How to create and format a document

Documents open straight into the editor with the cursor waiting, because the fastest thing you can do with a blank page is start typing. This page covers writing one. For what documents are for, read What are documents?.

Before you start

Creating and editing documents is open to every member by default, and any member can edit any document.

If Documents is absent from your sidebar entirely, the module is switched off for your workspace. That is an admin decision, covered in How to switch parts of Tideswell on and off.

How do you create one?

Create next to your workspace name, then Document. Or open Documents in the sidebar and create one from the list.

Either way it opens in the editor. Type the title at the top, where the placeholder reads Untitled, then press Enter or click into the body and write.

Titles can run to 300 characters. The title is what everyone else scans the list by, so a specific one earns its keep.

Nothing needs saving. The title and the body write as you type.

What are the three ways to format?

They do the same things, and you will end up using all three.

The slash menu is the one to learn first. Type / at the start of a line and a menu appears with Normal text, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Bulleted list, Numbered list, To-do list, Quote, Code block, Divider and Image.

Markdown shortcuts are faster once they are in your fingers. Typing these at the start of a line converts it as you go:

• # then a space gives you a Heading 1, and ## a Heading 2.
• - then a space starts a bulleted list.
• 1. then a space starts a numbered list.
• [ ] then a space starts a to-do list.
• > then a space makes a quote.
• Three backticks start a code block, and three hyphens make a divider.

The toolbar covers the inline marks: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Inline code and Link.

What is the to-do list for?

Checkboxes inside the writing, for a checklist that belongs to the document rather than to a person.

A packing checklist inside a shoot brief is a to-do list. Somebody's job to pack the van is a task, because it has an owner and a date and it belongs in somebody's list. See What are tasks?.

How do you add an image?

From the slash menu, with Image. The image sits inline in the document where the cursor was.

Use images for the things that are genuinely visual: a colourway, a layout, a photograph of a fault. A document full of screenshots is harder to search than a document full of sentences.

Can a document be created for you?

Yes, when work starts. A planned item on a project can be set to create a linked document the moment it becomes a task.

That is how every blog post in a campaign arrives with somewhere to write it, already attached to the work. It is covered in How to plan what goes out and when.

How do you remove one?

From the row menu on the documents list, or from within the editor. Both ask the same confirmation first.

Removing takes the document out of the list. The confirmation is explicit that it cannot be undone from that screen, so read it before you agree.

Removing is usually a lead's job rather than every member's.