Documentation

1. 1

   Visit the app

   Go to app.plotiar.com. You'll be redirected to the sign-up page automatically.

2. 2

   Sign up

   Create an account with your email or sign in with Google. Your account is ready instantly — no email verification required.

3. 3

   Land on your workspace

   After signing in, you'll see your Projects dashboard — the home base for all your work.

Your workspace is organized around projects. The main dashboard shows all your projects with search, tags, and sorting options. Inside each project, you'll find a sidebar with your content tree on the left and your active document or canvas on the right.

1. 1

   Click "New Project"

   From the projects dashboard, click the "New Project" button.

2. 2

   Name your project

   Give your project a title. You can also add tags to categorize it.

3. 3

   Start adding content

   Use the "+" button in the sidebar to add documents, flowcharts, ideaboards, taskboards, or plot grids.

Create a new project from the dashboard by clicking "New Project". Each project has a title, optional description, and tags for organization. You can edit these details at any time from the project settings.

• •Rename a project by clicking its title in the project header
• •Add or remove tags to categorize your projects
• •Delete a project from the project settings menu (this is permanent)

The dashboard search bar searches across project names and tags. Filter projects by tag or sort by name, date created, or last modified to find what you need quickly.

Format text using the toolbar. All standard formatting options are available.

Type "/" at the start of a line or after a space to open a Notion-style command palette. Start typing to filter commands, use arrow keys to navigate, and press Enter to insert. Press Escape to close.

Available commands:

• •Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 — section headings
• •Paragraph — standard text block
• •Bullet List, Numbered List, Checklist — list formats
• •Image — insert an image from a dialog
• •Code Block — syntax-highlighted code
• •Quote — blockquote formatting
• •Divider — horizontal rule separator
• •Page Break — force a new page
• •Callouts — Info, Warning, Tip, Note, and Important callout boxes

Open the find bar to search for text across your document with instant highlighting. Switch to find-and-replace mode to make bulk edits. Navigate between matches to review each occurrence.

Documents are rendered in A4 page format with automatic pagination. Use the zoom controls to adjust the view, and the page navigation to jump between pages. The editor auto-saves your work continuously — you never need to manually save.

Create node-based diagrams to map out story structures, processes, character relationships, or any connected system. Built on a professional diagramming engine with smooth pan, zoom, and auto-layout.

Ideaboards are freeform infinite canvases for brainstorming, mood boards, and visual thinking. Draw, add shapes, sticky notes, text, and images anywhere on the canvas.

• •Freehand drawing with multiple brush styles and colors
• •Shape tools: rectangles, ellipses, arrows, lines, and more
• •Sticky notes for quick ideas and annotations
• •Text blocks for labels and descriptions
• •Image embedding for references and mood boards
• •Infinite canvas — zoom out to see the big picture, zoom in for details

Plot grids are a specialized visual tool for writers. Organize your story along plot lines and chapters in a grid format, making it easy to track multiple storylines, character arcs, and narrative beats across your entire work.

• •Define plot lines (rows) for different story threads or character arcs
• •Define chapters or story sections (columns) for timeline progression
• •Fill grid cells with notes, scene summaries, and key events
• •Get a bird's-eye view of your entire narrative structure at a glance

Taskboards are Kanban-style boards with customizable columns. Each project can have multiple taskboards to organize different types of work.

In addition to taskboards, each document has a sidebar task list for quick, lightweight task tracking. Open the right sidebar and switch to the tasks tab to add per-document to-dos that live alongside your content.

When multiple people open the same document, they can edit simultaneously. You'll see each collaborator's cursor and selection in real time with distinct colors. Changes are synced instantly through a conflict-free replicated data type (CRDT) system, so no work is ever lost.

Share projects with others by inviting them or generating a shareable link.

Plotiar supports four collaboration roles:

• •Owner — Full control including project deletion and member management
• •Editor — Can create, edit, and delete content within the project
• •Commenter — Can view content and leave comments but cannot edit
• •Viewer — Read-only access to all project content

Leave feedback and discuss content directly within the project. Comments support threading, @mentions, and resolution workflows.

• •Create comment threads on specific text or blocks in a document
• •Reply to existing comments to build a conversation
• •@mention collaborators to notify them
• •Assign threads to specific team members for action
• •Resolve threads when feedback has been addressed
• •Reopen resolved threads if more discussion is needed
• •Archive old threads to reduce clutter
• •View all comments in the sidebar panel for a quick overview

Bookmarks let you create anchored reference points in your documents. Mark important passages, link between sections, and color-code bookmarks for quick identification.

• •Anchor bookmarks to specific text or blocks in a document
• •Assign colors to bookmarks for visual categorization
• •Link bookmarks to each other to create cross-references
• •Sort and filter bookmarks in the sidebar panel

See who's currently viewing or editing a document. Each collaborator's avatar appears at the top of the editor, and their cursor position is visible in real time within the document.

Create folders (directories) inside a project to organize your content hierarchically. Nest folders within folders for as many levels as you need. Drag and drop content items between folders in the sidebar tree.

Notes are lightweight text snippets for quick thoughts, research, and reference material. They live in the right sidebar, separate from your main content, so they're always accessible without cluttering your document tree.

• •Project-level notes visible across all content in the project
• •Document-level notes specific to the currently open document
• •Quick to create, edit, and delete

Start new projects or content from pre-built templates to save time. Templates provide ready-made structures for common use cases.

Snapshots are manual save points you create to mark a specific version of your document. Think of them as bookmarks in your document's history.

1. 1

   Create a snapshot

   Click the snapshot button in the document toolbar and give it a name (e.g. "First draft", "After editor review").

2. 2

   Browse snapshots

   Open the version history panel to see all your snapshots listed by date.

3. 3

   Compare versions

   Select two snapshots to see a side-by-side diff highlighting what changed between them.

4. 4

   Restore a snapshot

   Restore any snapshot to revert your document to that exact state. A new snapshot is created automatically before restoring, so you can always undo the restore.

The changelog automatically tracks all editing operations — who changed what and when. This is especially useful in collaborative projects to understand the evolution of a document and attribute contributions.

• •Automatic tracking of all insertions, deletions, and formatting changes
• •See which collaborator made each change
• •Timestamps for every operation
• •Filter the changelog by user or date range

The statistics dashboard provides detailed analytics about your writing habits and project activity.

Set personal goals to build writing habits and track progress toward milestones.

• •Word count goals — set daily, weekly, or total word count targets
• •Character count goals — track characters written for precise targets
• •Streak goals — commit to writing a certain number of consecutive days or days in a period
• •Time-based goals — set goals around writing session duration
• •Task goals — target a number of completed tasks per period
• •Content creation goals — aim to create a set number of documents or content items
• •Comments closed goals — track your feedback resolution rate
• •Notes created goals — build a habit of capturing ideas and research
• •Goals can be scoped globally, per-project, or per-document

Earn achievements as you hit milestones. Achievements come in four tiers — Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum — across categories like writing milestones, streaks, consistency, collaboration, and more. Check your achievements page to see what you've unlocked and what's next.

Import existing documents into any project. Supported formats include:

Export individual documents or entire projects.

You can export a single document, select multiple documents, or export an entire project at once. Multi-document exports are bundled into a single file.

Choose from several layout configurations to fit your workflow:

• •Single pane — standard full-width view
• •Two panes horizontal — side-by-side (great for reference + writing)
• •Two panes vertical — stacked top and bottom
• •Three panes horizontal — three columns for complex workflows
• •Three panes vertical — three rows stacked
• •Four-pane grid — 2×2 grid for maximum multi-tasking (maximum panes)

Each pane is independent — open any document, flowchart, ideaboard, taskboard, or plot grid in any pane. Panes support all the same features as the standard view.

• •Resize panes by dragging the dividers between them
• •Each pane can have its own sidebar panels (project tree, comments, notes, tasks)
• •Click a pane to focus it — actions and commands apply to the focused pane
• •Your split view layout is saved in the URL, so you can bookmark specific arrangements

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