# Build your first character and place pages Open Worldbuilding (⌘5 / Ctrl+5) or select a name in prose and click Add to Worldbuilding ▾ to create character and place pages that link automatically. - - Published 29 October 2026 - Updated 29 October 2026 ## 1. Create a character or location page InkSpine keeps your story bible inside the same project folder as your manuscript, organised into four entry kinds: **Characters**, **Locations**, **Lore**, and **Factions** (in Memoir and Non-fiction projects, this section is called **Knowledge**). You can create an entry either from the Worldbuilding screen or without leaving the sentence you are writing: 1. **From inside a chapter:** Highlight a character or place name you just typed. In the formatting bubble that appears above the selection, click **Add to Worldbuilding ▾** and choose **Add as Character**, **Add as Location**, **Add as Lore**, or **Add as Faction**. InkSpine creates the entry immediately and underlines the name in your paragraph. 2. **From the Worldbuilding screen:** Click **Worldbuilding** in the left rail (`⌘5` on macOS, `Ctrl+5` on Windows and Linux), choose the **Characters** or **Locations** tab, and click **+ New**. ![InkSpine worldbuilding screen showing sixteen character cards with monogram portraits, roles, colors, and descriptions](https://inkspine.app/worldbuilding-light.webp) *The Worldbuilding directory organises characters, locations, lore, and factions as cards with search, roles, and tags.* ## 2. Fill in details, aliases, relationships, and notes Open an entry to edit its **Details** tab. Every field is stored as [plain JSON and Markdown on disk](https://inkspine.app/blog/why-your-book-lives-in-plain-files) and is never included when you export your manuscript for readers: 1. **Summary and role:** Give an entry a name, a short **Description** and tags. A character also has a free-text **Role** (for example *protagonist* or *mentor*), and characters and factions get a colour and a portrait or crest you can upload. 2. **Aliases:** Add any nicknames, titles, surnames, or maiden names a character or faction goes by in dialogue and narration. When a character is named *Eleanor Vance* and has the alias *Nora*, InkSpine recognises both *Eleanor Vance* and *Nora* across every chapter. 3. **Relationships and memberships:** Link characters to one another with a name and a relationship type (*ally*, *rival*, *family*), and connect them to factions. 4. **Private notes and Media:** Write private background notes in the **Notes** area of the **Details** tab, and use the **Media** tab to attach reference images from your drive. Media stays on this computer and is kept outside your saved versions. ![InkSpine character detail card open over the worldbuilding grid, showing aliases, description, notes, and what readers know](https://inkspine.app/entity-light.webp) *Each entry holds a description, notes, and, for characters, aliases and relationships, plus a list of every chapter where it appears.* ## 3. Mention and open entries while you write You do not need to insert special markup for InkSpine to track your cast and settings: 1. **Automatic mentions:** Simply type an entry's name or alias in your prose. InkSpine marks known names with a subtle underline as you write. If a character is referred to by a new nickname in a scene, select that word in the editor and click **Link to entry** in the selection bubble to add it to the character's **Aliases** list in one click. 2. **Explicit `@slug` links:** If you want a reference that updates its text automatically when you rename the entry later, type `@` in the editor to open the autocomplete menu and pick the entry. 3. **Peek without losing your place:** Hover any underlined mention to see a compact preview card with the entry's type, name, the first line of its description, and how many chapters it appears in, or `⌘-click` (`Ctrl-click` on Windows and Linux) to open the full entry card over your manuscript. ![InkSpine’s worldbuilding entry for a character, open on its Appears in tab, listing the fifteen chapters across the series where she appears](https://inkspine.app/guide-entry-light.webp) *Command-click (or Ctrl-click) any underlined name in your chapter to open its Worldbuilding card right over the manuscript.* ## 4. Track chapter appearances and what readers know Because mentions are indexed across the whole project, each entry automatically builds a map of where it is used: 1. In the manuscript editor, open the right-hand inspector's **References** tab (`⌥⌘3` on macOS, `Ctrl+Alt+3` on Windows and Linux) to see every character, location, lore item, and faction mentioned in the open chapter. If a scene revolves around a character who is never named aloud, click **+ Link entry** to attach them manually. 2. On any entry's page, switch to the **Appears in** tab to see every chapter across your book or series where that entry appears, with each chapter's status dot, number and title, and click any row to jump straight to that chapter. 3. Under **What readers know**, InkSpine lists the continuity facts you have marked as being about that entry in a chapter inspector's **Continuity** tab (`⌥⌘2` → **+ About an entry**), in story order so you can check what readers have already been told. > **Worldbuilding entry limit on InkSpine Free** > > **InkSpine Free** includes a shared pool of **10 active Worldbuilding entries per project** across characters, locations, lore, and factions—enough to try automatic mentions, aliases, and inspector cards on a real draft. **InkSpine Core** removes the limit. If you open a larger project on Free, entries beyond the first 10 stay untouched on disk and remain readable as **Read-only**. For more on organising a series bible, see our [Worldbuilding template](https://inkspine.app/worldbuilding-template), [InkSpine vs Plottr](https://inkspine.app/vs/plottr), and the [feature overview](https://inkspine.app/#features). ## In InkSpine - **⌘5 / Ctrl+5 → Worldbuilding**: Opens the Worldbuilding (or Knowledge) directory in the left rail. - **Selection → Add to Worldbuilding ▾**: Creates a Character, Location, Lore, or Faction entry from selected text in a chapter. - **⌘-click / Ctrl-click a mention**: Opens the entry card over the manuscript without leaving your chapter. - **Inspector → References (⌥⌘3)**: Lists every character, place, lore item, and faction mentioned in the current chapter. ## Questions ### How many Worldbuilding entries can I create on InkSpine Free? InkSpine Free includes 10 active entries per project shared across characters, locations, lore, and factions. Entries beyond 10 stay on disk as Read-only until you upgrade to InkSpine Core. ### What is Worldbuilding called in Memoir and Non-fiction projects? In Memoir and Non-fiction modes, the section is called Knowledge. Memoir projects organise entries into People, Places, Memories & documents, and Groups & families; Non-fiction projects use People, Places, Works & topics, and Organisations. ### Why do lore and faction names require exact capitalisation to link in prose? Character and location names match case-insensitively, while lore titles and faction names match exact capitalisation so everyday words like "the Crown" or "the Order" only link when capitalised as proper nouns. ## Related reading - [Move your book from Scrivener](https://inkspine.app/guides/move-from-scrivener): Compile your Scrivener draft to a Word (.docx) file, run InkSpine's Import wizard to split chapters by heading, and bring your notes into Worldbuilding. - [Compare an earlier version and copy back a passage](https://inkspine.app/guides/compare-versions-copy-passage): Open the inspector's History tab (⌥⌘5 / Ctrl+Alt+5), click a saved version to open Compare, and click ⤴ copy beside any passage to bring it back. - [Why your book lives in plain files](https://inkspine.app/blog/why-your-book-lives-in-plain-files): InkSpine stores your book as a folder of plain Markdown chapters and JSON notes on your computer, so you can read and open your manuscript anywhere.