Plotra DocsWorld views
The Graph, the Codex and the Relationships map in detail: filters, the local graph, browsing the world like a wiki, and how to relate two characters.
Three views show the world of the story instead of its order. The Graph draws every note and the links between them. The Codex lets you read your characters, places and other world pages like a wiki. The Relationships map shows who is what to whom.
All three are always available; none needs a module. The World bible module adds more to the Codex.
Three more views about the world belong to Canon: the Release roadmap and Secrets & setups (with the Releases & reveals module) and Continuity (with the World bible module). See The Release roadmap view, Who knows what and Continuity checks.
Graph
Every note is a dot and every link is a line. Use it to see what the story hangs on, and which notes nothing points at.
Opening it
| To open | Do this |
|---|---|
| The whole project | Graph in the ribbon, "Open graph view" in the command palette, or ⌘G |
| The graph around one note | Right-click the note in the binder and choose Local graph, or run "Open local graph of current note". It opens to the right of what you have open. |
What is drawn
- A dot is a note. Its colour is its kind. It grows with the number of links it has and, a little, with its word count.
- A line joins two notes that are linked, in either direction. Two notes get one line however many links there are between them.
There are three kinds of link, drawn at three weights:
| Link | Comes from | Drawn |
|---|---|---|
| Embed | A note embedded in another | Thickest |
| Link | A [[link]] in the text, or a note card on a canvas | Medium |
| Property link | A property that points at a note, such as a scene's POV or Location | Thinnest and faintest |
Labels appear as you zoom in. Bigger dots get theirs first.
The links are read again every 15 seconds while the view is visible, and whenever the binder changes. A link you have just typed takes a few seconds to appear, because links are indexed when the note is saved.
Global and local
Global shows the whole project. Local shows one note and what is around it.
In Local, Depth sets how far to go: 1 shows the notes linked to the centre, 2 adds their links, 3 goes one step further. The centre note always shows its label.
A local graph opened for a note from the binder or the command palette stays on that note. If you switch a global graph to Local, it follows the note you last opened, and changes as you move from note to note.
Search
Type in Search graph to light up the notes whose title or aliases contain the text. The rest are dimmed and the number of matches is shown in the box. Esc clears it.
Filters
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tag list | All tags, or one tag. Only notes with that tag are drawn. Tags set in the properties and tags written in the text both count. |
| Orphans | On: notes with no links are drawn. Off: they are hidden. It starts on. |
| Property links | On: property links are drawn and counted. Off: only links and embeds. It starts on. |
| The row of kinds at the bottom | Each kind with its colour and how many notes of it the project has. Click a kind to hide it, and again to show it. A hidden kind is struck through. |
Folders and timelines are hidden to begin with. In a local graph, the centre note is drawn whatever the filters say.
To find notes nothing links to, leave Orphans on and look at the dots with no lines. To see only the story's people and places, hide every kind but Character and Location.
Filters are not saved. They reset when you close the tab.
Colours
Colour always means kind. Characters, locations, scenes, chapters, research notes and plain notes each have their own colour; world entries share one; folders, canvases, timelines and dialogue trees are grey. The row at the bottom is the key. The colours follow your light or dark theme.
Moving around
| Do this | And |
|---|---|
| Point at a dot | It and its neighbours stay lit; everything else dims |
| Click a dot | Open the note. ⌘-click opens it in a new tab |
| Scroll | Zoom |
| Drag the background | Pan |
| Fit graph (bottom right) | Bring the whole graph back into view |
| Re-run layout (bottom right) | Let the dots settle again |
The layout arranges itself for a couple of seconds whenever notes or links are added, then holds still. Positions are not saved; the graph is laid out afresh each time you open it.
Empty states
| You see | It means |
|---|---|
| "Nothing here yet. Create a note to start your graph." | The project has no notes. A New note button is offered if you can edit. |
| "No notes match these filters." | The filters hide everything. |
| "No links yet. Type [[ in a note to link it to another." | There are notes but no links. |
| "Open a note to see its local graph." | Local is on and no note is open. |
| "This note has no links yet. Type [[ in a note to link it." | The centre note of a local graph has no links. |
How to make links is in Links and backlinks.
Under a spoiler horizon
When a spoiler horizon is on, the graph draws only the notes the audience knows by then.
Codex
The world of the story as pages to read: a list on the left, the page on the right. Open it from the ribbon, with "Open codex", or with ⌘⇧C.
Sections
The top of the left column lists the sections, each with a count:
- Characters, Locations, Research and Notes, in the project's own words for them.
- One section for each world-entry type, such as Factions or Objects, when the project has them. See The world bible.
Click a section to list its entries, in alphabetical order. The codex opens on the section of the note you had open, or on Characters.
Scenes, chapters and folders are not in the codex.
Finding and creating
- The Find in… box filters the section by title and alias.
- The + beside it creates a new entry of that section's kind, called "Untitled character" (or location, and so on), and shows it. It needs edit access to the project.
The page
| Part | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Top line | The kind, the note's aliases after "also", and "revealed in" with a release's name if the note has one. With the World bible module on, the canon status too. |
| Title and Edit | Edit opens the note in the editor in a new tab. ⌘-click opens it to the right. |
| Synopsis | In italics under the title. |
| Tags | The note's tags. |
| The text | The note itself, read-only. |
| Properties | The note's fields and their values, in a box at the side. |
| Mentioned in | Every note that links to this one. Click one to open it. ⌘-click opens it in a new tab. "Nothing links here yet." when there are none. |
The codex is for reading. To change anything on the page, click Edit.
With the World bible module on, an entry whose canon status is not Canon or Draft has a coloured dot beside its name in the list. Point at it for the status.
Entry types
With the World bible module on, and edit access to the project:
- New type… at the bottom of the section list creates a world-entry type.
- Point at a type's section and click the gear to change the type and its fields.
Both open the type dialog described in The world bible.
A shared world
If the project uses another project's world bible, two buttons appear at the top of the left column: This project and the name of the shared world. The second shows the shared world's characters, locations and entry types.
A shared entry is read-only here. Its page says which world it comes from, and Open and the world's name goes to that project. To link to a shared entry from your own notes, type [[ and its name. See Shared worlds.
Following a link to a shared entry opens the codex on that entry.
Under a spoiler horizon
When a spoiler horizon is on, entries the audience does not know yet are left out of your own project's sections, and the foot of the list says how many: "3 not revealed yet at this point". The shared world's entries are not filtered.
Relationships
A map of the project's characters with a labelled line for each relationship between two of them. Open it from the ribbon (its button is labelled Relations), with "Open relationship map", or with ⌘⇧R.
Every character note is on the map, as a pill with its initial, its name and how many relationships it has. Other kinds of note are not.
Adding a relationship
- Press on a character's initial (the circle at the left of the pill).
- Drag to another character and let go anywhere on it.
- The relationship is created as Ally and its panel opens. Choose the type you want.
You need to be able to edit the character you drag from. A character cannot be related to itself. Two characters can have more than one relationship; the lines bow apart so each can be read.
Editing a relationship
Click a line, or its label, to open the panel at the top right. Its heading shows the two names with → for a one-way relationship and ↔ for a mutual one.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Type | One of the built-in types, or Other… to type your own, such as "betrayed" or "owes a debt to". Up to 80 characters. |
| Label | Text shown on the map instead of the type's name. Up to 80 characters. |
| One-way | Draws an arrowhead pointing at the second character. |
| Reverse | Swaps the two characters, so the arrow points the other way. |
| Delete relationship | Removes it at once. |
Editing and deleting need edit access to the first character of the pair. Reverse needs edit access to both. Without it, the panel shows the relationship but its fields are greyed out.
Relationship types
| Type | Colour | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Ally | Green | Mutual |
| Friend | Cyan | Mutual |
| Family | Blue | Mutual |
| Parent of | Violet | One-way |
| Love interest | Pink | Mutual |
| Mentor of | Orange | One-way |
| Rival | Dark orange | Mutual |
| Enemy | Red | Mutual |
| Works for | Grey | One-way |
The key is along the right of the toolbar. A one-way type always has an arrow, from the character you dragged from to the one you dropped on: drag from the parent to the child for "Parent of". A type you typed yourself is drawn in grey and is mutual unless you tick One-way.
The toolbar
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Character | Creates a new character note without opening it. Needs edit access to the project. |
| Only related | Hides characters that have no relationships. |
| Arrange in a circle | Forgets the positions you set and puts everyone back on a circle. |
| Fit everything | Zooms to show the whole map. |
Arranging the map
Drag a character by its name to move it. Characters start on a circle. You can also drag a character from the binder and drop it where you want it.
Double-click a character to open its note in a new tab. Scroll to zoom and drag the background to pan; the buttons at the bottom left zoom and fit.
Positions are kept in your browser, for this project. They do not follow you to another computer, and your co-writers arrange their own. The relationships themselves are stored with the project and are the same for everyone.
Things to know
- You see a relationship only if you can see both characters.
- Deleting a character for good deletes its relationships. A character in the trash is not on the map.
- The map shows everything, whatever the spoiler horizon is.
- With no characters, the view shows "No characters yet" and a New character button.