Veronica Berglyd Olsen
93 lines
4.0 KiB
ReStructuredText
93 lines
4.0 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _a_overview:
|
||
|
||
********
|
||
Overview
|
||
********
|
||
|
||
.. only:: html
|
||
|
||
.. image:: images/python_powered.png
|
||
:align: right
|
||
:width: 220
|
||
|
||
novelWriter is built as a cross-platform application using `Python 3 <https://www.python.org/>`_ as
|
||
the programming language, and `Qt 5 <https://www.qt.io/>`_ for the user interface.
|
||
|
||
novelWriter is built for Linux first, and this is where it works best. However, it also runs fine
|
||
on Windows and MacOS due to the cross-platform framework it's build on. The author of the
|
||
application doesn't own a Mac, so on-going Mac support is dependant on user feedback and user
|
||
contributions.
|
||
|
||
Spell checking in novelWriter is provided by a third party library called
|
||
`Enchant <https://abiword.github.io/enchant/>`_. Please see the section on :ref:`a_custom_dict` for
|
||
how to install spell checking languages.
|
||
|
||
For install instructions, see :ref:`a_started`.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Using novelWriter
|
||
=================
|
||
|
||
In order to use novelWriter effectively, you need to know the basics of how it works. The following
|
||
chapters will explain the main principles. It starts with the basics, and gets more detailed as you
|
||
read on.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_breakdown` – Essential Information
|
||
This chapter explains the basics of how the application works and what it can and cannot do.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_ui_project` – Recommended Reading
|
||
This chapter will give you a more detailed explanation of how you the user interface components
|
||
to organise and view your project work.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_ui_writing` – Recommended Reading
|
||
This chapter will give you a more detailed explanation of how the text editor and viewer work.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_fmt` – Essential Information
|
||
This chapter covers how you should format your text. The editor is plain text, so text
|
||
formatting requires some basic markup. The structure of your novel is also inferred by how you
|
||
use headings. Tags and references are implemented by special keywords.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_kb` – Optional / Lookup
|
||
This chapter lists all the keyboard shortcuts in novelWriter and what they do. Most of the
|
||
shortcuts are also listed next to their menu entries inside the app, or in tool tips. This
|
||
chapter is mostly for reference.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_typ` – Optional
|
||
This chapter gives you an overview of the special typographical symbols available in
|
||
novelWriter. The auto-replace feature can handle the insertion of standard quote symbols for
|
||
your language, and other special characters. If you use any symbols aside from these. their
|
||
intended use is explained here.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_prjfmt` – Optional
|
||
This chapter is more technical and has an overview of changes made to the way your project data
|
||
is stored. The format has changed a bit from time to time, and sometimes the changes require
|
||
that you make small modifications to your project. Everything you need to know is listed in this
|
||
chapter.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Organising Your Projects
|
||
========================
|
||
|
||
In addition to manage a collection of plain text files, novelWriter can interpret and map the
|
||
structure of your novel and show you additional information about its flow and content. In order
|
||
to take advantage of these features, you must structure your text in a specific way and add some
|
||
meta data for it to extract.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_proj` – Essential Information
|
||
This chapter explains how you organise the content of your project, and how to set up automated
|
||
backups of your work.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_struct` – Essential Information
|
||
This chapter covers the way your novel's structure is encoded into the text documents. It
|
||
explains how the different levels of headings are used, and some special formatting for
|
||
different kinds of headings.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_references` - Recommended Reading
|
||
This chapter explains how you organise your notes, and how the Tags and References system works.
|
||
This system lets you cross-link your documents in your project, and display these references in
|
||
the application interface.
|
||
|
||
:ref:`a_manuscript` - Recommended Reading
|
||
This chapter explains how the :guilabel:`Manuscript Build` tool works, how you can control the
|
||
way chapter titles are formatted, and how scene and section breaks are handled.
|