Collaboration | Plotiar Docs

Sharing Projects

To collaborate on a project, you first need to share it with the people you want to work with. Plotiar offers two ways to invite collaborators.

Invite by Email

Enter a collaborator's email address and choose the role you want to assign them. They receive an invitation and can join the project immediately after signing in. Email invitations are available on all plans.

Shareable Links

Generate a link that anyone can use to join the project. You choose the role that link recipients get when they join. Shareable links are convenient for open invitations -- paste the link in a group chat, email thread, or social post. Available on the Plus plan.

1
Open the share dialog
From the project workspace, click the "Share" button in the right panel or the project menu. The share dialog lists current collaborators and their roles.
2
Invite by email
Type the person's email address, select a role (Editor or Viewer), and click "Invite". They receive a notification and the project appears in their workspace.
3
Generate a shareable link (Plus)
Toggle on the shareable link option, choose the default role for anyone who joins via the link, and copy the URL. Share it anywhere you like.
4
Manage collaborators
From the same dialog, change a collaborator's role, or remove them from the project entirely. Only the project Owner can manage members.

TIP

You can change a collaborator's role at any time from the share dialog. If someone starts as a Viewer and later needs editing access, simply upgrade their role to Editor. If you want to share a project or content item with people who do not need a Plotiar account at all, see the Public Sharing documentation — it covers read-only publishing on public.plotiar.com for documents, flowcharts, plot grids, family trees, maps, and more.

Roles & Permissions

Every collaborator on a project has one of three roles. Roles determine what actions a person can perform within the project.

Permission	Owner	Editor	Viewer
View all content	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create & edit documents	Yes	Yes	No
Create & edit flowcharts	Yes	Yes	No
Create & edit idea boards	Yes	Yes	No
Create & edit task boards	Yes	Yes	No
Create & edit plot grids	Yes	Yes	No
Leave comments	Yes	Yes	No
Resolve & archive comments	Yes	Yes	No
Manage members & roles	Yes	No	No
Delete the project	Yes	No	No

•Owner -- Full control over the project including member management, settings, and deletion. Every project has exactly one Owner.
•Editor -- Can create, edit, delete, and organize all content types within the project, and can leave and resolve comments. Cannot manage members or delete the project.
•Viewer -- Read-only access to everything in the project. Cannot edit or comment.

TIP

For beta readers who should give feedback without altering your text, give them the Viewer role and ask them to share notes outside the document. For collaborators who need to comment and edit, use the Editor role.

Real-Time Editing

When multiple people open the same document, flowchart, or ideaboard, they can edit it simultaneously. Changes appear instantly for every collaborator -- there is no save button, no refresh, and no merge conflicts.

Conflict-Free Collaboration

Plotiar uses a Yjs-based CRDT (Conflict-Free Replicated Data Type) under the hood. This means that when two people edit the same paragraph at the same time, both sets of changes are preserved and merged automatically. You never overwrite each other's work, even if you are editing the same sentence.

•Every keystroke is synced to all connected collaborators in real time
•Formatting changes, block insertions, deletions, and structural edits are all synced
•The same real-time sync works across documents, flowcharts, and idea boards
•If two people make conflicting changes, the CRDT resolves them deterministically -- no manual merge needed
•Offline edits are queued locally and synced when the connection is restored

Real-time editing is available on all plans. There is no limit on the number of simultaneous collaborators in a single document.

Connection Status

A sync indicator in the editor toolbar shows the current connection status so you always know whether your changes are being saved.

Synced

All changes have been saved to the server. You are fully up to date.

Syncing

Changes are being transmitted to the server right now. This usually takes only a moment.

Offline

You have lost your internet connection. Changes are stored locally and will sync automatically when you reconnect.

Error

Something went wrong during sync. Plotiar retries automatically, and your local changes are safe in the meantime.

Even when you are offline, you can continue working. Plotiar stores your changes locally and syncs them as soon as your connection is restored. No work is lost.

Presence Indicators

When collaborators are viewing or editing the same content, you see their presence in real time. This helps you stay aware of who is working where so you can coordinate without interrupting each other.

Collaborator Avatars

The bottom of the sidebar displays avatar icons for every collaborator who currently has the project open. Hover over an avatar to see the person's name. Avatars appear and disappear as people open and close the project.

Live Cursors

Each collaborator's cursor and text selection are visible in the editor in a distinct color. You can see exactly where someone is typing in real time. Cursor colors are assigned automatically and remain consistent during the session.

•Presence indicators work across documents, flowcharts, and idea boards
•In flowcharts, you see which nodes other collaborators have selected
•In idea boards, you see each collaborator's cursor position on the canvas
•Cursor labels show the collaborator's name so you know who is where

Comments

Comments let you discuss specific parts of your content with collaborators. Leave feedback on a particular paragraph, ask a question about a scene, or assign an action item to a team member -- all without leaving the document.

Threaded Conversations

Every comment starts a thread. Reply to build a conversation around a specific passage. Threads keep discussions focused and prevent them from getting lost in a long list.

@Mentions & Notifications

Type @ followed by a collaborator's name to mention them. Mentioned collaborators receive a notification so they know to check the thread. Use mentions to draw attention, ask for input, or request a review.

Assign to Members

Assign a comment thread to a specific collaborator to indicate that they are responsible for addressing it. The assignee sees the thread highlighted in their comment overview.

Rich Text Replies

Comments support rich text formatting. Use bold, italic, lists, and other formatting in your replies to communicate clearly.

Each comment thread has a status that tracks its lifecycle:

•Open -- The thread is active and awaiting action or discussion.
•Resolved -- The feedback has been addressed. Resolved threads are dimmed in the document but remain accessible.
•Archived -- The thread is no longer relevant. Archived threads are hidden from the default view but can be shown with a filter.

You can transition threads between statuses at any time:

•Resolve a thread when the feedback has been addressed
•Reopen a resolved thread if more discussion is needed
•Archive a thread to remove it from the active view
•Edit or delete your own comments at any time

Comment Sidebar

Open the right sidebar and switch to the Comments tab for an overview of all threads in the current document. The sidebar lists every thread with its status, author, and a preview of the latest reply. Click any thread to jump to its anchored position in the document.

TIP

Use the comment sidebar to review all feedback at once before starting a revision pass. Work through threads one by one, resolving each as you address it, until the list is clear.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks are anchored reference points you place in your documents. Use them to mark important passages, create cross-references between sections, or flag content for later attention.

Anchor to Text

Create a bookmark by selecting text or placing your cursor in a block. The bookmark is anchored to that specific location in the document. Even as the content around it changes, the bookmark stays attached to the passage you marked.

Color Coding

Assign a color to each bookmark for visual categorization. For example, you might use red for passages that need revision, blue for research references, and green for finalized sections.

Cross-References

Link bookmarks to each other to create cross-references within a document or across documents in the same project. Click a cross-reference link to jump directly to the referenced passage.

Sidebar Overview

Open the right sidebar and switch to the Bookmarks tab to see all bookmarks in the current document. Sort them by position, color, or creation date. Filter by color to focus on a specific category. Click any bookmark to jump to its location.

•Create a bookmark from the toolbar or the right-click context menu
•Give each bookmark an optional label to describe what it marks
•Color-code bookmarks to distinguish different purposes -- revision, reference, highlight, and so on
•Link bookmarks together for cross-referencing within or across documents
•Sort and filter bookmarks in the sidebar for quick navigation
•Delete bookmarks you no longer need from the sidebar or the context menu

TIP

Bookmarks are especially useful during revision. Color-code them by issue type -- plot holes in red, continuity questions in yellow, passages you love in green -- and then use the sidebar to work through each category systematically.