Update docs on install and project storage (#976)

* Add note to docs about Ubuntu repo on Debian (issue #956)
* Add section on project storage to docs (covers issue #960)
This commit is contained in:
Veronica Berglyd Olsen
2022-01-25 18:29:23 +01:00
committed by GitHub
parent 85ea9f5b19
commit 71419eeda3
3 changed files with 47 additions and 6 deletions
+1 -1
View File
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ robustness.
The project storage is suitable for version control software, and also well suited for file
synchronisation tools. All text is saved as plain text files with a meta data header. The core
project structure is stored in a single project XML file. Other meta data is primarily saved as
JSON files. See also the :ref:`a_storage` section for more details.
JSON files. See the :ref:`a_intro_storage` section for more details.
Any operating system that can run Python 3 and has the Qt 5 libraries should be able to run
novelWriter. It runs fine on Linux, Windows and macOS, and users have tested it on other platforms
+41 -5
View File
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ novelWriter is a simple, multi-document plain text editor using a markup syntax
markdown to apply simple formatting to the text. It is designed for writing novels, so the
formatting features are limited.
The idea is to let the user focus on writing instead of spending time messing with the formatting
of headers and text. Therefore you cannot change the look of the text in the editor window.
Instead, you provide formatting tags where they're needed, like for instance which text is a
header, where you want text bolded or italicised, and what alignment you want for paragraphs. The
actual formatting is then added to the text when you run the :guilabel:`Build Novel Project` tool.
The idea is to let the user focus on writing instead of spending time on the formatting of headers
and text. Therefore you cannot change the look of the text in the editor window. Instead, you
provide formatting tags where they're needed, like for instance which text is a header, where you
want text bolded or italicised, and what alignment you want for paragraphs. The actual formatting
is then added to the text when you run the :guilabel:`Build Novel Project` tool.
A document viewer to the right of the editor can also show a renderred version of any document if
you want to inspect the result, or just want to keep a second document open for reference when
@@ -41,6 +41,42 @@ correctly.
An overview of the supported formatting syntax is covered in :ref:`a_ui`.
.. _a_intro_storage:
Project Storage
===============
The files of a novelWriter project are stored in a dedicated project folder. The project structure
is kept in a file at the root of this folder called ``nwProject.nwx``. All the document files and
associated meta data is stored in the other folders below the project folder. For more technical
details about what all the files mean and how they're organised, see the :ref:`a_storage` section.
This way of storing data was chosen for several reasons. Firstly, all the text you add to your
project is saved directly to your project folder in separate files. Only the project structure and
the text you are currently editing is stored in memory at any given time. Secondly, having multiple
small files means it is very easy to sync them between computers with standard file synchronisation
tools. Thirdly, if you use version control software to track the changes to your project, the file
formats used for the files are well suited for this.
.. note::
Since novelWriter has to keep track of a bunch of files and folders when a project is open, it
may not run well on some virtual file systems. A file or folder must be accessible with exactly
the path it was saved or created with. An example where this is not the case is the way Google
Drive is mapped on Linux Gnome desktops using gvfs/gio.
.. warning::
You should not add additional files to the project folder yourself. Nor should you manually edit
files within it as a general rule. If you really must manually edit the text files, e.g. with
some automated task you want to perform, you need to rebuild the index when you open the project
again.
Editing text files in the ``content`` folder is less risky as they are just plain text. Editing
the main project XML file, however, may make the project file unreadable and you may crash
novelWriter and lose project structure information and project settings.
.. _a_intro_design:
Design Philosophy
+5
View File
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@ Then run the update and install commands as for Ubuntu:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install novelwriter
.. note::
Please use the Ubuntu 20.04 packages for Debian. The newer Ubuntu packages use a different
compression that Debian doesn't currently support.
Pre-Releases
------------