Smart Content
Auto-generated reference pages: tables of contents, bibliographies, indexes, and more
Smart Content is a set of auto-generated reference pages that read your project and produce the front-matter and back-matter your manuscript needs: table of contents, bibliography, character index, glossary, and a back-of-book index. Each one is its own content item in your project, so you can edit, share, export, and refresh it like any other piece of content.
Overview
Each Smart Content type is a standalone content node in your project, just like a document or flowchart. You create one from the sidebar "+" menu, configure how it should read your project, and Plotiar regenerates it on demand from the latest state of your manuscript.
Smart Content items render in the editor like a normal page, can be opened in Split View next to the source document, can be made public, and are included automatically when you export an entire project.
- •Five Smart Content types: Table of Contents, Bibliography, Character Index, Glossary, and Back-of-Book Index
- •Deterministic generators (Plus) read your project structure directly - no AI, no per-run cost
- •AI variants (Pro) handle projects that have not yet been marked up with headings, citations, or character entries
- •Each item lives in your content tree and can be opened from any Split View pane
- •Smart Content can be made public via public.plotiar.com just like any other content type
Covers (Cover Studio)
Cover pages are no longer a Smart Content type. Covers now live in Cover Studio, which you open from the project sidebar. Each project has one cover design, Cover Studio is available on every plan, and the cover art is always an image you upload. Export a print-ready PDF wrap with trim and bleed boxes, or JPGs for the ebook and audiobook covers.
- •Front cover, spine and back cover designed together as one print wrap
- •The same design re-laid out as an ebook cover (1600×2560) and an audiobook cover (3000×3000)
- •Amazon KDP paperback geometry: 0.125 in bleed, spine width from page count and paper type (white, cream or color), spine text from 80 pages
- •An ISBN barcode (EAN-13 with the 5-digit price add-on) generated from your ISBN
- •33 genre type styles built on Google Fonts, each previewing your own title
- •A print check that flags low-resolution art, text outside the safe area and unreadable contrast; plus a 3D mockup, a shelf test and named versions
- •On Plus, Cover Studio does some of the work for you: one-click print fixes, colors sampled from your art and a page count kept in step with your manuscript
Table of Contents
The Table of Contents generator walks your project and collects every heading from your documents into a structured TOC, preserving heading levels and document order.
- •Captures H1 through lower heading levels in order of occurrence
- •Records the source document for every entry so the TOC matches your content tree
- •Tracks word count and (in exports) page numbers per entry
- •Regenerates from the latest manuscript state with one click
- •Useful for project-wide navigation as well as for export front-matter
Bibliography
The Bibliography generator collects citations from your manuscript and renders them as a sorted reference list. Plotiar reads citations attached to documents (via the Citations system) and produces a formatted bibliography in your chosen style.
- •Pulls every citation referenced across your manuscript
- •Tracks how many times each reference is cited and where
- •Auto-formats entries; you can override any single entry by hand
- •Mark entries as excluded if you cite them but do not want them in the final list
- •Stays in sync with the citations attached to your documents
Character Index
The Character Index lists every character that appears in your manuscript, how often they appear, where they first show up, and which documents include them. It draws from your project's Lore entries and from name detection across the manuscript.
- •One entry per character with aliases collected and merged
- •Appearance count and first-appearance document for each character
- •Per-document appearance breakdown for navigation
- •Optional category and color pulled from the matching Lore entry
- •Useful as a back-matter index for novels with large casts
Glossary
The Glossary generator produces an alphabetical list of defined terms with their definitions. It reads from your Lore entries and any glossary terms you have explicitly marked, then renders them as a back-matter glossary.
- •One entry per term with full definition
- •Aliases (alternative spellings or names) merged into a single entry
- •Optional category grouping
- •Occurrence counts so rarely-used terms can be reviewed
- •Ideal for fantasy, sci-fi, academic, and technical manuscripts
Back-of-Book Index
The Back-of-Book Index generator builds a true publication-style index - terms with subterms, cross-references, and document locations. Use it for non-fiction, academic work, or any manuscript where readers will need to look up topics.
- •Terms with optional subterms and "see also" cross-references
- •Per-term locations across documents in the project
- •Regenerates against the latest manuscript state
- •Lives alongside the Glossary so reference works can ship both
AI Variants (Pro)
Some projects do not yet have the structured input the deterministic generators need - a manuscript without H1 headings cannot produce a meaningful TOC, and a paper without inline citations cannot produce a bibliography. The Pro plan adds AI variants that read the manuscript text and infer the structure.
AI Table of Contents (Pro)
AI Bibliography (Pro)
AI Cover Assistant (Pro)
- •AI variants count against your weekly Pro AI credit allowance (250 credits / week)
- •BYOK is supported - connect your own Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google key in Account Settings
- •Output is always editable - AI variants are a starting draft, not a locked file
- •Deterministic versions remain available on Plus and produce no AI cost
Using Smart Content in Exports
When you export an entire project to PDF, DOCX, or EPUB, Plotiar automatically includes any Smart Content items in the right place: TOC at the front, bibliography and indexes at the back.
- •Your Cover Studio cover becomes the EPUB cover image, and can optionally be the first page of PDF and DOCX exports
- •Table of Contents inserts after the cover, with page numbers calculated at export time
- •Bibliography, Character Index, Glossary, and Index render as back-matter in the order they appear in your content tree
- •PDF and EPUB exports require the Plus plan
- •DOCX and TXT exports are available on all plans
