.. _a_howto:

*************
Tips & Tricks
*************

.. _Discussions Page: https://github.com/vkbo/novelWriter/discussions

This is a list of hopefully helpful little tips on how to get the most out of novelWriter.

.. note::
   This section will be expanded over time. If you would like to have something added, feel free to
   contribute, or start a discussion on the project's `Discussions Page`_.


Managing the Project
====================

.. dropdown:: Create a Project from a Template
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   On the Welcome dialog's **Create New Project** form, you can select to "Prefill Project" from
   the content of a different project. This feature is most useful if you copy a project you have
   dedicated to be a template project. If you have a structure and settings you want to use for
   every new project, this is the best solution.

.. dropdown:: Merge Multiple Documents Into One
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   If you need to merge a selection of documents in your project into a single document, you can
   achieve this by first making a new folder for just that purpose, and drag all the documents you
   want merged into this folder. Then you can right click the folder, select :guilabel:`Transform`
   and :guilabel:`Merge Documents in Folder`.

   In the dialog that pops up, the documents will be in the same order as in the folder, but you
   can rearrange them here of you wish. See :ref:`a_ui_tree_split_merge` for more details.


Layout Tricks
=============

.. dropdown:: Align Paragraphs with Line Breaks
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   If you have line breaks in you paragraphs, and also want to apply additional text alignment or
   indentation, you must apply the alignment tags to the first line.

   For example, this will centre the two lines.

   .. code-block:: md

      >> Line one is centred. <<
      Line two is also centred.

      This text is not centred, because it is a new paragraph.

   See :ref:`a_fmt_align` for more details.

.. dropdown:: Create a Simple Table
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   The formatting tools available in novelWriter don't allow for complex structures like tables.
   However, the editor does render tabs in a similar way that regular word processors do. You can
   set the width of a tab in **Preferences**.

   The tab key should have the same distance in the editor as in the viewer, so you can align text
   in columns using the tab key, and it should look the same when viewed next to the editor.

   This is most suitable for your notes, as the result in exported documents cannot be guaranteed
   to match. Especially if you don't use the same font in your manuscript as in the editor.

.. dropdown:: Turn Off First Line Indent for a Paragraph
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   If you have first line indent enabled, but have a specific paragraph that you don't want
   indented, you can disable the indentation by explicitly add text alignment. Aligned paragraphs
   are not indented. For instance by adding ``<<`` to the end to left-align it,

   See :ref:`a_fmt_align` for more details.


Organising Your Text
====================

.. dropdown:: Add Introductory Text to Chapters
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   Sometimes chapters have a short preface, like a brief piece of text or a quote to set the stage
   before the first scene begins.

   If you add separate files for chapters and scenes, the chapter file is the perfect place to add
   such text. Separating chapter and scene files also allows you to make scene files child
   documents of the chapter.

.. dropdown:: Distinguishing Soft and Hard Scene Breaks
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   Depending on your writing style, you may need to separate between soft and hard scene breaks
   within chapters. Like for instance if you switch point-of-view character often.

   In such cases you may want to use different scene headings for hard and soft scene breaks. The
   **Build Manuscript** tool will let you define a different format for scenes using the ``###``
   and ``###!`` heading codes when you generate your manuscript. You can for instance add the
   common "``* * *``" for hard breaks and select to soft scene breaks, which will just insert an
   empty paragraph in their place. See :ref:`a_manuscript_settings` for more details.

   .. versionadded:: 2.4


Other Tools
===========

.. dropdown:: Convert Project to/from yWriter Format
   :animate: fade-in-slide-down

   There is a tool available that lets you convert a `yWriter <http://spacejock.com/yWriter7.html>`_
   project to a novelWriter project, and vice versa.

   The tool is available at `peter88213.github.io/yw2nw <https://peter88213.github.io/yw2nw/>`__