Plotra DocsThe editor
Everything the page you write on can do: blocks, formatting, Markdown shortcuts, tables, images, block tags, focus mode, word counts, and what happens when you are offline.
The editor is the page a note opens in. It stays out of the way while you write: there is no fixed toolbar, the formatting bar appears only when you select text, and everything else is one key away. What you type is saved as you type it, and it reaches everyone else who has the note open.
Scenes, chapters, notes, characters, locations, research notes, world entries and folders all open in the editor. Canvases, timelines and dialogues open in views of their own; see Views.
The page
From top to bottom, a note shows:
- A trail: the folders the note sits in, then its kind. Labels appear here when they apply: Read only or Can comment when you can't edit, Locked when a review stage has locked the note, and Suggesting while your edits are tracked as suggestions (click it to edit directly again).
- The title. Type to rename the note.
Enter, or↓at the end of the title, moves into the text.Escputs the old title back. A title can be 200 characters long; an empty one goes back to what it was. - The text.
An empty note shows a line of grey text in place of a bare cursor: a way in that fits the kind of note ("Open on a line of dialogue."), followed by the two keys worth knowing. The same note always shows the same line. To get the plain "Start writing." back, open Customize and switch off Suggest a way in when a note is empty.
How the page looks
The typeface and spacing of the page are yours, not the project's. Open Customize from the More menu in the ribbon, or run "Customize: ribbon, inspector and the look of the page" from the command palette, and go to The page.
| Setting | Choices | Starts as |
|---|---|---|
| Typeface | Serif, Sans-serif, Typewriter | Serif |
| Text size | Small, Medium, Large, Extra large | Medium |
| Line width | Narrow, Normal, Wide | Normal |
| Line spacing | Tight, Normal, Relaxed | Normal |
| Paragraphs | Space between, First line indented | Space between |
These are saved with your account, so they are the same in every project and on every device, and nobody else's screen changes. They only affect the page you write on: printed and exported pages have their own formats. A note in a script format keeps that format's layout whatever you choose here.
Blocks
A note is made of blocks: a paragraph, a heading, a list item, a table. Type / at the start of a line or after a space to open the block menu, keep typing to filter it, and press Enter to insert.
| Block | What it is | Also made by |
|---|---|---|
| Text | A paragraph. | |
| Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 | Headings. They build the note's outline in the inspector and can be linked to. | #, ## or ### and a space; ⌘⌥1, ⌘⌥2, ⌘⌥3 |
| Bulleted list | - or * and a space | |
| Numbered list | 1. or 1) and a space | |
| To-do list | A list with a checkbox on each line. Click the box to tick it; a ticked line is greyed and struck through. | [ ] and a space, or [x] for one already ticked |
| Quote | An indented, italic passage. | > and a space; ⌘⇧. |
| Callout | A shaded box with a light-bulb icon, for an aside. | |
| Table | Starts with three columns and three rows. See Tables. | |
| Image | A picture from a web address. See Images. | |
| Divider | A horizontal line, for a scene break. | --- or ___ |
Below the blocks, the menu has a Links group:
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Link to note | Starts a link to another note, the same as typing [[. |
| Embed note | Shows another note inside this one, the same as typing  | A link |
The block shortcuts (#, -, 1., [ ], >, ---) are in the table under Blocks.
Typography
The editor sets the punctuation a manuscript expects.
| Type | You get |
|---|---|
" and ' | Curly quotes, opening or closing as needed |
-- | An em dash |
... | An ellipsis |
-> | An arrow |
(c) | A copyright sign |
Web links
Select text and press ⌘K, or choose Link in the toolbar. A small box asks for the address ("Paste link") and the text to show ("Text to display"). A web address that you paste, or type and follow with a space or Enter, becomes a link on its own.
Put the cursor in a link to get Edit link, a button that opens it in a new browser tab, and Remove link.
Links to other notes
Type [[ and start typing a note's name. Pick one from the list and the link is made. If no note has that name, the list offers to create it.
Type ![[ to embed a note instead: its text appears inside this one, read-only, and stays up to date as the other note changes.
Hold the pointer over a link for a moment and a preview card shows the note it points to: its title, its synopsis and the first lines of its text. Click a link to open the note, ⌘-click to open it in a new tab, and ⌘⌥-click to open it to the right.
A link to a note in the trash is struck through. A link to a note you can't see reads "Restricted note".
Headings, shown text, backlinks, unlinked mentions and shared worlds are covered on Links and backlinks.
Tags in the text
Write # followed by a word anywhere in the text and the note carries that tag: #subplot, or nested with a slash, #subplot/romance. The # has to come at the start of a line or after a space, and the tag can't be only digits, so "chapter #3" doesn't make one.
Tags written in the text are listed in the inspector under Tags as "In the text", and they count in the tags pane beside the ones you add as a property. See Tags.
Tables
Insert a table from the block menu. It starts at three by three. Click inside it and a small toolbar appears above its top-left corner:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Row above | Adds a row above the one the cursor is in. |
| Row below | Adds a row below it. |
| Column | Adds a column. |
| Delete row | Removes the cursor's row. |
| Delete column | Removes the cursor's column. |
| Delete table | Removes the whole table. |
A table that is wider than the page scrolls sideways.
Images
Choose Image in the block menu and a prompt asks for the Image URL. The address has to start with http:// or https://; anything else is ignored.
Images are linked, not uploaded
The editor doesn't upload pictures from your computer, and an image file pasted or dropped into the text is not inserted. An image is shown from the address you give, so it disappears from the note if that address stops working.
An image is centred and scaled to fit the page. There is no caption or resizing.
Moving blocks
Hold the pointer over a block and a handle appears in the margin to its left.
- Drag the handle to move the block. A line shows where it will land.
- Click the handle to select the whole block. A selected block is tinted. Selected blocks move together when you drag one of them, and
⌘⌥Ttags all of them at once. - A list item takes the items indented under it along.
Handles are on top-level blocks only: a row or a cell of a table can't be dragged by itself. They are not shown in a note you can't edit.
Block tags
A single block can say something different from its note: a line that is still speculative on a page that is canon, a paragraph that isn't revealed until a later book, a claim that needs a source.
Put the cursor in a block, or select several, and press ⌘⌥T (the command is "Tag block (canon, reveal, fact-check)…"). The dialog sets the block's Canon status, when and where it is Revealed, its Layer, and its Fact-check state with a Source. Which of these are offered depends on the modules that are on. Clear tags removes them all.
A tagged block has a coloured line down its left side and small labels at its right. Click a label to change the tags. Under a spoiler horizon, a block the audience hasn't been told about yet is blurred until you point at it or put the cursor in it.
Tags belong to the block, so they travel with it when it is moved, copied or restored from a version. They are applied directly, even while you are suggesting. What the tags mean is covered on Canon and the spoiler horizon and Research.
Focus mode
Focus mode (⌘⇧F) hides the ribbon, the binder, the inspector and the status bar. If the window is split, the pane you are writing in fills it; the other panes come back when you leave.
Leave with Esc, or with the Leave focus (Esc) button that appears at the bottom right when you move the pointer.
You can also turn it on from More in the ribbon.
Typewriter scrolling
Typewriter scrolling (⌘⇧T) keeps the line you are writing in the middle of the pane, so your eyes stay in one place and the text moves instead. It works together with focus mode or without it. Turn it on from the command palette or from More in the ribbon, where it shows a tick while it is on.
Focus mode, typewriter scrolling and suggesting are switches for the sitting: all three are off again when you reload the page.
Word counts
The status bar at the bottom of the window counts as you type.
| Shown | What it counts |
|---|---|
| words and chars | The open note. Characters include spaces but not line breaks. |
| words in project | Every note that isn't in the trash, as last saved. It follows a little behind your typing. |
| this session | The words you have typed since you opened the project, against your session goal if you set one. Click it for writing stats and goals. |
A word is a run of letters or digits; an apostrophe or a hyphen inside it doesn't split it, so "don't" and "well-known" are one word each. The text of an embedded note isn't counted in the note that embeds it.
The Properties panel of the inspector shows the same counts for the open note, with a Reading time worked out at 230 words a minute.
Saving and working offline
There is no save button. Every change is sent to the server as you make it, and a copy of each note you open is kept in your browser.
The status bar shows where things stand:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Synced | Every change is on the server. |
| Connecting… | Reaching the collaboration server. |
| Offline | Changes are kept on this device and sync when you're back online. |
While you are offline you can keep writing in any note you have opened on this device before. Its tab shows a dot, like an unsaved file, until the changes have gone up. When the connection returns, your changes and everyone else's are merged; see If your connection drops.
A note you have never opened on this device can't be shown offline. It says: "Can't reach the collaboration server, and this note isn't saved on this device yet. Retrying…", and opens once the connection is back.
The text is what works offline. Changes to the binder (a new note, a rename, a move, a property) need the server. If one is still on its way when you close or reload the tab, the browser asks before leaving.
To go back to an earlier state of a note, use its version history.
When you can't edit
What the editor lets you do follows your role in the project; see Roles and permissions.
| You are | The trail shows | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| A viewer | Read only | The text and the title can't be changed. No formatting toolbar, no drag handles, no checkboxes to tick. Links, previews and embeds work as usual. |
| A commenter | Can comment | The same, except that selecting text shows a Comment button beside it. |
| An editor, in a locked note | Locked | A note in a locked review stage can only be changed by its approvers. Everyone else can read and comment. See Review and editorial. |
With the Review & editorial module on, the button beside a selection also offers reactions, for editors as well as commenters.
Things to know
- There is no fixed toolbar and no right-click menu of the editor's own. Everything is in the block menu, the selection toolbar and the shortcuts.
- An embedded note can itself contain embeds, two levels deep. Past that it shows "Embedded too deeply to show here."
- Every shortcut on this page is listed, with the ones you can change, on Keyboard shortcuts.