Veronica K. B. Olsen
311 lines
14 KiB
ReStructuredText
311 lines
14 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _a_proj:
|
|
|
|
**************
|
|
Novel Projects
|
|
**************
|
|
|
|
A novelWriter project requires a dedicated folder for storing its files on the local file system.
|
|
See the :ref:`a_tech` page for further details on how files are organised.
|
|
|
|
A new project can be created from the :guilabel:`Project` menu by selecting :guilabel:`New Project`.
|
|
A list of recently opened projects is maintained, and displayed in the :guilabel:`Open Project`
|
|
dialog. A project can be removed from this list by selecting it and pressing the :kbd:`Del` key.
|
|
|
|
The project specific settings are available in :guilabel:`Project Settings` in the
|
|
:guilabel:`Project` menu. See further details below in the :ref:`a_proj_settings` section.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_roots:
|
|
|
|
Project Roots
|
|
=============
|
|
|
|
Projects are structured into a set of top level folders called *root folders*. They are visible in
|
|
the project tree at the left side of the main window.
|
|
|
|
The core novel files go into a root folder of type :guilabel:`Novel`. Other supporting files go into
|
|
the other root folders. These other root folder types are intended for your notes on the various
|
|
elements of your story. Using these is of course entirely optional.
|
|
|
|
A new project will not have all of the root folders present, but you can add the ones you want from
|
|
:guilabel:`Create Root Folder` in the :guilabel:`Project` menu.
|
|
|
|
The root folders are intended for the following use, but aside from the :guilabel:`Novel` folder, no
|
|
restrictions are enforced by the application. You can use them however you want.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Novel`
|
|
This is the root folder of all text that goes into the final novel. This class of files have
|
|
other rules and features than other files in the project. See the :ref:`a_struct` page for more
|
|
details.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Plot`
|
|
This is the root folder where main plots can be outlined. It is optional, but adding at least
|
|
dummy files can be useful in order to tag plot elements for the Outline view. Tags in this folder
|
|
can be references using the ``@plot`` keyword.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Characters`
|
|
Character files go in this root folder. These are especially important if one wants to use the
|
|
Outline view to see which character appears where, and which part of the story is told from a
|
|
specific character's point-of-view. Tags in this folder can be references using the ``@pov``
|
|
keyword for point-of-view characters, or the ``@char`` keyword for other characters.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Locations`
|
|
The locations folder is for various scene locations that you want to track. Tags in this folder
|
|
can be references using the ``@location`` keyword.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Timeline`
|
|
If the story has multiple plot timelines or jumps in time within the same plot, this class of
|
|
files can be used to track this. Tags in this folder can be references using the ``@time``
|
|
keyword.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Objects`
|
|
Important objects in the story, for instance important objects that change hands often, can be
|
|
tracked here. Tags in this folder can be references using the ``@object`` keyword.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Entities`
|
|
Does your plot have many powerful organisations or companies? Or other entities that are part of
|
|
the plot? They can be organised here. Tags in this folder can be references using the ``@entity``
|
|
keyword.
|
|
|
|
:guilabel:`Custom`
|
|
The custom root folder can be used for tracking anything else not covered by the above options.
|
|
Tags in this folder can be references using the ``@custom`` keyword.
|
|
|
|
The root folders correspond to the categories of tags that can be used to reference them. For more
|
|
information about the tags listed, see :ref:`a_struct_tags`.
|
|
|
|
.. tip::
|
|
You can rename root folders to whatever you want. The first character in the :guilabel:`Flags`
|
|
column will still indicate what type they are, and so will the icon if you are using one of the
|
|
Typicons icon sets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_roots_del:
|
|
|
|
Deleted Documents
|
|
-----------------
|
|
|
|
Deleted document files will be moved into a special :guilabel:`Trash` root folder. Files in the
|
|
trash folder can then be deleted permanently, either individually, or by emptying the trash from the
|
|
menu. Files in this folder are removed from the project index and cannot be referenced.
|
|
|
|
Folders and root folders can only be deleted when they are empty. Recursive deletion is not
|
|
supported. A document file or a folder can be deleted from the :guilabel:`project` menu, or by
|
|
pressing :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Del`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_roots_out:
|
|
|
|
Archived Documents (Outtakes)
|
|
-----------------------------
|
|
|
|
If you don't want to delete a file, or put it in the :guilabel:`Trash` folder where it may be
|
|
deleted, but still want it out of your main project tree, you can create an :guilabel:`Outtakes`
|
|
root folder from the :guilabel:`Project` menu. You are not allowed to move folders to this root
|
|
folder, only files. If you need folders in it to organise your files, you can of course create new
|
|
ones there.
|
|
|
|
You can drag any file to this folder and preserve its settings. The file will always be excluded
|
|
from the :guilabel:`Build Novel Project` builds. The file is also removed from the project index, so
|
|
the tags and references defined in it will not show up anywhere else.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_roots_orph:
|
|
|
|
Orphaned Documents
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
If novelWriter crashes or otherwise exits without saving the project state, or if you're using a
|
|
file synchronisation tool that runs out of sync, there may be files in the project folder that isn't
|
|
tracked in the core project file. These files, when discovered, are handled by the Orphaned
|
|
Documents routine.
|
|
|
|
Files that are discovered in the project folder, but not in the project, will be re-added to the
|
|
project tree in a special :guilabel:`Orphaned Items` root folder next time the application is
|
|
started. These orphaned files will not have most of the meta data preserved, although novelWriter
|
|
will try to restore the file label it had in the project tree. Other information will have to be set
|
|
again, and the files moved back to the correct location in the project tree.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_roots_lock:
|
|
|
|
Project Lockfile
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
To prevent orphaned files caused by file conflicts when novelWriter projects are synced with file
|
|
synchronisation tools, a project lockfile is written to the project folder. If you try to open a
|
|
project which has such a file present, you will be presented with a warning, and some information
|
|
about where else novelWriter thinks the project is also open. You will be give the option to ignore
|
|
this warning, and continue opening the project.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
If, for some reason, novelWriter crashes, the lock file may remain even if there are no other
|
|
instances keeping the project open. In such a case it is safe to ignore the lock file warning
|
|
when re-opening the project.
|
|
|
|
.. warning::
|
|
If you choose to ignore the warning and continue opening the project, and multiple instances of
|
|
the project are in fact open, you are likely to cause inconsistencies and create diverging
|
|
project files, potentially resulting in loss of data and orphaned files.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_roots_dirs:
|
|
|
|
Using Folders in the Project Tree
|
|
---------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Folders, aside from root folders, have no structural significance to the project. When novelWriter
|
|
is processing the files in the novel, like for instance during export, these folders are ignored.
|
|
Only the order of the document files themselves matter.
|
|
|
|
The folders are there purely as a way for the user to organise the files in meaningful sections and
|
|
to be able to collapse and hide them in the project tree when you're not working on those files.
|
|
|
|
.. tip::
|
|
You can use folders to sort your scene files into chapters. You will then need to add a chapter
|
|
file as the first file of your folder, and the scene files as the following files.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_files:
|
|
|
|
Project Files
|
|
=============
|
|
|
|
New document files can be created from the :guilabel:`Document` menu, or by pressing
|
|
:kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`N` while in the Project Tree. This will create a new, empty file, and open the
|
|
:guilabel:`:Item Settings` dialog where the filename and various other settings can be changed.
|
|
This dialog can also be opened again later from either the :guilabel:`Project` menu, selecting
|
|
:guilabel:`Edit Item`, or by pressing :kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`E` or :kbd:`F2` with the item selected.
|
|
|
|
The layout of the file is also defined here. For Novel files, the full list of layout options are
|
|
available. For non-Novel files, only "Note" is available. See :ref:`a_struct_layout` for more
|
|
details.
|
|
|
|
You can also select whether the file is by default included when building the project. This setting
|
|
can be overridden in the :guilabel:`Build Novel Project` tool if you wish to include them anyway.
|
|
This is covered in the :ref:`a_export_files` section.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_files_counts:
|
|
|
|
Word Counts
|
|
-----------
|
|
|
|
A character, word and paragraph count is maintained for each file, as well as dor each section of a
|
|
file defined by a header. The word count, and change of words in the current session, is displayed
|
|
in the footer of any document open in the editor, and all stats are shown in the details panel below
|
|
the project tree for any file selected.
|
|
|
|
The word counts are not updated in real time, but runs in the background every five seconds for as
|
|
long as the document is being actively edited.
|
|
|
|
A total project word count is displayed in the status bar. The total count depends on the sum of the
|
|
values in the project tree, which again depend on an up to date index. If the counts seem wrong, a
|
|
full project word recount can be initiated by rebuilding the project's index. Either form the
|
|
:guilabel:`Tools` menu, or by pressing :kbd:`F9`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_settings:
|
|
|
|
Project Settings
|
|
================
|
|
|
|
The :guilabel:`Project Settings` can be accessed from the :guilabel:`Project` menu, or by pressing
|
|
:kbd:`Ctrl`:kbd:`Shift`:kbd:`,`. This will open a dialog box, with a set of tabs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settings Tab
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
The :guilabel:`Settings` tab holds the project title and author settings.
|
|
|
|
The :guilabel:`Working Title` can be set to a different title than the :guilabel:`Book Title`. The
|
|
difference between them is simply that the :guilabel:`Working Title` is used for the GUI (main
|
|
window title) and for generating the backup files. The intention is that the :guilabel:`Working
|
|
Title` should remain unchanged throughput the project, otherwise the name of exported files and
|
|
backup files may change too.
|
|
|
|
The :guilabel:`Book Title` and :guilabel:`Book Authors` settings are currently not used for
|
|
anything, so setting then is just for the benefit of the author. Future, planned features will be
|
|
using them, and they are exported on some export formats in the :guilabel:`Build Novel Project`
|
|
tool.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Details Tab
|
|
-----------
|
|
|
|
This tab presents an overview of meta data for the project. It states where on your file system the
|
|
project is saved, how may times it has been saved, how many folders and files it contains, and how
|
|
many words exist in the entire project.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Status and Importance Tabs
|
|
--------------------------
|
|
|
|
Each file of type "Novel" can be given a status level, signified by a coloured icon and each file of
|
|
the remaining types can be given an importance level. These are colour coded icons and labels that
|
|
can be applied to each file.
|
|
|
|
These are purely there for the user's convenience, and you are not required to use them for any
|
|
other feature to work. No other part of novelWriter accesses this information. The intention is to
|
|
use these to indicate at what stage of completeion each novel file is, or how important the content
|
|
of a note file is to the plot. You don't have to use them this way, that's just what they were
|
|
intended for, but you can make them whatever you want.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
The status or importance level currently in use by one or more files cannot be deleted, but they
|
|
can be edited.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Auto-Replace Tab
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
A set of automatically replaced keywords can be added in this tab. The keywords in the left column
|
|
will be replaced by the text in the right column when documents are opened in the viewer. They will
|
|
also be applied to exports.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
A keyword cannot contain any spaces. The angle brackets are added by default, and when used in
|
|
the text are a part of the keyword to be replaced. This is to ensure that parts of the text isn't
|
|
unintentionally replaced by the content of the list.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_backup:
|
|
|
|
Backup
|
|
======
|
|
|
|
An automatic backup system is built into novelWriter. In order to use it, a backup path to where the
|
|
backup files are to be stored must to be provided in :guilabel:`Preferences`.
|
|
|
|
Backups can be run automatically when a project is closed, which also implies it is run when the
|
|
application is closed. Backups are date stamped zip files of the entire project folder, and are
|
|
stored in a subfolder of the backup path with the same name as the project :guilabel:`Working Title`
|
|
set in :ref:`a_proj_settings`.
|
|
|
|
The backup feature, when configured, can also be run manually from the :guilabel:`Tools` menu.
|
|
It is also possible to dissable automated backup for a given project in :guilabel:`Project
|
|
Settings`.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
For the backup to be able to run, the :guilabel:`Working Title` must be set in :guilabel:`Project
|
|
Settings`. This value is used to generate the folder name for the zip files. Without it, the
|
|
backup will not run at all, but produce a warning message.
|
|
|
|
.. _a_proj_stats:
|
|
|
|
Writing Statistics
|
|
==================
|
|
|
|
When you work on your project, a log file records when you opened it, when you closed it, and how
|
|
many words you added to your novel and note files during the session. You can view this file in the
|
|
``meta`` folder in the directory where you saved your project. The file is named
|
|
``sessionStats.log``.
|
|
|
|
A small tool to view the content of this file is available in the :guilabel:`Tools` menu under
|
|
:guilabel:`Writing Statistics`. You can also launch it by pressing :kbd:`F6`.
|
|
|
|
The tool will show a list of all your sessions, and a set of filters to apply to it. You can also
|
|
export the filtered data to a JSON file or to a CSV file that can be opened by a spreadsheet
|
|
application like for instance Libre Office Calc.
|