Mentions and references

Open Alasdair - Chapter II. Select the plain-text Alasdair at the start of the excerpt and replace it by typing @ followed by Alasdair. His concept is the profile we created earlier; if you've joined the guide here, create it first.

Choose him from the suggestions, then choose Concept name in the display options. Use the arrow keys and Enter, or select with the pointer. Escape dismisses the menu.

The sentence should still begin “Alasdair followed the descending road”, with his name now linked.

Our excerpt doesn't name The Crown directly. In your own writing, you can use the same steps whenever a passage names the city.

To try the other way of making this link, undo the mention with Ctrl/CmdZ until the original plain-text name is restored. Enable Concept link suggestions in the editor view settings, then replace that name by typing Alasdair without @. Press Tab when the inline suggestion appears to turn the name into a mention. If several concepts match, use ↑ / ↓ to cycle through them first.

Escape dismisses it. Carrying on typing leaves ordinary text. You choose whether to make the link; typing a name alone doesn't create one.

Before continuing, leave Alasdair's name as a confirmed mention. If you dismissed the inline suggestion, use the @ method above.

Use the mention's open action to visit Alasdair's concept. You can read his background and consult the details in his sidebar.

From Alasdair, the incoming reference leads back to this scene. That's a backlink: the same connection, seen from the other end.

Look for mentions in Connections. Show references and backlinks in Editor settings controls the document's reference area.

Open a source to read the passage, then return using its tab or tab history. If you can't find a reference, check that the text is a confirmed mention and that you're looking at the intended concept.

A mention tells us that the document refers to Alasdair. To record where he lives or who mentored him, use a relationship.

When revising a linked passage, check that it still points to the concept you mean.

The two guide excerpts contain narration. When you write a scene with dialogue and have the Voices module enabled, you can also record who says each line.

Place the caret inside a line of dialogue and press Ctrl/CmdK. Search for its speaker's concept, then use ↑ / ↓ and Enter to assign it, or select it with the pointer.

The picker shows numbered candidates. Ctrl/Cmd1–9 assigns one directly, both in the picker and with the caret inside dialogue. In that context, the number selects a speaker instead of switching tabs.

Inline speaker suggestions use arrow keys to cycle and Tab to confirm. Escape dismisses the suggestion or closes the picker.

Assigning a speaker tells Voices who said the line. A mention just links text to a concept, so mentioning someone's name inside dialogue doesn't make them the speaker.