Idea Board - Overview

The Idea Board gives you a place to capture, organize, and develop ideas while working in Plottr. You can keep ideas on the board for later or turn them into Notes, Characters, Places, and Scene Cards when you're ready to use them in your project.

If you have Plottr Pro, ideas captured in the Idea Threads mobile app can sync to the Idea Board in Plottr. 

Getting Started 

To open the Idea Board, click the lightbulb icon in the upper-right corner of Plottr.

The Idea Board opens in a panel on the right side of your project.

From here, you can create new ideas, edit existing ideas, search your ideas, and turn ideas into other elements of your Plottr project.

The Idea Board opens in a panel on the right side of your project.

To close the Idea Board, click the X in the upper-right corner of the panel.

Use Cases

There are many ways to use the Idea Board. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Capture Story Ideas: Save scenes, plot twists, character ideas, research notes, or anything else you want to remember.
• Develop Ideas Before Placing Them: Work on an idea before deciding where it belongs in your project.
• Create Story Elements: Turn an idea into a Note, Character, Place, or Scene Card.
• Capture Ideas on the Go: With Plottr Pro, capture ideas in the Idea Threads mobile app and sync them to the Idea Board in Plottr.
• Keep Unused Ideas Handy: Save ideas without immediately adding them to your Timeline or other project areas.

Idea Board Basics

Here are a few things to know about the Idea Board:

Creating an Idea

Click New Idea to create an idea.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut:

• Mac: Cmd + Shift + N
• Windows: Ctrl + Shift + N

Enter a title and add any details you want to save.

Click Save to add the idea to the Idea Board.

Ideas created from the desktop or web app are saved to the current Plottr project.

Editing an Idea

Hover over an idea to access its available options.

For ideas created directly in Plottr, you can:

• Edit the idea
• Delete the idea

Click an idea to open it and make changes.

Turning an Idea Into a Story Element

You can turn an idea into:

• Note
• Character
• Place
• Scene Card

Click the dropdown arrow beside Save and select the type of story element you want to create.

When converting an idea into a Note, Character, or Place, Plottr asks you to confirm the move.

When creating a Scene Card, select the Book, Plotline, and Chapter where you want the new Scene Card to appear.

Searching Ideas

Click the Search icon at the top of the Idea Board.

Enter a word or phrase to filter the ideas displayed on the board.

Idea Board Sections

Depending on how you use Plottr, the Idea Board can contain the following sections:

• Ideas: Ideas created directly in the Plottr desktop or web app
• Mobile Ideas: Ideas created with the Idea Threads mobile app
• Mobile Ideas Already Used: Mobile Ideas you have already used within the current project

You can expand or collapse each section.

Mobile Ideas

Ideas created in the Idea Threads mobile app appear in the Mobile Ideas section of the Idea Board when you're logged into the same Plottr account.

Mobile Ideas can contain:

• Text
• Images
• Audio

Unlike ideas created directly inside Plottr, Mobile Ideas are connected to your Plottr account rather than one individual project.

This means the same Mobile Ideas can appear while you're working in different Plottr projects.

Using a Mobile Idea

You can turn a Mobile Idea into a:

• Note
• Character
• Place
• Scene Card
• Or leave it on the Idea Board

After you use a Mobile Idea in the current project, it appears under Mobile Ideas Already Used.

You can reuse the same Mobile Idea more than once.

For example, you could use one Mobile Idea to create both a Character and a Note.

Image Ideas

Mobile Ideas containing images display the captured image along with the idea's title and description.

When supported by the destination, the image is carried into the new Plottr element.

Audio Ideas

Mobile Ideas containing audio include an audio player inside Plottr.

When an audio idea is used to create a Note, Character, or Place, the recording is added as an Audio Clip.

Audio clips include playback controls and additional options such as downloading the recording and changing playback speed.

If you need additional assistance, please contact us via support.