THE WRITER’S COMPANION — RELEASE 1.0 User Guide and Feature Reference | Linux edition Plain-text writing in a quiet, typewriter-inspired workspace ====================================================================== CONTENTS ====================================================================== 1. Welcome 2. What The Writer's Companion Is 3. The Main Window at a Glance 4. Starting a New Document 5. Opening an Existing Document 6. Saving Your Work 7. Automatic Saving and Recovery 8. Backups When You Quit 9. Choosing a Typewriter Style 10. Font Size 11. Line Spacing 12. Left and Right Margins 13. Night Mode 14. Key Sound 15. Shortcut Guide 16. Help Toggle and Search 17. Show Scrollbar 18. Show File Path 19. Status Bar and Word Count 20. Keyboard Shortcuts 21. Editing Text 22. Sample Text 23. Where Files and Settings Are Stored 24. Installation and Launching 25. Troubleshooting 26. Current Limitations 27. Quick Reference 28. Feature Checklist ====================================================================== 1. WELCOME ====================================================================== The Writer’s Companion is a small, distraction-free writing application for Linux. It is designed to provide a calm place to write, with the simple feel of an electronic typewriter and the convenience of a modern computer. This guide is intended to work both as an instruction manual and as a feature reference. It explains the controls, the document workflow, the safeguards that help protect writing, and the current limitations. The application works with ordinary plain-text documents. It does not require an online account, and your writing is stored on your computer. ====================================================================== 2. WHAT THE WRITER’S COMPANION IS ====================================================================== The application is designed for writing stories, poems, articles, letters, memoirs, notes, drafts, manuscripts and other text-based work. Its main priorities are: - A large, uncluttered writing area. - A typewriter-inspired appearance. - Straightforward document creation, opening and saving. - A choice of named typewriter styles. - Adjustable font size, line spacing and margins. - Optional night mode and typing sound. - Background saving and recovery protection. - A compact interface that keeps the writing area central. The application works with plain text. It is not a word processor with rich formatting. Text files do not store font choices, text colours, page layout, images or other visual styling. ====================================================================== 3. THE MAIN WINDOW AT A GLANCE ====================================================================== The main window is divided into four areas: TOP BANNER The banner displays THE WRITER’S COMPANION and the tagline “A quiet place to write.” TOP TOOLBAR The toolbar contains document buttons and switches for optional interface features. WRITING CONTROLS The second row contains the Typewriter selector, text Size, Line spacing, Left margin and Right margin controls. The selected typewriter’s sample is shown in the writing area when a new document is empty. WRITING PAGE AND STATUS AREA The large page is where you write and edit. The status area at the bottom reports writing information, including margins, line spacing, cursor position and word count. If Show file path is on, the footer also displays the current file name and/or location. The application opens full-screen by default. Press F11 to toggle full-screen mode. ====================================================================== 4. STARTING A NEW DOCUMENT ====================================================================== Click NEW or press Ctrl+N. If the current document has unsaved changes, the application asks what you want to do before replacing it. Follow the prompt to save, discard the changes or cancel the operation. A new document starts with: - Brother GX-6750 as the default typewriter on a fresh installation, unless a different typewriter was previously saved in settings. - Font size 16. - Left margin 11. - Right margin 11. - Line spacing 1.5, unless a saved preference changes it. - A sample paragraph to demonstrate the selected typewriter style. The sample is demonstration text, not your writing. It is excluded from the document’s word count and is intended to be replaced when you start typing. A new document has not yet been saved under a file name. Use Save to choose a name and location. ====================================================================== 5. OPENING AN EXISTING DOCUMENT ====================================================================== Click OPEN… or press Ctrl+O. Choose a file in the file dialog. The application reads the document as UTF-8 text. Although the file dialog may allow different file extensions, the application treats the contents as plain text. Before opening another file, the application checks whether the current document has unsaved changes and asks how to proceed. When a document is opened: - Its text is displayed in the writing area. - The new-document sample is not added to the file. - The application attempts to restore that document’s saved margin settings from its companion settings file. - The selected typewriter and other application preferences remain available as display settings. If the file cannot be read, the application reports an error. ====================================================================== 6. SAVING YOUR WORK ====================================================================== Click SAVE or press Ctrl+S. For a document that has not been saved before, Save opens a file dialog so you can choose the file name and location. The default document folder is: ~/Documents/Writers_Companion/ The default extension offered is .txt. The application saves UTF-8 plain text. You can choose another location through the file dialog. After a document has a file name, Save writes changes to that file. The application reports a save error if the file cannot be written. Font, line spacing, and typewriter appearance are not embedded in a plain-text document. Margin preferences are stored separately in a small companion settings file. ====================================================================== 7. AUTOMATIC SAVING AND RECOVERY ====================================================================== The application has two separate background protections. They serve different purposes. FIVE-MINUTE DOCUMENT AUTOSAVE About every five minutes: - If the document already has a file name and has unsaved changes, the application saves those changes quietly to the existing file. - If the document is new and has not been named yet, the application asks whether you want to save it. It cannot silently choose a file name or location for you. - If there is no text to save, no document save is needed. The new-document prompt is an opportunity to choose a name and location. If you do not save the new document, continue writing; the application will ask again at a later five-minute check while the document remains unsaved and contains text. THIRTY-SECOND RECOVERY SNAPSHOT The application also attempts to write a recovery copy of non-empty writing about every 30 seconds. This is intended to help recover text after an unexpected crash or interruption. If a recovery copy from a previous session is found, the application offers to open it. IMPORTANT: - Recovery snapshots are not a replacement for saving your document. - A crash may lose changes made since the latest recovery snapshot. - The recovery copy is a safety copy of text, not a complete version history of your document. - Recovery content may not identify which original file it came from. - Save important work normally and check that the save completed. ====================================================================== 8. BACKUPS WHEN YOU QUIT ====================================================================== When you use SAVE AND QUIT, press Ctrl+Q, or close the application window, the application follows its closing routine. It saves the current document if required. If saving is cancelled or fails, it keeps the application open rather than closing and discarding the unsaved writing. The application then attempts to create a timestamped backup: - For a saved document, the backup is placed beside the original file. - For an unsaved document, it attempts to place an Untitled backup in the application’s data backup folder. Backup names include a date and time so that separate backups can coexist. Backups are plain-text copies; they are not a complete copy of all settings or application data. The recovery file is removed during a normal successful close when possible. ====================================================================== 9. CHOOSING A TYPEWRITER STYLE ====================================================================== Use the TYPEWRITER selector in the writing-controls row to choose the machine whose style you would like to imitate. The selector offers these named styles: - Malling-Hansen Writing Ball - Remington No. 2 - Oliver No. 3 - Underwood No. 5 - Royal Standard - Corona 3 - Hermes Baby - Royal Quiet De Luxe - Olympia SM3 - Smith-Corona Silent-Super - IBM Selectric - Olivetti Lettera 32 - Brother M-2000 - Brother GX-6750 - Brother AX Series The application uses bundled, redistributable monospaced fonts to provide consistent font availability on supported Linux installations. The named typewriter choices are style presets, not exact digital reproductions of each machine’s original typeface. When a new, empty document is displayed, the sample sentence shows the selected style. The selected typewriter is remembered in application settings and restored the next time the application starts. On a fresh installation, the default is Brother GX-6750. Changing the selected typewriter changes the on-screen appearance of the text. It does not alter the plain-text characters in the document. ====================================================================== 10. FONT SIZE ====================================================================== Use the SIZE selector to choose a comfortable text size. The available range is 10 through 22. The default size is 16. This larger-than-small default is intended to make the writing easier to read. Keyboard controls: - Ctrl++ or Ctrl+= : increase text size. - Ctrl+- : decrease text size. - Ctrl+0 : reset text size to 16. Font size affects the display on screen. It does not change the text stored in the plain-text file. The application remembers the selected size between sessions. ====================================================================== 11. LINE SPACING ====================================================================== Use LINE SPACING to choose: - 1 Single spacing. - 1.5 One-and-a-half spacing. - 2 Double spacing. Line spacing changes the visual distance between lines, including lines created when text wraps. It does not insert extra newline characters into your document. The chosen spacing is an appearance preference and is remembered by the application. ====================================================================== 12. LEFT AND RIGHT MARGINS ====================================================================== Use LEFT MARGIN and RIGHT MARGIN to adjust the writing area. The controls use values from 0 to 20. The values are character-width units measured using the active font, rather than fixed physical measurements in inches or centimetres. LEFT MARGIN controls the indentation from the left side of the page. RIGHT MARGIN controls the space reserved at the right side, limiting the width available for writing. The usual default for a new document is: - Left margin: 11. - Right margin: 11. Margin values are saved separately for each document in a companion settings file. When you reopen a document, the application attempts to restore its saved margin values. If no companion settings file exists, the default values are used. Changing margins affects how the text is displayed and wrapped. It does not insert spaces at the start or end of every line in the saved plain-text file. ====================================================================== 13. PAPER SIZE AND ESTIMATED PAGE COUNT ====================================================================== Use the Paper dropdown, positioned immediately after Typewriter, to choose one of three paper sizes: - A4: 8.27 × 11.69 inches (210 × 297 mm). - Letter: 8.5 × 11 inches (215.9 × 279.4 mm). - Foolscap: 8.5 × 13 inches (215.9 × 330.2 mm). The selected paper size is remembered by the application. It changes the estimated number of characters per line and writing lines per page; it does not change the plain-text file or insert page breaks. The writing area leaves a visual top margin of approximately one inch, so the first line does not begin right against the top edge of the page. This is display spacing only; it does not add blank lines to the saved plain-text document. The page-count estimate also assumes one-inch top and bottom margins. The bottom status line shows “Page X of Y (est.)”. X is the estimated page containing the cursor; it changes as you move through the text. Y is the estimated total number of pages in the document. Both values are estimates and are recalculated as the text and layout settings change. The estimate accounts for the selected paper dimensions, the active typewriter font and font size, left and right character margins, line spacing (1, 1.5 or 2), wrapped display lines, and assumed one-inch top and bottom margins. The count is a guide to manuscript length, not exact print pagination. Actual printed pages can differ because of printer settings, font substitution and the layout used by a word processor. Page numbers are shown only in the status line. The application does not print page numbers into the writing area or insert page breaks, headers or footers into the plain-text document. ====================================================================== 13. NIGHT MODE ====================================================================== Use the NIGHT MODE switch on the top toolbar. When enabled, the writing area changes to a dark background with light text. When disabled, the normal light page with dark text is restored. Night mode is intended to reduce the brightness of the page when writing in a dim environment. It changes the display only; it does not change the saved text. The application remembers the night-mode preference between sessions. ====================================================================== 14. KEY SOUND ====================================================================== Use the SOUNDS switch to turn both sound effects on or off together. When enabled, the application plays its typing sound for printable characters and rings the page bell when typing first increases the estimated total page count. The bell does not ring when navigating or deleting text. Sound playback depends on a supported audio player being available on the Linux system. The sound effects are not recorded in the document. ====================================================================== 15. SHORTCUT GUIDE ====================================================================== Use the SHORTCUT GUIDE switch to show or hide the compact keyboard reference panel. The guide includes common document commands, text-size controls, full-screen mode, undo, clipboard operations and navigation keys. The guide is a reference. It does not replace the keyboard’s normal editing behaviour. ====================================================================== 17. HELP TOGGLE AND SEARCH ====================================================================== The Help toggle is at the far right of the top-toolbar switches. Turn it on to display this manual inside the application. The manual is read-only: you can select and search its text, but cannot edit it or save changes over your writing. Enter a word or phrase in Search help and press Enter or click Find. Matches are highlighted in the manual. Use Next match to move to the next occurrence. Common searches include margins, typewriter, night mode, autosave, recovery and keyboard shortcuts. Turn Help off to return to your document. Help temporarily replaces the visible writing page without replacing the document's text or undo history. Your cursor position and unsaved changes are preserved. Help text is not included in your document, word count, autosave or recovery snapshots. There is intentionally no separate Quit toggle or Quit button. This is a safety choice: it reduces the chance that a user will hit Quit by mistake and close the application after typing pages of work. Use Save and Quit, or Ctrl+Q, so the application's save and backup routine runs before the application closes. ====================================================================== 18. SHOW SCROLLBAR ====================================================================== Use SHOW SCROLLBAR to display or hide the vertical scrollbar at the right side of the writing area. The scrollbar helps you move through longer documents. Hiding it gives the writing page a cleaner appearance. Text navigation and scrolling remain available through normal keyboard or mouse actions supported by the application. ====================================================================== 18. SHOW FILE PATH ====================================================================== Use SHOW FILE PATH to display or hide the file-location line in the footer. When enabled, the footer displays the current file name and location. For an unsaved document, it shows the default document directory. This switch changes only what is displayed in the interface. It does not move, save, rename or otherwise change your file. ====================================================================== 19. HELP TOGGLE AND BUILT-IN MANUAL ====================================================================== The Help toggle is intended to display this manual inside The Writer’s Companion whenever help is needed. It is positioned at the FAR RIGHT of the row of toolbar toggles so it is easy to find and remains separate from the everyday writing controls. When Help is switched on, the manual should appear in a read-only view. The text can be searched, but it cannot be edited or saved over the user's work. Switching Help off returns the user to the document that was open before Help was displayed. The document text, cursor position and editing state should be preserved. The manual should not be treated as the user's current document, and its words should not affect the document word count. The built-in manual is intended to make instructions and the feature list available without leaving the writing application. ====================================================================== 20. STATUS BAR AND WORD COUNT ====================================================================== The status area reports: - The current left and right margin values. - The selected line-spacing value. - The cursor’s line and column position. - The current word count. The word count is based on groups of text separated by whitespace. It is a simple live count intended to help writers monitor progress. It does not provide a page count, character count, reading-time estimate, paragraph count or word target. The cursor position updates as you type or move the cursor. Text may wrap visually when it reaches the right margin; a wrapped display line is different from a new paragraph created by pressing Enter. ====================================================================== 20. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ====================================================================== Ctrl+N Document Ctrl+O Open document Ctrl+S Save document Ctrl+Q Save and quit Ctrl++ Increase text size Ctrl+= Increase text size Ctrl+- Decrease text size Ctrl+0 Reset text size to 16 F11 Toggle full-screen mode Ctrl+Z Undo Ctrl+C Copy selected text Ctrl+X Cut selected text Ctrl+V Paste Common navigation keys: Home Move to the start of the current line End Move to the end of the current line Page Up Move up through the document Page Down Move down through the document Backspace Delete the character before the cursor Delete Delete the character after the cursor Arrow keys, mouse selection and other standard text-editing actions are also available through the text editor. ====================================================================== 21. EDITING TEXT ====================================================================== Click in the writing area and begin typing. Use Enter to create a new line or paragraph. Text automatically wraps when it reaches the available writing width. Use Backspace to delete the character before the cursor and Delete to remove the character after it. Select text with the mouse or normal keyboard selection methods. Copy, cut and paste use the usual clipboard shortcuts. Undo is available with Ctrl+Z. The application is designed for plain text. It does not provide rich text styling such as bold, italic, underlining, coloured words, styled headings, embedded pictures, tables, footnotes or floating objects. ====================================================================== 22. SAMPLE TEXT ====================================================================== A new, empty document displays a sample paragraph to demonstrate the selected typewriter style: “This is sample text for the selected typewriter name. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. Now is the time for all good men to go to work.” The typewriter name in the introduction follows the selected preset. The sample is a visual demonstration, not part of the user’s actual document. It is excluded from the word count and is intended to be replaced when the user starts typing. Opening an existing document displays that document’s contents instead of adding the sample to it. ====================================================================== 23. WHERE FILES AND SETTINGS ARE STORED ====================================================================== DEFAULT DOCUMENT FOLDER ~/Documents/Writers_Companion/ APPLICATION INSTALLATION ~/Documents/Writers_Companion_App/ APPLICATION PREFERENCES ~/.config/wills-travel-writer/settings.json RECOVERY AND BACKUP DATA ~/.local/share/writers-companion/ The exact installed application files may depend on the package and installer version. The installer installs the application for the current Linux user. A document’s margin settings are stored in a companion JSON file beside the document. For example: MyStory.txt.wc-settings.json The text document itself remains a plain UTF-8 text file. ====================================================================== 24. INSTALLATION AND LAUNCHING ====================================================================== The application is designed for Linux. The supplied ZIP includes the Python application, installer, bundled font files and their licence notices, typing sound and application icon. General installation: 1. Download the versioned ZIP into your Downloads folder. 2. Extract the ZIP. 3. Open a terminal in the extracted application folder. 4. Make the installer executable if necessary: chmod +x install.sh 5. Run the installer: ./install.sh Follow the installation instructions supplied with the particular release. The installer creates the application files and launcher for the current Linux user and prepares the default document folder. The application requires Python 3 and Tkinter. Optional typing sound depends on a supported audio player. No online account is required. Use the install command provided for your exact version. Some earlier packages contained an extra folder inside the ZIP, so the directory containing install.sh may differ between releases. ====================================================================== 25. TROUBLESHOOTING ====================================================================== THE APPLICATION DOES NOT START - Confirm the installation completed without errors. - Try launching it from a terminal to see any error message. - Check that Python 3 and Tkinter are installed. - Confirm that the launcher points to the installed application. THE INSTALLER SAYS install.sh CANNOT BE FOUND - You may be in the parent directory rather than the directory that contains install.sh. - Use the file manager to locate install.sh, or run: find “$HOME/Downloads” -name install.sh - Follow the instructions for the exact ZIP version you downloaded. THE TYPING SOUND DOES NOT PLAY - Turn on Key Sound. - Confirm a supported audio player is installed. - The writing functions do not require the sound to work. THE FONT LOOKS DIFFERENT - Confirm the bundled fonts were installed by the package installer. - Restart the application after font installation. - The named typewriter styles are approximations using bundled monospaced fonts; they are not exact recreations of original manufacturers’ typefaces. A DOCUMENT DOES NOT LOOK THE SAME WHEN REOPENED - Plain-text files store characters, not their font or line spacing. - Select the preferred typewriter and spacing in the application. - The application attempts to restore per-document margin settings from the companion settings file. Keep that file beside the document. I AM ASKED TO SAVE A NEW DOCUMENT AFTER FIVE MINUTES - This is expected. The application cannot silently save a new document without knowing its file name and location. - Choose Save to name the file, or continue writing and save later. A RECOVERY COPY IS OFFERED AT STARTUP - It means a recovery snapshot from an earlier session was found. - Choose to open it if it contains the writing you need. - Review the recovered text and save it under an appropriate file name. ====================================================================== 26. CURRENT LIMITATIONS ====================================================================== The Writer’s Companion is a plain-text writing tool. The current application does not provide these features through its normal interface: - Rich-text formatting such as bold, italic, underline or coloured text. - Styled headings, images, tables, footnotes or embedded objects. - Find and replace. - Spell checking, grammar checking or thesaurus. - Automatic hyphenation. - Chapter management or book-project organisation. - Automatic table of contents for a manuscript. - Character count, page count, paragraph count, reading-time estimate or word-count targets. - Page breaks, pagination, page numbering, headers or footers. - Print preview or a normal Print button. - Dedicated PDF, EPUB, DOCX, HTML or RTF export. - A configurable backup browser or restore-history interface. - Native Windows or macOS support. The source contains a printing routine, but it is not connected to a normal visible Print button in the main interface. The app is intended primarily for composing and saving plain text. ====================================================================== 27. QUICK REFERENCE ====================================================================== NEW Click New or press Ctrl+N. OPEN A FILE Click Open… or press Ctrl+O. SAVE Click Save or press Ctrl+S. SAVE AND QUIT Click Save and Quit or press Ctrl+Q. CHANGE TYPEWRITER STYLE Use the Typewriter selector. The fresh-install default is Brother GX-6750. CHANGE TEXT SIZE Use Size, Ctrl++ or Ctrl+= to increase, Ctrl+- to decrease, or Ctrl+0 to reset to 16. CHANGE LINE SPACING Use the Line spacing selector: 1, 1.5 or 2. CHANGE MARGINS Use Left margin and Right margin. The usual new-document defaults are 11 and 11. TURN ON DARK PAGE Turn on Night mode. TURN TYPING SOUND ON OR OFF Use Key Sound. SHOW KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Turn on Shortcut guide. SHOW OR HIDE THE SCROLLBAR Use Show scrollbar. SHOW OR HIDE THE FILE LOCATION Use Show file path. RECOVER AFTER AN INTERRUPTION If offered a recovery copy at startup, choose whether to reopen it. ====================================================================== 28. FEATURE CHECKLIST ====================================================================== DOCUMENT WORK [+] Create a new document [+] Open a text file [+] Save a text file [+] Save and quit [+] Prompt before replacing unsaved work [+] UTF-8 plain-text documents [+] Default document folder [+] Per-document margin settings WRITING AND DISPLAY [+] Large writing page [+] Automatic word wrapping [+] Typewriter-style selector with 15 named presets [+] Bundled monospaced fonts [+] Font size range 10-22 [+] Default font size 16 [+] Single, 1.5 and double line spacing [+] Adjustable left and right margins [+] Night mode [+] Optional typing sound [+] Optional vertical scrollbar [+] Optional file-path display [+] Shortcut guide [+] Built-in read-only searchable Help manual [+] Live word count and cursor-position status [+] Full-screen mode PROTECTION [+] Five-minute document autosave for named files with changes [+] Prompt to save a new, unnamed document at the five-minute check [+] Recovery snapshots approximately every 30 seconds [+] Startup offer to reopen recovery text [+] Timestamped backup attempt when quitting INSTALLATION [+] Linux installer [+] Desktop launcher [+] Bundled font files and licence notices [+] Application icon [+] No online account required This guide describes the features available in the application version for which it is supplied. Controls and behaviour can change in later releases. If the application version changes, review this manual against the updated source before bundling it with a new release. ====================================================================== END OF GUIDE ====================================================================== ====================================================================== RELEASE UPDATE: PAPER FORMATS AND PAGE BELL ====================================================================== The Paper dropdown appears immediately after the Typewriter selector and offers A4, Letter and Foolscap. A5 has been removed. The selection is remembered in application settings and used by the estimated page capacity calculation. Typeface Size labels the font-size selector. The single Sounds switch controls both the keyboard typing sound and the page-boundary bell. When enabled, the bell sounds when typing first increases the estimated total page count. It does not ring when moving the cursor or deleting text. The page count remains an estimate; the current release does not insert physical page breaks into the document.