WriteIDE 0.7.4: visible backups, crash recovery, smoother imports

WriteIDE 0.7.4 is now available. Download the 0.7.4 release for macOS, Windows, or Linux.

This release is about trust you can see. You can tell at a glance when your project was last backed up, words you typed just before a crash are offered back, and a lost or damaged project can be restored from its backups. Long manuscripts import without freezing the app, and exports, navigation, Settings and Help are easier to follow. The full list of smaller repairs is at the bottom.

What to know when you update

• Backups follow your computer's Documents folder. On Windows, if OneDrive manages your Documents folder, new backups go to that OneDrive Documents folder, next to your exports. Your earlier backup folder stays readable: nothing in it is moved, changed or deleted, Settings lists it with an Open folder button, and restoring a project still finds backups made there. On a Mac, and anywhere the two folders are the same, nothing moves.
• Version History and Backups are now one Settings page, Keeping your work safe. Every control from the two old pages is still there.
• Your library is copied before it changes. This update changes how chapters are stored so a chapter can carry the dates you posted it. Before the change, WriteIDE saves a copy of your library file next to it and keeps the five most recent copies.
• Character stats are read in story order. If you recorded a change at an earlier scene after changes at later scenes, a later value that an earlier version overwrote now shows the value you recorded there. Nothing in your history is rewritten, and a story recorded strictly front to back shows exactly the same values as before.
• New keys. Cmd/Ctrl+W closes the open tab instead of the window; Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+W closes the window. Cmd/Ctrl+[ and ] go Back and Forward through what you viewed, and Option/Alt+Cmd/Ctrl+[ and ] move to the previous or next chapter.
• Your theme is kept. Only a first launch with no saved theme follows your computer's light or dark setting.

Backups you can see

The status bar now shows how recently the project was backed up, right beside "Saved". It says plainly when the last backup failed or is overdue, and clicking it opens your backup settings.

Settings › Keeping your work safe brings everything into one place: the last backup, the backup folder with Open and Change, the schedule in plain words, Back up now, and Restore from a version or from a backup file. A version is a restore point inside WriteIDE; a backup file is a file in your backup folder.

You choose where backups go, and you can add an optional second copy on an external drive or a cloud-synced folder. Every full backup, including a version you make from Review › Versions, is copied there too. A daily backup missed because WriteIDE was closed is made the next time you open the project. Automatic daily backups are trimmed to the newest 14 plus one a week; backups you make yourself are never removed. Each project's backup folder holds a label file named after the project, so you can find it in Finder or Explorer.

Saves that tell the truth

Typing is saved at least every two seconds, in the scene editor and in Chapter view, even during a long unbroken burst.

When a save fails, for example because the disk is full, leaving the scene asks first and names the reason, with Stay, Copy text and Leave without saving. The unsaved text is kept and offered back when you return, and the status never says "Saved" for text that is not on disk.

Words back after a crash

If WriteIDE closes unexpectedly or a save fails, words you typed after the last save are offered back when you reopen the scene: "Recovered 14 words you typed after 2:31 PM", with Keep and Discard. Keep puts them back as your own edit, which Undo can take back. If the scene changed since, the words are offered as a copy instead, so newer text is never overwritten.

If the editor stops unexpectedly, the window comes back on its own in the scene you were writing and tells you up to what time your writing is saved.

Restore a lost or damaged project

The library now lists projects that are not in it but have backups on this computer, each with a Restore button. If the newest backup cannot be read, WriteIDE offers the next older backup that can, and restores nothing until you choose it.

A damaged library file no longer stops WriteIDE from starting. You get a normal window that explains the file can't be opened and hasn't been changed or deleted, with Show the file, Restore from backups and Quit.

Long manuscripts import without freezing

Reading a manuscript now shows progress with a way to cancel, and committing a very long serial no longer slows down as the book grows. A backup that comes due during an import waits for it to finish instead of failing.

Word imports recognize chapter titles written as bold or bold-italic paragraphs, a centred * * * between scenes, and Chapter 1 after a title page with a "by Author" line. Plain text and Markdown imports treat a lone # line as a scene break. Import review shows scenes as formatted prose, shows a confidence figure only when it is low, and lets you name imported scenes from their first line or as Scene 1, 2, 3.

Exports you can predict

Every export opens the same three choices, This scene, This chapter and Entire manuscript, with the closest one selected, and remembers the last format for each. Before you export, the dialog shows the file name and the folder. Files get readable names with the local date and time, and Settings › Export shows the real folder with an Open folder button.

Whole-manuscript exports print chapter titles and scene breaks by default, so a scene's first line no longer appears twice; scene titles and book titles are optional. The Stat Changelog shows a readable date and how many chapters it covers.

Ready to post

Publish › Ready to post gives each chapter a checklist, with scenes still to review and a preview, and the copy buttons you need. Copy for Royal Road now leaves the chapter title out of the body by default, adds a Copy title button, and steps to the previous or next chapter from the dialog. The new Copy for Patreon keeps stat blocks readable without tables.

A Mark posted date for each platform lets the chapter list show what you posted and where. Prepared chapters now live here too. Nothing is posted or sent for you.

Finding your way around

• Preview tabs. A scene or chapter opened from the sidebar, a list or search opens in an italic tab that the next one replaces. Double-click it or start typing to keep it.
• Back and Forward move through what you viewed, and the chapter keys step through the manuscript.
• One "As of" bar in the editor, the Overview and the character sheet names the chapter and scene, with Back to latest and the count of scenes to review.
• See where a value came from. Click any tracked value in a stat block, or use its Why button from the keyboard, to see where each value was set.
• Scenes to review offers Update block, which updates only that stat block and never your prose, with Undo, and Keep as written.
• Review › Recorded changes lists every recorded change in the story, with character and chapter filters.
• Add a resource such as Stamina from a character's Stats tab, for every character on the stat system or for that character only. The character sheet shows resources first, as current and maximum.
• /damage and /heal insert a stat box with the new values, and /trade a system box listing the traded items, instead of writing a sentence into your prose. The sentence is now an option you tick.
• A new chapter opens with Scene 1 ready to write, and an empty chapter has an Add first scene button.
• Sidebar search shows a line of matching text under each scene, hides chapters with no match, highlights the match when the scene opens, and links to Find for the whole manuscript.
• Rail icons go straight to their main page; the small arrow beside each opens the others. Cmd/Ctrl+K also finds New scene, New chapter, Scenes to review, Find in Manuscript, Import Manuscript and Stat Systems.

Settings and Help, from anywhere

Theme, density and editor typography apply and save as you choose them, and editor font, size and line spacing live in one place with a live preview. Match system sits beside Nightjade and Light.

Settings and Help, including Report a problem and Open backups, are reachable from the library with no project open, and Cmd/Ctrl+, opens Settings from anywhere. The Updates page shows what changed in the installed version and says that your library is copied before an update changes how it is stored. The Keyboard Shortcuts page and the ? overlay list the new keys.

When something goes wrong during an export or backup, WriteIDE now says what to do next, for example when the disk is full, the folder is missing or a file is in use, instead of showing raw error text.

What stays separate

Linked DOCX write-back and returned-PDF annotation review remain disabled while their own acceptance work continues. The existing manuscript import and export paths remain available.

Fixes and refinements

• Earlier stat changes stay put. A change recorded at an earlier scene no longer drags later values backward, and a later level-up or equip no longer overwrites health recorded at the end of the story.
• PDF export works without an author name.
• Project Settings confirms saves with a short "Saved" note, and the next click on the rail works the first time.
• Find stays on your match. A match no longer opens the Canon & Spelling menu, and it stays in view.
• The character quick sheet closes with Escape, and dialogs opened from it appear above it.
• Exporting from Chapter view offers This scene while you are in a scene.
• Deleting a project clears its unsaved text, so quitting no longer asks about a scene that is gone.
• Import review is easier to read. Strong name scores are hidden in Detected entities, and code blocks and tables show whole in split mode.
• Tabs behave with many open. The strip no longer shows a scrollbar at rest, and tabs shrink while keeping the active one in view.
• Empty states offer a next step. An empty character list offers Create a character, and the empty Recorded changes and Canon views each have their own button.
• A quieter first scene. A new author's first scene shows one welcome banner and a short "Begin your story..." placeholder, and the welcome tour starts only on a true first launch.
• Deleting a project names it and says existing backups are kept, and project details warn before you leave unsaved changes.
• Help points to the right places. The Level up message points to World › Stat Systems, and Help suggests making a version first instead of archiving a character.
• The light theme looks right. No dark scroll track in the editor, and the Settings menu follows the theme.
• Plainer wording. Counts read "1 scene" and "1 book", empty scenes are muted rather than red, and update prompts show release notes as plain text.

WriteIDE remains free, local-first, and account-free. Download 0.7.4, or use Check for Updates in the app.