Support.
Nib Track was designed to be simple, but if something isn’t working the way you expect, we’re here to help.
Requirements
Nib Track requires macOS Sonoma 14.6 or later and runs on Apple silicon and Intel-based Macs. It reads Microsoft Word documents (.docx) and PDFs with text, in English. Microsoft Word is needed only for Open in Word; everything else works without it.
Getting Started
Open Nib Track and create a new project. Your project is saved as a .nibtrack file you name, like any document, and it saves as you work.
Click Add Books… at the bottom of the sidebar, or choose Books → Add Books…, and select your manuscripts. One book or a whole series both work, and you can start at any point in your writing. Nib Track finds the chapters on its own.
Then type a character, place or phrase in Search. You’ll see every mention in every book, grouped by book and chapter, with the passage around it. Click ★ Save as entry to add it to your series bible.
Everything else in Nib Track is optional. Add the Outline, Plan or Timeline whenever they’d help.
A full guide is built into the app: choose Help → Nib Track Guide, or click the ? button in any window.
Keeping Up With Word
Keep writing in Word as you always have. Nib Track checks your books every couple of seconds and re-reads a book shortly after you save it in Word.
The label at the bottom of the sidebar shows when your books were last read. To re-read every book right away, choose Books → Re-read Books.
Nib Track only reads your manuscripts. It never changes them.
How Nib Track Finds Chapters
Nib Track starts a new chapter at a heading line such as “Chapter 12,” “CHAPTER XII,” “Chapter Twelve,” “Chapter 12: The Raid” or “Ch. 12,” and at Prologue, Epilogue and Interlude.
If a Word book has no headings like these, Nib Track uses paragraphs in Word’s Heading 1 style, or lines that are just a number (“12,” “XII”). If it still finds none, the whole book becomes one chapter, so search still works.
Anything before the first chapter, such as a title page or dedication, and anything from “About the Author” or “Author’s Notes” on, is left out.
Searching
Smart (Capitals = names) is the default. Capitals you type must match, so “Rich” finds the name and not the word “rich.” Lowercase letters match either case. Ignore case and Exact are in the menu beside the search box.
With Plurals on, lowercase words also find singular and plural forms, such as pistol and pistols.
Under the totals, Nib Track lists names in your books that are spelled almost the same, such as Reza and Riza. Click one to search it.
Open in Word
Open in Word opens your book in Word with the passage copied. In Word, press Command-F, then Command-V, and Word lands on the passage.
To have Word go straight to the passage by itself, install the Word Helper once:
Choose Books → Install Word Helper….
Click Save. Don’t change the folder or the name.
The first time it runs, macOS asks whether Nib Track may control Microsoft Word. Choose OK.
The Word Helper is a short, plain AppleScript you install yourself. You can open it to read it, and delete it at any time.
For PDF books, Show in PDF opens Nib Track’s own viewer at the right page with the passage highlighted.
Troubleshooting Open in Word
Word opens, but doesn’t go to the passage.
Going straight to the passage needs the Word Helper and macOS’s permission. If you chose Don’t Allow when macOS asked:
Open System Settings.
Select Privacy & Security, then Automation.
Find Nib Track and turn on Microsoft Word.
Either way, the passage is always copied. In Word, press Command-F, then Command-V, to find it.
This permission is controlled by macOS, not Nib Track.
Working With Your Books
A book says “Missing · Locate…”
The file was moved, renamed or deleted since Nib Track last read it. Click Missing · Locate… and choose the file in its new place. Your entries, notes and outline are kept; nothing is lost.
A book “couldn’t be read.”
Nib Track reads Word documents (.docx) and PDFs with real text. Older Word files (.doc) need to be saved again as .docx: open the book in Word and choose File → Save As → Word Document (.docx). Scanned PDFs, which are pictures of pages, have no text to read.
A change I made in Word isn’t showing.
Make sure you saved in Word. Nib Track re-reads a book a few seconds after Word finishes saving it. To re-read every book now, choose Books → Re-read Books.
Chapters are missing or split in the wrong places.
A heading line on its own at the start of each chapter, such as “Chapter 12,” fixes it. Nothing else in your manuscript needs to change.
Mention counts changed.
Counts follow your books. If you edited a book, renamed a character, or added other names to an entry, the counts update to match. On the Warnings tab, No longer appears, Gone quiet and Possible variant can help find names that changed.
The Outline
A note doesn’t show on an Outline card.
A note is found for a chapter when it mentions a thread ticked on that card, a name written in the card’s own text, or the chapter itself (“Chapter 12”). Check that the note is included in search (the box beside it on the Notes tab), that you haven’t hidden it on that card (Show hidden), and that the name isn’t unticked in Note Matching…. Or use Link a Note… on the card to add it yourself.
Every Outline card shows the same notes.
A name you write on most cards, usually a main character, is bringing its notes onto all of them. Click ⋯ beside one of those notes and choose Don’t Match Notes on that name, or untick it in Note Matching… at the top of the Outline.
Warnings
Warnings checks your books against what you’ve told Nib Track. It never judges the writing.
If a warning isn’t a real problem, click Intentional and it won’t come back unless something about it changes. Hidden warnings can be restored at the bottom of the Warnings tab.
A warning says a beat is done but not found.
The beat is marked done, but its character or thread isn’t named in the chapter it was due. If you wrote it in a different chapter, change the beat’s chapter on the Plan tab. If the character appears under a name Nib Track doesn’t know yet, add that name on the entry’s page. Nib Track checks whether the name appears, not whether the scene does what the beat says.
Protecting Your Work
Nib Track never changes your manuscripts. Everything you add, including entries, pictures, notes, the outline and the plan, is saved in your .nibtrack project file, which you can keep anywhere, back up and move between Macs.
Undo. Imports, moving a plan, reordering and clearing the outline each show their own Undo button straight afterward.
Earlier versions. Choose File → Revert To → Browse All Versions… to return to an earlier version of your project that macOS has kept.
Backups. Choose File → Export Backup… to save a complete copy of your project. Open it in Nib Track to restore. We recommend keeping a backup somewhere else, such as iCloud Drive or an external drive.
Exporting
Book Snapshot. File → Book Snapshot… creates a one-page summary of a book, which you can save as a PDF.
Series Bible. File → Export Series Bible… saves the sections you choose as a Word document or PDF.
Outline. On the Outline tab, Export Outline… saves one book’s outline as a Word document or PDF. Your original outline file isn’t changed.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Command-N — New project
Command-O — Open a project
Shift-Command-O — Add Books
Command-R — Re-read Books
Shift-Command-K — Book Snapshot
Shift-Command-E — Export Series Bible
Command-? — Nib Track Guide
Command-Return — Save a beat you’re editing (Plan)
Escape — Cancel or close a sheet
Need Help?
If you’ve encountered a problem, found something that doesn’t seem to be working correctly, or simply have a question about using Nib Track, we’d like to hear from you.
When reporting a problem, it helps to include your Mac model, macOS version, Nib Track version (shown in Nib Track → About Nib Track), and a brief description of what happened and what you were doing when the problem occurred. Please don’t send your manuscripts unless we ask; a description is usually enough.
Email: support@nibtrack.com
Feature suggestions and other feedback are welcome too.
Nib Track is intentionally designed to remain focused and easy to use, but we’re always interested in hearing how it can better help you keep track of your story.
Nib Track for Mac
Your books. Your series. All in one place.