Guide

ConTexture is organised into three main workspaces accessible from the sidebar: Creative Writing, Journal, and References. Tap the sidebar icon in the top left to show or hide it.

Within Creative Writing, your projects appear as folders. Tap a project to expand it and see its contents — chapters, character sheets, maps, outlines, and more. Tap any note to open it in the editor.

The margin panel on the right side of the editor contains five tabs: Format, Outline, Comments, Footnotes, and Images/Stats. Tap the panel icon in the top right toolbar to show or hide it.

The + button at the top of any folder lets you create a new note, new folder, import a file, or open a drawing board. In Maps & Images folders, the first option is always Import Photos.

The drawing board is a full freehand canvas you can open from any folder in your project. Use it to sketch maps, diagram scene structures, visualise character relationships, or just think visually.

1. Tap the + button at the top of any folder
2. Select New Drawing from the menu
3. The drawing board opens with a toolbar for pen, pencil, eraser, and colour selection
4. Your drawing saves automatically and appears in the folder alongside your notes

Drawing boards are stored as files in your iCloud container and sync across all your devices. On iPad with Apple Pencil, the drawing experience is particularly natural for sketching maps and diagrams.

Type @ anywhere in your writing to open the mention picker. This lets you reference images, character sheets, and other notes directly from within your text.

1. Type @ at the start of a word (preceded by a space or new line)
2. A picker appears showing available notes and images from your project
3. Start typing to filter the list
4. Tap a result to insert the reference

For images: Selecting an image inserts a Markdown image reference — ![Image Name](filename.png). This renders as the actual image in Preview mode, so you can see your map or character portrait inline in your writing.

For text notes: Selecting a note inserts a wiki link — [[Note Name]] — which you can tap to navigate directly to that note.

Wiki links let you connect any note to any other note in your project, creating a navigable web of interconnected writing — characters, locations, chapters, and research all linked together.

1. Type [[ anywhere in your writing
2. A picker appears showing notes in your project
3. Start typing a name to filter the list
4. Select a note to insert the link as [[Note Name]]

In Preview mode, wiki links are tappable — tap any [[link]] to navigate directly to that note. This makes it easy to jump from a chapter to a character sheet and back.

The Journal workspace creates a fresh daily note for each day automatically. Calendar events and reminders from your device appear alongside your note, giving you one place to see your schedule and your writing together.

Enabling calendar and reminders access:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac
2. Scroll down to ConTexture and tap it
3. Enable Calendars and Reminders access
4. Return to ConTexture — your events and reminders will now appear in the Journal view

Creating reminders from your writing: In any note, add a task checkbox — - [ ] — and it appears as a trackable task. You can also insert a reminder directly from the Journal that will appear in your Reminders app and show up in the daily view.

On iPad and Mac, ConTexture supports opening two documents side by side — write in one while referencing a character sheet, map, outline, or another chapter in the other.

On iPad (Split View):

1. Open ConTexture and navigate to a note
2. Swipe up slightly from the bottom of the screen to reveal the Dock
3. Long-press the ConTexture icon in the Dock and drag it to the left or right edge of the screen
4. A second ConTexture window opens — navigate to a different note in this window
5. Both notes are now visible and editable side by side

On Mac:

1. Open a note in ConTexture
2. From the Window menu, choose New Window (or press ⌘N)
3. Arrange the two windows side by side on your screen
4. Navigate to a different note in the second window

ConTexture supports standard Markdown footnotes — useful for citations, research notes, editorial comments, and asides that don't belong in the main text.

Inserting a footnote:

1. Place your cursor where you want the footnote marker in the text
2. Open the margin panel and tap the Footnotes tab (#)
3. Tap Insert Footnote — a numbered marker appears in your text
4. Scroll to the bottom of the document where the footnote content area is and type your footnote text

Footnotes are stored as standard Markdown syntax ([^1] in the text, [^1]: footnote text at the bottom), so they're fully portable to any Markdown editor or export format.

ConTexture offers several export and sharing options — accessible from the Share button in the toolbar while a note is open, or via File → Export on Mac.

ePub export — exports your note or project as an ePub file, readable on any e-reader, Kindle, Apple Books, or ePub viewer. One of the few iOS writing apps to offer this directly.

Plain Markdown (.md) — exports a clean Markdown file compatible with any text editor or writing app.

Rich export (ConTexture .md) — exports with YAML front matter and comments preserved as footnotes. Another ConTexture user can import this file with full fidelity.

Live collaboration:

1. Open a note and tap Share
2. Choose Share & Collaborate Live
3. The system share sheet appears — choose Add People or share via AirDrop, Mail, or Messages
4. The recipient gets access to the same live file via iCloud — edits from both sides sync in real time
5. The collaborator can open the file in ConTexture or any Markdown editor

Importing a file:

1. On Mac: File → Import… opens a file picker — select any .md or .markdown file
2. On iOS: use the Share button in Files app and choose ConTexture, or use the + button in any folder and select Import
3. The Import sheet lets you choose which project and subfolder the file lands in