The section editor

Launch the section editor

Open a section editor window by double-clicking on a section, or via the Section > Edit menu entry when a section is selected, or by hitting the Enter key.

Note

  • If you choose a section already open, the window will be brought to the foreground.

Distraction free mode

mdnovel provides a “distraction free” editing mode where the active editor window covers the whole screen.

  • F11 toggles the full screen mode.

  • Esc finishes the full screen mode.

Hint

Make sure that the editor area is active when trying to switch on or off the full screen mode. In case of doubt, click into the editor area.

Select text

  • Select a word via double-clicking.

  • Select a paragraph via triple-clicking.

  • Extend the selection via Shift-Arrow.

  • Extend the selection to the next word via Ctrl-Shift-Arrow.

  • Ctrl-A selects the whole text.

Copy/Paste text

  • Ctrl-C copies the selected text to the clipboard.

  • Ctrl-X cuts the selected text and moves it to the clipboard.

  • Ctrl-V pastes the clipboard text content to the cursor position.

Format text

  • Ctrl-I places “emphasized” markup around the selected text or at the cursor, like so:

    *Example*

    If the selection is already emphasized, the command removes the markup.

  • Ctrl-B places “strong” markup around the selected text or at the cursor, like so:

    **Example**

    If the selection is already strong, the command removes the markup.

  • Ctrl-M removes “emphasized” and “strong” markup from the selection.

Undo/Redo

  • Ctrl-Z undoes the last editing. Multiple undo is possible.

  • Ctrl-Y redoes the last undo. Multiple redo is possible.

Split a section

With File > Split at cursor position or Ctrl-Alt-S, you can split the section at the cursor position.

  • All the text from the cursor position is cut and pasted into a newly created section.

  • The new section is placed after the currently edited section.

  • The new section is appended to the currently edited section.

  • The new section has the same status as the currently edited section.

  • The new section is of the same type as the currently edited section.

  • The new section has the same viewpoint character as the currently edited section.

  • The editor loads the newly created section.

Create a section

With File > Create section or Ctrl-Alt-N, you can create a section.

  • The new section is placed after the currently edited section.

  • The new section is of the same type as the currently edited section.

  • The editor loads the newly created section.

Word count

  • The section word count is displayed at the status bar at the bottom of the window.

  • By default, word count is updated manually, either by pressing the F5 key, or via the Word count > Update menu entry.

  • The word count can be updated “live”, i.e. just while entering text. This is enabled or disabled via the Word count > Live update menu checkbox.

Note

Live updating the word count is resource intensive and may slow down the program when editing big sections. This is why it’s disabled by default.

Apply changes

With Ctrl-S, you can apply changes to the section. Then “Modified” status is displayed in mdnovel.

Close the editor window

  • To close the editor window, click on the Close button, or just close the window.

  • Under Windows you can optionally exit with Section > Exit or Alt-F4.

  • Otherwise you can optionally exit with Section > Quit or Ctrl-Q.

  • When closing the editor window, you will be asked for applying changes.