Ideas

Ideas is the project's inbox for thoughts that are not anything yet. Write one down in a few seconds from wherever you are, come back to it later, link it to the people and places it touches, and turn it into real records when it is ready. Everyone who can open the project's ideas sees them, with the name of whoever wrote each one.

How do I write down an idea quickly? #

Press Shift + I, or the lightbulb in the header (on a phone, Capture idea in your account menu), on any page of the project. A small box opens: type the idea and press Enter to save it. Shift + Enter starts a new line and Esc closes the box without saving. The first line becomes the idea's title; everything after it is the body.

Write #tags anywhere in the text — #magic, #act-two — and the idea is tagged with them. When it is saved, a message offers Open to go straight to it.

A quick note can become an idea too: Move to Ideas on the note asks first, since the note was private, then saves its text and tags as an idea in the project and archives the note.

Where do my ideas go? #

Open Ideas in the project. The tabs sort ideas by where they stand:

• Inbox — new and not yet looked at.
• Developing — sent to a brainstorm board to be worked out.
• Parked — worth keeping, but not now.
• Used — turned into records.
• Discarded — set aside for good.

Each tab shows how many ideas it holds. Search finds ideas by their text and tags; pick a tag on an idea to see only the ideas that share it. The filters stay in the address, so you can bookmark a view.

Developing an idea #

Pick an idea to open it beside the list. There you can:

• edit the text — it saves as you type;
• add or remove tags;
• move it to another tab with the status buttons;
• link the records it is about with Link a record.

Under the links, Suggested links lists the characters, places and other records whose names appear in the text. Press one to link it.

Develop on a board sends the idea to a brainstorm board — an existing one or a new one — and moves it to Developing. The idea keeps a link to the board.

How do I turn an idea into a character or place? #

Use Convert and choose what the idea becomes. The usual creation form opens with the first line as the name and the rest as the description. When you save, the new record is listed under Made from this idea and the idea moves to Used.

How do I turn an idea into an event with its participants? #

Use Compose event. It fills in the event's name and description from the idea and lets you set:

• the date on your timeline;
• the place — a location or a place;
• the participants — records that already exist, or new names you type, created as characters, creatures or organizations with nothing but a name. Each participant can have a role, such as Leader or Witness, and a short note.

Create event creates the event, the new records and every link, and marks the idea used. If some part fails — a name could not be created, a link was refused — the message says what is missing and links to everything that was made, so you can finish by hand.

Reviewing the inbox #

Review inbox, the icon beside New idea, walks through the inbox one idea at a time, oldest first, with your progress at the top. For each idea, choose:

Where else do ideas show up? #

• A record's page shows how many ideas link to it, beside its details. Press the count to see those ideas.
• Search finds ideas by their text.

How do I get back a deleted idea? #

Deleting an idea moves it to the archive, where you can restore it for thirty days. Discarding is different: a discarded idea stays in the Discarded tab until you move it back.

Tips #

• Do not tidy an idea before you save it. One rough line is enough to find it again.
• Link people and places early: the record's page then reminds you the idea exists.
• A weekly review keeps the inbox short enough to read.

Related #

• Brainstorm — work an idea out on a canvas.
• Notes — private jottings that can become ideas.
• Relations — roles and notes on an event's participants.
• Build a world that holds together — where each kind of fact belongs.