Veronica K. B. Olsen
355 lines
18 KiB
ReStructuredText
355 lines
18 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _a_ui:
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***************
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User Interface
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***************
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The user interface is kept as simple as possible to avoid distractions when writing.
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.. _a_ui_tree:
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The Project Tree
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================
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The main window contains a Project Tree in the left-most panel. It shows the entire structure of the
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project. It has four columns:
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Label
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The first column shows the item icon and its label. The labels can be edited from the menu, or by
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pressing :kbd:`F2` or :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`E`.
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Words
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The second column shows the word count of the file, or the sum of words in the child items if it
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is a folder. If the counts seem incorrect, they can be updated by rebuilding the Project Index
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from the menu, or by pressing :kbd:`F9`.
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Inc
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The third column indicates whether the file is included in the final project build or not. You
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may want to filter out files that you no longer want to keep in the final manuscript, but want to
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keep in the project for reference.
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Flags
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The fourth column shows various meta data flags for the item. The first is an icon indicating the
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importance or status of the file. These are colour coded status levels that you control and
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define. They can be changed in Project Settings. The first character after the icon indicates the
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class of the item, that is ``N`` for **Novel**, ``C`` for **Character**, etc (see
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:ref:`a_struct_tags`. The second character indicates the file layout type (see
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:ref:`a_proj_roots`).
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Below the Project Tree is a small details panel showing the full information of the currently
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selected item. This panel also includes the latest paragraph and character counts.
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.. _a_ui_edit:
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Editing and Viewing Documents
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=============================
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To edit a document, double-click the file in the tree view, or press the :kbd:`Return` key while
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having it selected. This will open the document in the Editor. The Editor uses a simplified markdown
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format. The format is described in the :ref:`a_ui_md` section below. The Editor has a maximise
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button (activates Focus Mode) and a close button in the top-right corner.
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Any document in the Project Tree can also be viewed in parallel in a right hand side view panel or
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the Viewer. To view a document, press :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`R`, or select :menuselection:`View Document`
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in the menu. The document viewed does not have to be the same document currently being edited. If
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you *are* viewing the same document though, pressing :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`R` again will update the
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document with your latest changes. You can also press the little reload button in the top-right
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corner of the view panel next to the close button.
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Both the Editor and the Viewer will show the label of the document in the document header at the
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top of the edit or view panel. Optionally, the full project path to the file can be shown. This can
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be set in Preferences dialog. Clicking on the document title bar will select and reveal the file
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in the Project Tree, making it easier to find the project location of the file in a large project.
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Any reference to a tag in the Editor can be opened in the Viewer by moving the cursor to the label
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and pressing :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Return`. In the Viewer, the references become clickable links.
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Clicking them will replace the content of the Viewer with the content of the document the reference
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points to.
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At the bottom of the Viewer's panel there is a References panel (click the icon if it is hidden)
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that will show links to all documents referring back to it. The Sticky button will freeze the
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content of the panel to the current document, even if you navigate to another document. This is
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convenient if you want to quickly look through all documents in the list.
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.. note::
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The References panel relies on an up-to-date index of the project. If anything is missing, or
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seems wrong, the index can always be rebuilt from :menuselection:`Tools --> Rebuild Index` or by
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pressing :kbd:`F9`.
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.. _a_ui_md:
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Markdown Format
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===============
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The Editor uses a simplified markdown format. That is, it supports basic formatting like emphasis
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(italic), strong emphasis (bold) and strikethrough text, as well as four levels of headings.
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Some non-standard markdown features have been added. For instance, novelWriter allows for comments,
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a synopsis tag, and a set of keyword/value sets used for tags and references.
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.. _a_ui_md_head:
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Headings
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--------
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Four levels of headings are allowed. For files of type "Note", they are free to be used as you see
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fit, but for all other file layouts used for the novel text itself, they indicate the structural
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level of the novel. See :ref:`a_struct_heads` for more details.
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``# Title``
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Heading level one. The space after the # is mandatory. If the file is a novel file, the header
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level indicates the start of a new partition.
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``## Title``
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Heading level two. The space after the # is mandatory. If the file is a novel file, the header
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level indicates the start of a new chapter.
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``### Title``
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Heading level three. The space after the # is mandatory. If the file is a novel file, the header
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level indicates the start of a new scene.
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``#### Title``
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Heading level four. The space after the # is mandatory. If the file is a novel file, the header
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level indicates the start of a new section.
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.. _a_ui_md_emph:
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Text Emphasis
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-------------
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In markdown it is often recommended to differentiate between strong emphasis and emphasis by using
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``**`` for strong emphasis and ``_`` for emphasis, although markdown generally supports also ``__``
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for strong emphasis and ``*`` fdr emphasis. However, since the differentiation makes the
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highlighting and conversion significantly simpler and faster, in novelWriter this is a rule, not
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just a recommendation.
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``_text_``
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The text is rendered as emphasised text (italicised).
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``**text**``
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The text is rendered as strongly emphasised text (bold).
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``~~text~~``
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Strikethrough text.
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There are also some additional rules:
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1. The emphasis and strikethrough formatting tags do not allow spaces between the words and the tag
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itself. That is, ``**text**`` is valid, ``**text **`` is not.
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2. More generally, the delimiters must be on the outer edge of words. That is, ``some **text in
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bold** here`` is valid, ``some** text in bold** here`` is not.
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3. If using both ``**`` and ``_`` to wrap the same text, the underscore must be the inner wrapper.
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This is due to the underscore also being a valid word character, so if they are on the outside,
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they violate rule 2.
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.. _a_ui_md_comm:
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Comments and Synopsis
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---------------------
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In addition to these standard markdown features, the novelWriter also allows for comments in the
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text files. The text of the comment is ignored by the word counter and not exported or, optionally,
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hidden when viewing the document. If the first word of a comment is ``Synopsis:`` (with the colon),
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the comment is treated specially, and will show up in the :ref:`a_ui_outline`.
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``% text...``
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A comment. The text is not exported by default (this can be overridden), seen in the Viewer, or
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counted towards word counts.
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``% Synopsis: text...``
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A synopsis comment. It is generally treated in the same way as regular comments, except that it
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is captured by the indexing algorithm and displayed in the :ref:`a_ui_outline`. It can also be
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filtered separately when exporting the project to for instance generate an outline document of
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the whole project.
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.. _a_ui_md_tags:
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Tags and References
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-------------------
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The Editor also has a minimal set of keywords used for setting tags and references between files.
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``@keyword: value``
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A keyword argument followed by a value, or a comma separated list of values.
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The available tag and reference keywords are listed in the :ref:`a_struct_tags` section.
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.. _a_ui_md_add:
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Additional Markdown and Non-Standard Features
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---------------------------------------------
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The Editor and Viewer also supports markdown standard hard line breaks, and preserves non-breaking
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spaces if running with Qt 5.9 or higher.
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* A hard line break is achieved by leaving two or more spaces at the end of the line. Alternatively,
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the user can press :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Return` to insert this.
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* A non-breaking space is inserted with :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Space`.
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* Thin spaces are also supported, and can be inserted with :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`Space`.
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* Non-breaking thin space can be inserted with :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Space`.
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These are all insert features, and the :menuselection:`Insert` menu has more. They are also listed
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in :ref:`a_ui_shortcuts_ins`.
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Both hard line breaks and non-breaking spaces are highlighted by the syntax highlighter as an
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alternate coloured background, depending on the selected theme.
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.. _a_ui_outline:
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Project Outline View
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====================
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The Project Outline View is available as the second tab on the right hand side of the main window
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labelled "Outline". The Outline View provides an overview of the novel structure, displaying a tree
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hierarchy of the elements of the novel, that is, the level 1 to 4 headings.
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.. note::
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Since the internal structure of the novel does not depend on the file structure of the Project
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Tree, these will not necessarily look the same. See the :ref:`a_struct` page for more details.
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Various meta data and information extracted from tags can be displayed in columns in the Outline
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View. A default set is visible, but you can turn on or off more columns by right clicking the header
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and selecting the columns you want to show. The order of the columns can also be rearranged by
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dragging them to a different position.
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.. note::
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The Title column cannot be disabled or moved.
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The information viewed in the Outline View is based on the Project Index. While novelWriter does its
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best to keep the index up to date when content changes, you can always rebuild it manually by
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pressing :kbd:`F9` if something isn't right.
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The Outline View itself can be regenerated by pressing :kbd:`F10`. You can also enable automatic
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updating in the :menuselection:`Tools` menu, which will trigger an update whenever the index is
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updated and the Outline tab is activated. You may want to disable this feature if your project is
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very large,
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.. _a_ui_outline_synopsis:
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Synopsis Column
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---------------
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The "Synopsis" column of the Outline View takes its information from a specially formatted comment.
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See :ref:`a_ui_md_comm`. In order to flag a comment as a synopsis, add the word ``Synopsis:`` as the
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first word of the comment. The ``:`` is required, and the word ``synopsis`` is not case sensitive.
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If it is correctly formatted, the syntax highlighter will indicate this by altering the colour of
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the word.
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.. note::
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Only one comment can be flagged as a synopsis comment for each heading. If multiple comments are
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flagged as a synopsis, the last one will be used.
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.. _a_ui_shortcuts:
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Keyboard Shortcuts
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==================
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Most features are available as keyboard shortcuts. These are as following:
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.. csv-table:: Keyboard Shortcuts
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:header: "Shortcut", "Description"
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:widths: 30, 70
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:class: "tight-table"
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":kbd:`Alt`:kbd:`1`", "Switch focus to the Project Tree."
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":kbd:`Alt`:kbd:`2`", "Switch focus to Editor."
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":kbd:`Alt`:kbd:`3`", "Switch focus to Viewer."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`.`", "Open menu to correct word under cursor."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`,`", "Open the Preferences dialog."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`/`", "Change block format to comment."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`-`", "Strikethrough selected text, or word under cursor."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`0`", "Remove block formatting for block under cursor."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`1`", "Change block format to header level 1."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`2`", "Change block format to header level 2."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`3`", "Change block format to header level 3."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`4`", "Change block format to header level 4."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`A`", "Select all text in the document."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`B`", "Format selected text, or word under cursor, with strong emphasis (bold)."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`C`", "Copy selected text to clipboard."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`D`", "Wrap selected text, or word under cursor, in double quotes."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`E`", "If in the Project Tree, edit a document or folder settings. (Same as :kbd:`F2`)"
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`F`", "Open the search bar and search for the selected word, if any is selected."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`G`", "Find next occurrence of search word in current document. (Same as :kbd:`F3`)"
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`H`", "Open the search and replace bar and search for the selected word, if any is selected. (On Mac, this is :kbd:`Cmd`:kbd:`=`)"
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`I`", "Format selected text, or word under cursor, with emphasis (italic)."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`N`", "Create new document."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`O`", "Open selected document."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Q`", "Exit novelWriter."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`R`", "If in the Project Tree, open a document for viewing. If the Editor has focus, open current document for viewing."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`S`", "Save the current document in the Editor."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`V`", "Paste text from clipboard to cursor position."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`W`", "Close the current document in the Editor."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`X`", "Cut selected text to clipboard."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Y`", "Redo latest undo."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Z`", "Undo latest changes."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`F7`", "Toggle spell checking."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`F10`", "Toggle automatic updating of Project Outline."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Del`", "If in the Project Tree, move a document to trash, or delete a folder."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Enter`", "Open the tag or reference under the cursor in the Viewer."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`,`", "Open the Project Settings dialog."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`/`", "Remove block formatting for block under cursor."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`1`", "Replace occurrence of search word in current document, and search for next occurrence."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`A`", "Select all text in current paragraph."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`D`", "Wrap selected text, or word under cursor, in single quotes."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`G`", "Find previous occurrence of search word in current document. (Same as :kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`F3`)"
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`I`", "Import text to the current document from a text file."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`N`", "Create new folder."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`O`", "Open a project."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`R`", "Close the document Viewer."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`S`", "Save the current project."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`W`", "Close the current project."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`Up`", "Move item one step up in the Project Tree."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`Down`", "Move item one step down in the Project Tree."
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":kbd:`F1`", "Open the documentation. This just tries to send the documentation URL to your browser."
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":kbd:`F2`", "If in the Project Tree, edit a document or folder settings. (Same as :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`E`)"
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":kbd:`F3`", "Find next occurrence of search word in current document. (Same as :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`G`)"
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":kbd:`F5`", "Open the Build Novel Project dialog."
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":kbd:`F6`", "Open the Writing Statistics dialog."
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":kbd:`F7`", "Re-run spell checker."
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":kbd:`F8`", "Activate Focus Mode, hiding Project Tree and view panel."
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":kbd:`F9`", "Re-build Project Index."
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":kbd:`F10`", "Re-build Project Outline."
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":kbd:`F11`", "Activate full screen mode."
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":kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`F3`", "Find previous occurrence of search word in current document. (Same as :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`G`)"
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":kbd:`Enter`", "If in the Project Tree, open a document for editing."
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.. note::
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On macOS, replace :kbd:`Ctrl` with :kbd:`Cmd`.
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.. _a_ui_shortcuts_ins:
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Insert Shortcuts
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----------------
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A set of insert features are also available through shortcuts, but they require a double combination
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of key sequences. The insert feature is activated with :kbd:`Ctrl-K`, followed by a key or
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combination for the inserted character or punctuation.
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.. csv-table:: Keyboard Shortcuts
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:header: "Shortcut", "Description"
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:widths: 40, 60
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:class: "tight-table"
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`-`", "Insert a short dash (en dash)."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`_`", "Insert a long dash (em dash)."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`.`", "Insert ellipsis."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`1`", "Insert left single quote."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`2`", "Insert right single quote."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`3`", "Insert left double quote."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`4`", "Insert right double quote."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Return`", "Insert a hard line break."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Space`", "Insert a non-breaking space."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`Space`", "Insert a thin space."
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":kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`K`, :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Space`", "Insert a thin non-breaking space."
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