I wish to set the playback tempo to 1/4=120 with a swing feel. I press T and nothing happens. I go to WRITE/CREATE TEMPO and nothing happens.
Having used Finale intensively for 20 years, I am finding the Dorico learning curve to be quite steep. Fellow Finale migrants: am I alone?
Write mode. A couple of ways to do this, click on the first note, first beat or double-click at the first beat, first measure, if that is where you want your tempo indication to be,
Shift-T
(not T)
You should see this appear, the Tempo Popover,
inside which you can type q=120
Tempo Popover
All information here
a little further down look for: Rhythmic feels for swing playback
In general Dorico is quite different from Finale (Steinberg did not copy Finale then call it Dorico sorry) so you have to learn new software, ask here, watch videos etc. Many Finale people here to help you transition, they will understand your Finale work processes and terminology and give you information to do the equivalent/similar in Dorico. Feel free to ask here when you are mystified and frustrated.
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and you will find many Finale threads here to help you transition if you search. Links, advice, useful videos, discussions etc. and search at YouTube, quite a few videos from Finale musicians having made the switch.
Allow time to learn Dorico, it is probably as complex as Finale is (if you remember when you had to learn it, or have ever taught it.)
Just a thought, go through the Library menu > Layout options, Engraving options etc. a few times a week so you get to know what settings are available, once set, Dorico then knows how you want to see things.
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Do you have something selected when you do this? You need to select a note or bar or barline, so that Dorico knows where to put the tempo mark.
As one delves more deeply into the tutorials and into Dorico itself, it becomes increasingly clear that this is an amazing program on which someone has invested a great deal of planning and sophisticated programming. Thanks for the suggestions and guidance.
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A small dedicated Steinberg team, previously developing Sibelius, bringing many years of experience. At version 5, there are many updates to look for. There are many detractors, not everyone is able to transition as it takes time and dedication to learn new software and for some, essential features are not there yet for them (workarounds needed.)
But for many of us, it already works well and we can see its direction so will benefit from what we already know and be ready for the new features and efficiencies at every update (whether the major update or the many features in the free minor ones.)
Welcome 
Craig.
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Thanks. I’m in it for the long haul and will not give up until it becomes as much second nature as it apparently is in Anthony Hughes’ videos. In the long run, Dorico may prove to be the next step in my development as a composer. Although, at the moment, I’m simply sketching simple lead sheets for upcoming combo gigs, I hope to use it for choral pieces and big band charts in the near future.
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