How do I set the editor background to be black, and yet keep the transparent background during export? Is this possible, or do I have to switch when exporting and editing?

Welcome to the forum

File menu > Document Properties > Page tab > General > Background. Click the checkerboard bar to access color controls. So that's how to change the background, but any non-opaque color will show up in the exported PNG. It would be too much of a pain for me to keep switching, but if it doesn't bother you, I guess that's the way to go

jrop wrote:How do I set the editor background to be black, and yet keep the transparent background during export? Is this possible, or do I have to switch when exporting and editing?

Not possible with Inkscape 0.48.x [1] - will be supported in the next major release Inkscape 0.49 (transparency channel no longer used for canvas background color, see Bug #169623 “Canvas color option”).

[1] workaround in current stable versions: create a bottom layer with a page-sized (or larger) flat-colored rectangle, lock the layer and hide it before exporting a bitmap…

Great, thanks for the info. Looking forward to 0.49!