Reading the editor

The editor shows your proposal the way your client will see it. The controls stay hidden until you point at something.

Point at a line and its controls appear in the margin and next to the price. Here’s one priced line with every control showing, and what each one means.

One line, with every mark

In the real editor these never show all at once. Each appears when your pointer is on its line. None of them ever prints.
  1. The margin controls. Every line and block keeps its actions in the left margin: ⋯ opens them all in words, + adds a line below, and ⋮⋮ drags the line up, down, or into another group. At rest only a faint ⋯ remains, the reminder that the margin is where controls live.
  2. The finding dot. Something to check before you send, like a missing price or a date that passed. Click the dot and it says what, and jumps you there. The same findings are counted on the Send… button at the top of the editor.
  3. Dotted underline. This text edits in place. Click and type. The underline only shows while you point at it.
  4. Grey slanted text. Sample words, there to show the shape. They never print: make them yours by typing over them, or use the line’s ⋯ to keep them as written or remove them.
  5. “Adds up” beside a total. This total is added up from the lines under it, not typed. Change a line and the total follows. A price you typed yourself doesn’t say it.
  6. The two price menus. On any priced line or group: “Priced:” sets how the number works (adds up the lines, one price, quantity × rate, included, or not priced yet). “This is:” says what the group is: work, an allowance budget, or an option outside the price.

Elsewhere on the page

  • The bar at the top of each page. Point at the top edge of a page to see its options: add something, change its look, organise its lines. The ⋯ at the end has the rest. See Add or change a page.
  • The page list on the left. Drag a page to reorder it, and click Included to leave a page out without deleting it. + Add a page adds another. The page you’re looking at is highlighted.
  • Marks next to a page name. A square means Finishwork drafted words on that page that you haven’t read yet. It goes away when you press Looks good in the note at the top of the page, and comes back if you draft the page again. A dot means the check before sending found something on that page. A ? means your client asked a question about a line on it. Click it to go straight to the line.
  • ✦ writing help. Click into some text and press ✦ or ⌘K, then say what you want, like “shorter”. You see the new wording before it replaces yours.
  • Undo. ⌘Z undoes any change, including moving or deleting a page.