First steps on the Mac

Svetlina Guide

Svetlina is a notebook, journal and task list for people who write. You catch fragments as they come, give them a #tag, and find them gathered when you sit down to write.

Start

• Download Svetlina, drag it into Applications and open it from there.
• Choose Start a New Notebook, which makes a folder in Documents › Svetlina (or wherever you like), or Open a Folder You Already Use…. Already writing in Svetlina on your phone? Choose Bring from Another Device….
• Your notebook is that folder: plain Markdown files you can open in any editor.

Write in the journal

Every day has its own page in the journal, and today's opens ready to write. Each paragraph is a fragment of its own: a phrase, a quote, an idea.

Tag fragments

• Type # and a word to tag a fragment, such as #novel. Nested tags like #novel/chapter-2 give you a hierarchy when you want one.
• Click a tag to open its page (⌘-click in the line you're writing; ⇧⌘-click opens it in the margin). It gathers every fragment with that tag, from all your days and pages.

Find anything

⌘K searches as you type. A few letters find any fragment. #novel finds everything tagged #novel or below it, and -#novel leaves it out.

Write with your fragments

• View › Margin (⇧⌘M) keeps a margin beside the page you write, for a tag's fragments or a list.
• Focus Mode (⇧⌘F) keeps only your text.

Tasks

• ⌘↩ makes a line a task.
• Window › Tasks opens your tasks in a window of their own.

Your phone

Svetlina for iPhone is on the App Store. With Svetlina on your phone, pair it once: on the Mac, Settings › Sync › Pair a Phone…, then scan the code with the phone. The two sync directly over your Wi‑Fi, encrypted end to end.

To bring a notebook you started on the phone, choose Bring from Another Device… on the welcome or in the File menu, and scan its code with the phone. The phone asks once before it sends your notes; tap Send. When the Mac says the notebook is here, Done opens its journal, and from then on the two keep it the same. This needs the latest Svetlina on the phone.

Help

• Help › Keyboard Shortcuts (⌘/) lists every shortcut.
• Help › Send Feedback… writes to support@svetlina.app.
• Svetlina updates itself. What's new