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| 1 | +.. _a_howto: |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +************* |
| 4 | +Tips & Tricks |
| 5 | +************* |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +.. _Discussions Page: https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/discussions |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +This is a list of hopefully helpful little tips on how to get the most out of novelWriter. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +.. note:: |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | + This section will be expanded over time, and if you would like to have something added, feel |
| 14 | + free to contribute, or start a discussion on the project's `Discussions Page`_ |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +Overview |
| 18 | +======== |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +**Managing the Project** |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +* :ref:`a_howto_merge_documents` |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +**Layout Tricks** |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +* :ref:`a_howto_simple_table` |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +**Organising Your Text** |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +* :ref:`a_howto_chapter_intro` |
| 31 | +* :ref:`a_howto_soft_hard_breaks` |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +**Other Tools** |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +* :ref:`a_howto_convert_ywriter` |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +How-Tos |
| 39 | +======= |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +Managing the Project |
| 43 | +-------------------- |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +.. _a_howto_merge_documents: |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +Merge Multiple Documents Into One |
| 49 | +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +If you need to merge a set of documents in your project into a single document, you can achieve |
| 52 | +this by first making a new folder for just that purpose, and drag all the files you want merged |
| 53 | +into this folder. Then you can right click the folder, select :guilabel:`Transform` and |
| 54 | +:guilabel:`Merge Documents in FOlder`. |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +In the dialog that pops up, the documents will be in the same order as in the folder, but you can |
| 57 | +also rearrange them here of you wish. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +Layout Tricks |
| 61 | +------------- |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +.. _a_howto_simple_table: |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +Create a Simple Table |
| 67 | +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +The formatting tools available in novelWriter don't allow for complex structures like tables. |
| 70 | +However, the editor does render tabs in a similar way to regular word processors. You can set the |
| 71 | +width of a tab in :guilabel:`Preferences`. |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +The tab key should have the same distance in the editor as in the viewer, so you can align text in |
| 74 | +columns using the tab key, and it should look the same when viewed next to the editor. |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +This is most suitable for your notes, as the result in exported documents cannot be guaranteed to |
| 77 | +match. |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +Organising Your Text |
| 81 | +-------------------- |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +.. _a_howto_chapter_intro: |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +Add Introductory Text to Chapters |
| 87 | +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +Sometimes chapters have a short preface, like a brief piece of text or a quote to set the stage |
| 90 | +before the first scene -- Some text that may not be a part of the actual following scene. |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +If you add separate files for chapters and scenes, this is the perfect place to add such text. |
| 93 | +Separating chapter and scene files also allows you to set meta data for the whole chapter. Like |
| 94 | +list all characters present in the chapter, etc. |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +.. _a_howto_soft_hard_breaks: |
| 98 | + |
| 99 | +Distinguishing Soft and Hard Scene Breaks |
| 100 | +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +Depending on your writing style, you may need to separate between soft and hard scene breaks within |
| 103 | +chapters. Like for instance if you switch point-of-view character often. |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +In such cases you may want to use the scene heading for hard scene breaks and section headings for |
| 106 | +soft scene breaks. the :guilabel:`Project Build Tool` will let you add separate formatting for the |
| 107 | +two when you generate your manuscript. You can for instance add the common "``* * *``" for hard |
| 108 | +breaks and select to hide section breaks, which will just insert an empty paragraph in their place. |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +Other Tools |
| 112 | +----------- |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +.. _a_howto_convert_ywriter: |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +Convert Project to/from yWriter Format |
| 118 | +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 119 | + |
| 120 | +.. _yWriter: http://spacejock.com/yWriter7.html |
| 121 | + |
| 122 | +There is a tool available that lets you convert a yWriter_ project to a novelWriter project, and |
| 123 | +vice versa. |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | +The tool is available at `peter88213.github.io/yw2nw <https://peter88213.github.io/yw2nw/>`__ |
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