Sidebar and Types
The concept sidebar holds the smaller details about the concept. Think different aliases, images, attributes, and relationships with other concepts. Let's look at it with Alasdair open and create a type for him.
Open Alasdair's context
If the sidebar is closed, use the top bar's sidebar toggle, or press Ctrl/CmdShiftS.
The sidebar follows the concept you're in. For now, it shows Alasdair's details, but if we had another concept, it would show it's details.
Create a type
A concept's type tells you what kind of thing it is. Let's give Alasdair the Character type.
- In the sidebar's Type section, open the type selector and choose Create new type….
- Enter Character in Type name. You can also choose an icon and colour, or leave those for later.
- Choose Create Type. The new type is assigned to Alasdair.
If Character already exists, select it instead. You can reuse it for other characters without creating it again.
Types can be anything you need for your story: City, Guild, Relic, or anything. Add one whenever something needs its own category. We'll use City when we add another concept.
You will notice in the "Primary sidebar" your concept is put inside a types folder. The app strutures itself around how you have structured your story. Remember: "No double work" ~ Bara
Details sections
| Section | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Image | Visual references. |
| Aliases | Other names, such as The boy for Alasdair. |
| Type | The kind of concept, with an optional colour. |
| Attributes | Details such as an occupation, population, birthdate etc. |
| Connections | Relationships and mentions between this concepts and others. |
Use the editor for longer background information. The sidebar is handy for details you want to find at a glance.
Give details to Alasdair
In Aliases, add The boy as another name for Alasdair. When we mention him in the prose, we'll be able to use that name while linking to this same profile.
In Attributes, add Occupation with the value Assassin. A future feature will add temporal attributes which are attributes that change over time.
The Notes tab keeps reminders about this concept. We'll learn about that it in the notes guide.
Structure the sidebar as you like
Collapse sections, reorder them, or hide them with the section visibility control. Hidden sections keep their data, so you can bring them back later.
Keep Aliases, Type, and Attributes visible so you can find the details we've added. Connections can stay empty until we create a relationship. Dates can wait until we reach chronology. You can also determine what you want in the sidebar for each type, so each type has different options.
On to your next concept
We now have an assassin who can change his appearance. Next, let's try adding another concept: The Crown, the city we'll meet him in.