Plotra DocsModules
Switch on only the tools your project needs. What a module is, the ten there are, what each adds, and what happens when you switch one off.
A novelist doesn't need a shot list, and a studio shouldn't have to go without one. Plotra keeps its specialised tools in modules: sets of views, commands and inspector sections that a project switches on when it needs them. A new project starts with few, so the screen stays small, and the rest are one click away.
Modules are not a paid feature. Every module works in every project type and on every plan.
What a module changes
Switching a module on can add:
- views, which appear under More in the ribbon and get an "Open …" command in the command palette;
- commands in the command palette;
- sections of the inspector, and entries in menus such as the binder's New menu or the editor's block menu.
A module belongs to the project, not to you. When it is on, it is on for everyone in the project.
The ten modules
| Module | What it is for | Page |
|---|---|---|
| World bible | Custom entity types, canon status, retcon history and continuity sheets. | Canon |
| Releases & reveals | Books, episodes or patches; what each reveals; "world as of release X"; who knows what; foreshadowing. | Canon |
| Research & sources | Citations and a bibliography, clipped pages and files, fact-check status per claim. | Research and sources |
| Review & editorial | Your own status workflow, required reviewers, locked content, beta readers and a changelog per release. | Review and editorial |
| Script formats (Beta) | Screenplay, stage play, comic and audio script elements with industry formatting and Fountain. | Script formats |
| Production (Beta) | Script breakdowns, recording sheets with line status, and shot lists from storyboards. | Production |
| Interactive narrative (Beta) | Branching dialogue, quests, short strings with limits, and Ink / Yarn / Twine export. | Interactive narrative |
| Localization (Beta) | Side-by-side translation, a glossary, CSV and XLIFF for translators, subtitles. | Localization |
| Publishing | EPUB, manuscript and script formats, a series bible, and a spoiler-safe public wiki. | Publishing |
| AI agent | Ask questions about the project and rewrite or continue text, on each person's own model. | The AI agent |
What each one adds to the screen
| Module | Views | Commands | Inspector and menus |
|---|---|---|---|
| World bible | Continuity | "Open continuity" | Canon status in the Story tab and in "Tag block". Kinds of your own (Faction, Object and seven more to begin with) in the binder's New menu, under Change kind and as sections of the Codex. Born and Died on characters. |
| Releases & reveals | Release roadmap, Secrets & setups | "Open release roadmap", "Open secrets & setups" | "Revealed to the audience" in the Story tab, and a reveal in "Tag block". The spoiler horizon, "World as of". |
| Research & sources | Sources | "Open sources" | Citation in the editor's block menu (/). A fact-check claim in "Tag block". The Story tab. |
| Review & editorial | Reviews | "Open reviews" | A review section in the inspector's Properties. Reactions on a passage, for anyone who can comment. Reviewers for stages that need approval. |
| Script formats | None | "Import Fountain…", "Export as Fountain" | The format switcher on a note: Prose, Screenplay, Stage play, Comic script, Audio script. |
| Production | Production | "Open production" | A breakdown tag (cast, props, wardrobe and so on) in the toolbar that appears when you select text. Played by on characters. |
| Interactive narrative | Quests, Strings | "Open quest designer", "Open strings (short-text fields)" | Dialogue as a kind of note in the New menu. A Quest kind. "Strings and dialogue lines" as a scope in the Translate view. |
| Localization | Translate | "Open translate" | None. |
| Publishing | Publish | "Open publish" | None. |
| AI agent | AI | "Open AI chat", "Ask AI…", "AI: Draft this scene or chapter", "AI: Check this chapter", "AI: Carry a change through the project…", "AI: Build the project from a premise…" | An AI tab in the inspector. |
The inspector's Story tab is there when any of World bible, Releases & reveals or Research & sources is on.
The views that need no module (Graph, Codex, Outline, Plot grid, Relationships, Corkboard, Manuscript, Read, Activity, Stats) are described in Views.
Which modules a project starts with
The project's type decides. A novel starts with none; a screenplay starts with Script formats; a tabletop campaign starts with World bible and Releases & reveals. The full table is in Project types.
A sample project has every module its type is meant for switched on.
Switching a module on
Only people who manage the project can: the workspace's owner and admins. A member or a guest editor sees the modules that are on, but is not offered the others.
There are four places:
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Project settings → Modules | Tick the module. See Project settings. |
| More → More tools in the ribbon | Lists the modules "Not switched on in this project". Choose one. |
| A step of the Getting started checklist | A step that needs a module shows Turn on …. |
| Project settings → Kinds | Turn on World bible. |
The last three open the same prompt: "Turn on module?", with what it is and the views it adds. Press Turn on, or Not now to leave things as they are. Plotra confirms with "Module is on."
The new views appear under More in the ribbon, for everyone in the project, straight away. To keep one in your ribbon, see Customising the ribbon.
The first time a module is on, Plotra adds what it relies on, the next time someone who can edit opens the project:
- World bible: the nine starting kinds, if the project has no kinds yet, and Born and Died on characters;
- Interactive narrative: the Quest kind;
- Production: Played by on characters.
Switching a module off
Untick it under Project settings → Modules. That is the only place.
Nothing is deleted. The module's views, commands and inspector sections go away, and everything made with them stays in the project for when you switch it back on. In particular:
- Notes stay in the binder. A dialogue or a world entry is still there and still opens, even though the New menu no longer offers that kind.
- A note written in a script format stays in that format, and keeps its format switcher.
- Releases, reveals, canon statuses, who-knows-what entries, translations, reviews and breakdown tags are kept. They are simply not shown.
- The module's views are gone from More, from the ribbon and from the command palette, for everyone.
In the Modules list, a module you have switched by hand is tagged set by you. It then stays as you set it even if the project's type changes. Put it back to the type's default and the tag goes.
Beta modules
Four modules carry a Beta tag: Script formats, Production, Interactive narrative and Localization. They are the newer modules, built and open to everyone on every plan. The tag is shown wherever the module is offered, and on the project types that are built around them.
If something in a Beta module is wrong, open an issue.
The AI agent is opt-in
The AI agent is the one module no project type starts with, and the one that needs a second switch.
- An owner or admin switches AI on for the workspace, in the workspace's settings.
- Only then does AI agent appear in Project settings → Modules. Tick it for each project that should have it. It is never listed under More tools.
- Each person who uses it must be able to edit the project, and needs a model to run it on.
Notes the agent reads are sent to the provider that person chose. See The AI agent.
Limits on the hosted version
No limit locks a feature, deletes your work or blocks export. What the limits are on each plan, why they exist, and what happens when you reach one.
Keyboard shortcuts
Every command and every key in a project, grouped as the app groups them, and how to change the ones you can.