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