The Writebook Manual 37signals

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  • Move Welcome
    Open Welcome

    Welcome to Writebook

    Thanks for downloading Writebook.

    Writebook is remarkably simple software that allows you to publish text and pictures in a simple, browsable online book format. It's independent publishing for everyone.

    Use it for everything from an instruction manual (like this one!), to employee handbooks, internal technical runbooks, graphic novels, collections of short stories, poetry, blog posts, novels, or family history. Put it all into Writebook and instantly publish to the web.

    And because you host it yourself, you own all your own data. With no limits on readers or writers, you can create as many books as you like. You're in control.

    In the pages that follow we'll help you get started with Writebook and show you how it all works.

    We can't wait to see what you make with it!

    Welcome 134 words
  • Move Installation
    Open Installation

    Installation

    Since Writebook is something you need to install and host yourself, you’ll need a few things before you begin:

    1. Your own domain name.
    2. A web server connected to the internet.
    3. Some basic technical know-how.

    While Writebook isn’t difficult to set up, if you’re not a technical person you might want to get a techy friend to help.

    Ok, let’s get into it.

    Here’s how to get it running on your end:

    1. FIRST, pick a machine to host Writebook. If you need one in the cloud, we recommend checking out Digital Ocean (instructions) or Hetzner (instructions).
    2. THEN, point DNS to the IP address of the machine that’ll be hosting Writebook. You need to point a domain (example.com) or subdomain (books.example.com) to the IP address of the machine hosting Wr
    Installation 479 words
  • Move Users, Readers & Writers
    Open Users, Readers & Writers

    Users, Readers & Writers

    You can use Writebook alone, or invite others to publish with you. Users invited to Writebook can read books that are private to just your team, create their own books, or you can choose which books they can contribute to.

    users.png

    Inviting people

    Your Writebook has a special join link you can share with people. When they hit the link they will be asked to enter their name, email address, and set a password for their account. Once they do, they'll be immediately signed in.

    You can find the join link by hitting the people button on the index of books. There you'll see the special URL which you can share via QR code or copy it to paste into an email, text, and chat.

    Administrators

    Hit the Crown button next to a person to designate them as an Administrator. Admins have access to every book on the account and can do things like remove people from the account, help them get back in if they forget their

    Users, Readers & Writers 355 words
  • Move Creating your book
    Open Creating your book

    Creating your book

    From the index of books, hit the green + button to make your first book.

    library.png

    Fill out the title, optional subtitle, and author. You can also upload a cover image if you have one. Finally, if there are other people on your account you can choose who can read and who can edit your book with you. All of this can be changed later so don't sweat it if you don't have it all figured out yet.

    new-book.png

    Managing pages

    The table of contents is where you'll build the structure of your book. Think of it like a file manager where you can add Text Pages, Section Pages, and Picture Pages. If you're used to writing starting with an outline, you're going to love it.

    toc-list.png

    The table of contents can be displayed at a list or as a grid of thumbnail rep

    Creating your book 166 words
  • Move Text Pages, Section Pages, and Picture Pages
    Open Text Pages, Section Pages, and Picture Pages

    Text Pages, Section Pages, and Picture Pages

    There are three kinds of pages you can use to create your book.

    Screenshot 2024-06-19 at 8.16.09 PM.png

    Text Pages

    Text Pages can be as long as you want. They're for long-form formatted text. Text Pages are formatted with Markdown, a simple formatting tool for writing on the web.

    Section Pages

    Books in Writebook have a flat structure, just like physical books. Insert a Section Page to designate a new part, section, or chapter; or for quotations or short bold statements.

    Picture Pages

    Picture Pages hold a single, full-size individual image with an optional caption.

    Text Pages, Section Pages, and Picture Pages 107 words
  • Move Writing with Writebook
    Open Writing with Writebook

    Writing

    We've designed Writebook to be a calm, enjoyable and distraction-free place to write.

    Here's what you need to know.

    Editing mode

    The first step when working on your book is to flip the switch and enter Editing mode. That will reveal the page toolbar and save button. Edit mode stays on even as you move around to other pages in your book while working. You can turn it off when you're done working or toggle it anytime to preview your changes as readers will see them.

    edit-mode.gif

    Autosave

    Writebook automatically saves as you write so you don't have to think about saving or worry about losing your work. The Save button in the page toolbar continually communicates where the are unsaved changes, when it's in the process of saving, and when all changes have been saved. You can hit the button if you want to, but it'll save for you even if you don't.

    ![autosave.gif](https://books.37signals.com/u/autosave-Ssql4X.gif

    Writing with Writebook 258 words
  • Move Using Markdown
    Open Using Markdown

    Using Markdown

    Text Pages in Writebook use Markdown, a simple formatting tool for writing on the web.

    If you're already a Markdown expert, you can write your book with the same formatting you're accustomed to. Below you'll find a handy reference.

    But if you're new to Markdown, Writebook's text editing toolbar has the most common formatting tools for anyone who's familiar with a word processor.

    markdown-toolbar.png

    When you hit a formatting button, Writebook will wrap selected text in the corresponding Markdown formatting characters.

    Basic formatting

    Markdown Converted to HTML Result
    **bold** <strong>bold</strong> bold
    _italic_ <em>italic</em> italic
    `code` <code>code</code> code
    [link](url) <a href="url">link</a> link

    Headings

    Heading level

    Using Markdown 621 words
  • Move Reading
    Open Reading

    Reading

    Clear typography that adapts to your device and screen size, a calm layout, and minimal distractions make reading a Writebook a pleasure.

    Here are a few more things you should know.

    Full Screen

    For a more immersive, focused reading experience hit the expand button at the top of the screen to enter Full Screen mode (on supported devices). Full Screen hides most of the clutter and busyness of your browser and operating system so you can focus on reading. Hint: you can use Full Screen while writing, too!

    Full Screen view

    Moving between pages

    As you reach the bottom of a page, you'll find a button with the title of the next page. Just hit it to continue. The back arrow button at the top of the screen moves back to the previous page.

    On devices with a hardware keyboard attached you can also simply hit the arrow keys to move between pages. Just press

    Reading 195 words
  • Move Publishing on the web
    Open Publishing on the web

    Publishing your book

    Writebook can be used to publish private books just for your team, or public books available for everyone on the web.

    Private books

    Private books are available to anyone who is signed in to your Writebook and has permission to read a book. See the section, Users, Readers & Writers for details.

    Publishing to the web

    To make a book available to everyone on the internet, just flip the switch from locked to web. Your book will be instantly available at the URL displayed when the switch is on. There are tools below to display a QR code or copy the URL so you can share it in an email, text, or chat—or link to it on your home page.

    publishing.gif

    Public URLs

    Your book's public URL consists of the domain you provided when you set up Writebook plus a slug derived from the title of the book. For example, if your Writebook is at `bo

    Publishing on the web 244 words
  • Move The ONCE Command
    Open The ONCE Command

    ONCE command reference

    Install and manage ONCE products.

    To run the once command in a terminal connect to your server using with either SSH or a web-based cloud console.

    Usage:

    once - [command]

    Manage passwords

    password - manage passwords

    Manage automatic updates

    auto-update - manage automatic updates

    Manage application data

    data - manage application data

    Additional Commands:

    help - Help about any command
    setup - Re-run the initial setup of Writebook
    start - Start Writebook
    status - Show the current status
    stop - Stop Writebook
    update - Update Writebook to the latest version

    Flags:

    -h, --help - help for once

    Use once [command] --help for more information about a command.

    The ONCE Command 115 words
  • Move Need help?
    Open Need help?

    Help

    Everyone gets stuck sometimes. Here's how to deal with some common situations.

    I need to sign in on another device

    You can easily sign in on another device without even typing your password by sharing your personal link.

    session-transfer.png

    Password recovery

    Someone forgot their password and can't sign in. It happens. Administrators can access someone else's personal sign in link to help them get back in.

    password-recovery.png

    Need help? 71 words
  • Move Appendix
    Open Appendix

    Install guides

    Appendix
  • Move Installing on Digital Ocean
    Open Installing on Digital Ocean

    Installing on Digital Ocean

    One of the best ways to host Writebook is to use a cloud provider like Digital Ocean. It's inexpensive and relatively easy to set up if you have a little technical know-how.

    Once you've signed up for a Digital Ocean account, just follow these steps to get set up. It should take less than 10 minutes.

    1. Choose Create > Droplets from the menu in your default project and pick a plan to get the server set up. DO-create.png Minimum requirements are 2GB RAM/1CPU. We recommend the following setup: DO-plan.png

    2. Next, create a password for connecting to the server. DO-password.png

    3. Accept the rest of the defaults and hit "Create Droplet" at the bottom of the screen. It will take just a few minutes for your droplet to be created. Once it's

    Installing on Digital Ocean 326 words
  • Move Installing on Hetzner
    Open Installing on Hetzner

    Installing on Hetzner

    One of the best ways to host Writebook is to use a cloud provider like Hetzner. It's inexpensive and relatively easy to set up if you have a little technical know-how.

    Once you've signed up for a Hetzner account, just follow these steps to get set up. It should take less than 10 minutes.

    1. Choose + Create Server in your default project and pick a plan to get the server set up. hz-dash.png Minimum requirements are 2GB RAM/1CPU. We recommend the following setup: hz-plan.png

    2. Accept the rest of the defaults and hit Create and Buy now at the bottom of the screen. It will take just a few minutes for your server to be created.

    3. Once it's ready, copy the Public IP address which we'll use to point your domain name to your new cloud server. ![hz-ip.png](https://books.37signals.com/u/hz-ip-6FsMg0.p

    Installing on Hetzner 303 words