Move to Previous System works as expected. But. Move to Next System puts the selected measure by itself on its own new system as shown. What am I doing wrong? Thank you.
Is there a pre-existing system break signpost at the start of bar 6?
Ah, the Diabelli Variations! 
Before I go forcing bars onto systems, I would reduce the note spacing rule by a bit (perhaps 3) to get closer to the spacing you’re going to want overall.
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Thank you, Lillie. That was precisely the problem. I didn’t realize that system breaks were created when measures were moved from staff to staff. I am noticing this in a newly imported XML file. There are no system breaks in the original import, but as soon as I move a measure to a new system a system break is created for some reason. (I didn’t see them because I had the signposts hidden.) So I need to learn more about page layout before I ask any more questions.
Hi Mark_Johnson. Yes, I thought that doing an edition of the Diabelli might be a good third piece to do in Dorico as I demo the program, since it has most everything in it. I am finding that working from an XML import, despite how well Dorico is imports it, is somewhat challenging. But I’m learning a lot about the program by doing so. I will investigate changing note spacing before moving measures around to see what happens. Probably very good things, since the theme went in quite smoothly.
Just for completeness, here’s the page in the manual about the move to next/previous system buttons and how they work:
Essentially, system and frame breaks are how Dorico fixes bars into systems, and systems into frames at a “local level”. Break signposts aren’t used when you’ve set a fixed casting off for the layout, but basically any other place that involves specifying system/frame breaks will involve a signpost.
Thank you Lillie_Harris. I will read that carefully, and a lot more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfPlwq-r_o
I have found the John’s video to be very helpful in this regard.
Chris
Thank you , Chris. I’ll check that out.
Could this function be modified so it removes the next system’s system break at the same time it is moving the bar (= inserting a system break)? It would save from having to remove these each time. Moving a bar to the previous system works well.
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@Mats_Frendahl I couldn’t agree more. How often does one want to move measures down to occupy the whole next system? And wouldn’t it be great if you never wound up with all the following pages superimposed in a big mess after removing a frame break?
Dorico does a great job of page layout, if you don’t need to make changes. If you do, watch out! I still get a bit nervous and steel my logic circuits for a fight.
Instead of adding a new break and having to delete another, you could select the break and move it back a bar at a time.
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Me too, but usually much less stressful than in my Finale days…
BTW I also think that the moving a bar to the next system routine is something that is much less needed in Dorico than in Finale, taken that you work with the note spacing changes first. Most of the time that is enough.
Are you talking about this option?
This minimizes the number of systems that get locked when you move things.
Preferences > Note Input.
Thanks, @Mark_Johnson and @benwiggy. Great tips! Maybe those will calm my nerves. 