Kay if it’s a hassle! I’ll follow it up at my end
You focus on making your music!