From 6a131977d36c17b8a4e851d682679e11d89d1879 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Veronica K. B. Olsen" <1619840+vkbo@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2021 11:43:22 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Reorganise and update README --- CONTRIBUTING.md | 2 +- README.md | 199 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------- 2 files changed, 113 insertions(+), 88 deletions(-) diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md index fc03634e..2a87df97 100644 --- a/CONTRIBUTING.md +++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -# Contributing +# Contributing Guide When contributing to this repository, please first discuss the change you wish to make via the issue tracker with the owner of this repository before making a change. If you just want to make a diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 88f61f96..a7426b8a 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -15,81 +15,30 @@ -novelWriter is a Markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels and larger projects of many -smaller plain text documents. It uses its own flavour of Markdown that supports a meta data syntax -for comments, synopsis, and cross-referencing between files. It's designed to be a simple text -editor that allows for easy organisation of text files and notes, built on plain text files for -robustness. +novelWriter is a Markdown-like text editor designed for writing novels assembled from many smaller +text documents. It uses a minimal formatting syntax inspired by Markdown, and adds a meta data +syntax for comments, synopsis, and cross-referencing between files. It's designed to be a simple +text editor that allows for easy organisation of text files and notes, built on plain text files +for robustness. -The plain text storage is suitable for version control software, and also well suited for file -synchronisation tools. The core project structure is stored in a project XML file. Other meta data -is primarily saved in JSON files. +The plain text files are suitable for version control software, and also well suited for file +synchronisation tools. The core project structure is stored in a single project XML file. Other +meta data is primarily saved in JSON files. The full documentation is available at [novelwriter.readthedocs.io](https://novelwriter.readthedocs.io/). -The contributing guide is available at -[CONTRIBUTING](https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md). - - ## Implementation The application is written in Python 3 using Qt5 via PyQt5. It is developed on Linux, but it should in principle work fine on other operating systems as well as long as dependencies are met. The unit tests are run on the latest versions of Ubuntu Linux, Windows Server and macOS. +## Project Contributions -# Installing and Running - -For install instructions, please check the [documentation](https://novelwriter.readthedocs.io/) in -the [Getting Started](https://novelwriter.readthedocs.io/en/latest/int_started.html) section. - -## TLDR Instructions - -**Note:** You may need to replace `python` with `python3` and `pip` with `pip3` in the instructions -below on some systems. You may also want to add the `--user` flag for `pip` to install in your user -space only. - -### Install from PyPi - -novelWriter is available on [pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/novelWriter/), and can be installed -with: -```bash -pip install novelwriter -``` -Dependencies should be installed automatically, but can also be installed directly with: -```bash -pip install pyqt5 lxml pyenchant -``` - -### Setup on Linux - -If you're running from source, the following commands will set up novelWriter on Linux: -```bash -pip install -r requirements.txt -python setup.py install -python setup.py xdg-install -``` - -### Setup on macOS - -If you're running from source, the following commands will set up novelWriter on macOS: -```bash -brew install enchant -pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt -pip3 install --user pyobjc -``` - -### Setup on Windows - -For Windows, you can either install via PyPi, or use the Windows installer available from the -[releases](https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/releases) page. - -## Debugging - -If you need to debug novelWriter, you must run it from command line. It takes a few parameters, -which can be listed with the switch `--help`. The `--info`, `--debug` or `--verbose` flags are -particularly useful for increasing logging output for debugging. +Contributions to this project are welcome. However, please read the Contributing Guide before +submitting larger additions ot changes to this project. You can find the guide here: +[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md). # Key Features @@ -99,8 +48,9 @@ Some features of novelWriter are listed below. Consult the ### Markdown Flavour -novelWriter is _not_ a full-feature Markdown editor. It allows for a minimal set of formatting -needed for writing text documents for novels. These are currently limited to: +novelWriter is _not_ a full-feature Markdown editor. It is a plain text editor that uses +Markdown-like syntax for adding a minimal set of formatting that is useful for the specific task +of writing novels. The formatting is currently limited to: * Headings level 1 to 4 using the `#` syntax only. * Emphasised and strongly emphasised text. These are rendered as italicised and bold text. @@ -116,20 +66,19 @@ In addition, novelWriter adds the following, which is otherwise not supported by the comment is indexed and treated as the synopsis for the section of text under the same header. These synopsis comments can be used to build an outline and exported to external documents. * A set of meta data keyword/values starting with the character `@`. This is used for tagging - and inter-linking documents, and can be used to generate a project outline. -* Non-breaking spaces are supported as long as your system is using at least Qt 5.9. For earlier - version, non-breaking spaces are converted to normal spaces when saving the document. This is - done by the Qt library. -* Thin spaces are also supported, as well as non-breaking thin spaces, with the same library - version restriction as above. -* Tabs can be used in the text, and should be properly aligned. The width of a tab in pixels can be - changed in Preferences. Note that for the HTML format, most browsers will treat a tab as a space, - so it may not show up like expected. If you import the HTML file to Libre Office, for instance, - they should appear as expected. + and inter-linking documents, and can also be included when generate a project outline. +* A variety of thin and non-breaking spaces are supported. Some of them depend on the system + running at least Qt 5.9. +* Tabs can be used in the text, and should be properly aligned in both editor and viewer. This can + be used to make simple tables and lists. Full Markdown tables and lists are not supported. Note + that for HTML exports, most browsers will treat a tab as a space, so it may not show up like + expected. If you import the HTML file to Libre Office, for instance, they should appear as + expected. The core export format of novelWriter is HTML5. You can also export the entire project as a single -novelWriter Markdown-flavour document. In addition, other exports to Open Document, PDF, and plain -text is offered through the Qt library, although with limitations to formatting. +novelWriter Markdown-flavour document. These can be imported again into novelWriter. In addition, +other exports to Open Document, PDF, and plain text is offered through the Qt library, although +with limitations to formatting. The HTML format is well suited for file conversion tools and import into other text editors. @@ -137,20 +86,16 @@ The HTML format is well suited for file conversion tools and import into other t ### Colour Themes The editor has syntax highlighting for the features it supports, and includes a set of different -syntax highlighting themes. The GUI also has an optional dark theme in addition to the default -system theme. - -New themes can easily be added to the `nw/assets/themes` folder. Have a look in the existing -folders for examples of how to define the colours. +syntax highlighting themes. Optional GUI themes are also available, including dark themes. ### Easy Organising of Project Files The structure of the project is shown on the left hand side of the main GUI. Project files are organised into root folders, indicating what class of file they are. The most important root folder -is the Novel folder, which contains all of the files that makes up the finished novel. Each root -folder can have subfolders. Folders have no impact on the final project structure, they are purely -tools for organising the files in whatever way the user needs. +is the `Novel` folder, which contains all of the files that make up the finished novel. Each root +folder can have subfolders. Folders have no impact on the final project structure, they are there +for you to organise your files in whatever way you need. The editor supports four levels of headings, which determines what level the following text belongs to. Headings of level one signify a book or partition title. Headings of level two signify the @@ -177,7 +122,87 @@ are clickable in the document view pane, and control-clickable in the editor. Th to quickly navigate between the documents while editing. -## Licenses +# Installing and Running + +For install instructions, please check the [documentation](https://novelwriter.readthedocs.io/) in +the [Getting Started](https://novelwriter.readthedocs.io/en/latest/int_started.html) section. + + +## TLDR Instructions + +If you want to run novelWriter directly from the source code, you must run the `novelWriter.py` +file from command line. For installations on Linux, macOS or Windows, see below. + +**Note:** You may need to replace `python` with `python3` and `pip` with `pip3` in the instructions +below on some systems. You may also want to add the `--user` flag for `pip` to install in your user +space only. + + +### Install from PyPi + +novelWriter is available on [pypi.org](https://pypi.org/project/novelWriter/), and can be installed +with: +```bash +pip install novelwriter +``` +Dependencies should be installed automatically, but can also be installed directly with: +```bash +pip install pyqt5 lxml pyenchant +``` + +When installing via pip, novelWriter can be launched from command line with: +```bash +novelWriter +``` + +Make sure the install location for pip is in your PATH variable. This is not always the case by +default. + + +### Setup on Linux + +If you're installing from source, the following commands will set up novelWriter on Linux: +```bash +pip install -r requirements.txt +python setup.py install +python setup.py xdg-install +``` + +This should make novelWriter available as a regular application on your system, with a launceher +icon and file association with novelWriter project files. + +### Setup on macOS + +If you're installing from source, the following commands will set up novelWriter on macOS: +```bash +brew install enchant +pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt +pip3 install --user pyobjc +python setup.py install +``` + +At present, novelWriter isn't further integrated into the OS, so you must launch it from command +line with: +```bash +novelWriter +``` + + +### Setup on Windows + +For Windows, you can either install via PyPi, or use the Windows installer available from the +[releases](https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/releases) page. This should add the necessary icons +to your desktop and start menu. + + +## Debugging + +If you need to debug novelWriter, you must run it from command line. It takes a few parameters, +which can be listed with the switch `--help`. The `--info`, `--debug` or `--verbose` flags are +particularly useful for increasing logging output for debugging. + + +# Licenses This is Open Source software, and novelWriter is licensed under GPLv3. See the [GNU General Public License website](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html) for more @@ -204,7 +229,7 @@ Bundled assets have the following licenses: [sdras/night-owl-vscode-theme](https://github.com/sdras/night-owl-vscode-theme). -## Screenshot +# Screenshot **novelWriter with default system theme:** ![Screenshot 1](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vkbo/novelWriter/main/docs/source/images/screenshot_default.png)