hi all,
i have the same issue here, and was disappointed to learn through my own explorations that meho r's view is correct.
it seems the me the central issue is about batch editing page layout. for example, the ability to set up many, but not all, of a project's pages to have identically positioned text frames which also be able to have their properties (e.g. x, y position, height and width) tweaked all together, particularly after text has been imported. as far as i can tell, one can only set up a page with a frame then copy it. but if one has set up the fame a little incorrectly, then one has to start over again, unable to tweak all pages/text frames in unison. for the laying out of booklets it is very handy to be able to alter the text frame boundaries of multiple pages with the text in place.
am i right in believing that this is not possible? i'm a complete novice, so happy to be told otherwise.
i don't think it is so much a case of wanting to be able to do what indesign could do, but of finding a very handy feature absent, especially for working with longer projects. it is fine if it isn't the master page feature is scribus isn't designed to fulfil this role, but it is still a feature that would greatly improve the programme.