Backlinks & Tables

[asalwaysimani]

I know this is probably a strange ask for a software that is designed for novel writing but I'm transferring a project I started writing in Obsidian to novelWriter because I like how it does manuscript formatting and project breakdown natively however I didn't realize how often I made links between different documents in the same project until I couldn't anymore.

PS, Also my kingdom and crown for the ability to make basic tables?

[vkbo]

You can link between documents using tags and references. These are intended for linking a scene to its characters, locations, etc. But they can also be used for cross-linking between documents. It does not support formatted internal links (Wiki style) though. A reference becomes a clickable link in the viewer and in the manuscript (if you include them in the output).

Proper tables is out of scope, but you can do old fashioned vertical alignment using the tab key. The tab stops have fixed widths (which you can change in Preferences) so it usually works just fine. I use them for listing details about my characters at the top of my character notes all the time.

[vkbo]

There are a few tips in the Tips & Tricks section too:

[asalwaysimani]

You can link between documents using tags and references. These are intended for linking a scene to its characters, locations, etc. But they can also be used for cross-linking between documents. It does not support formatted internal links (Wiki style) though. A reference becomes a clickable link in the viewer and in the manuscript (if you include them in the output).

Ah okay thanks! Yeah I was looking for something like internal links something like -> [An Internal Link](/guides/content/editing-an-existing-page) to link between scenes/chapters.

Proper tables is out of scope, but you can do old fashioned vertical alignment using the tab key. The tab stops have fixed widths (which you can change in Preferences) so it usually works just fine. I use them for listing details about my characters at the top of my character notes all the time.

Sorry I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "old fashioned vertical alignment"? I don't mean rendered tables but rather like these? This however might be a problem with me coming from Obsidian to novelWriter and trying to figure out what is cross applicable between the two softwares.

[vkbo]

By "old fashioned" I mean vertical text alignment using tabs and equidistant tab stops. Like this:

Full tables are not supported. novelWriter is not intended to replace note taking software. There are lots of very good tools for this already. On my own projects I use both Obsidian and novelWriter in parallel. Obsidian for the research, and novelWriter for the story and the character profiles, and whatever world history, character backstory, and plot outlines I write up.

[vkbo]

As a sidenote, I am working on another writing app that is similar to novelWriter, but a rich text editor. It is much easier to support complex structures in such an app, so I may very well allow it there.

The progress is slow though, as this project takes most of my free developer time.