AURA

My documents: editor, Markdown, HTML and versions

Keep concepts, instructions and notes in «My documents». A document can be stored on its own in the studio knowledge base or inside a project.

Learn more: Help · Features.

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Create a document

  1. Open «My studio» → «My documents» or the «Documents» tab in a project. In «My documents» the search, «Filter by project» and the direction of the project stand above the list. Click «Create document» or a template tile in «Start from a template».
  2. Enter a title and choose a tile in «Start from a template»: «Blank document», «Client brief», «Design concept», «Venue information», «Setup instructions» or «Studio procedure». Each tile shows the template's sections.
  3. In the «Where to store» field, choose «Studio knowledge base» or a project; on a project tab the field is not shown and the document is saved in that project. Click «Create». A standalone document is available only to its owner until it is shared or published; a project document inherits the rights of the project's members.
  4. Write the text. Press «/» at the start of a line or after a space: the «Insert a block» menu opens with headings, lists, a checklist, a table, a quote, a divider and photos. The letters after «/» narrow the list, Enter inserts the chosen item, Esc closes the menu. Select some words and a small menu appears above them: bold, italic, underline, highlighter, color, link, heading 2 and 3. The toolbar above the text does the same (more below). In a project's document the «Insert a block» menu also has «Project visualization»: choose a finished frame of the project and it goes where the cursor is.
  5. There is no need to save by hand: AURA saves the text by itself a couple of seconds after an edit and right away when you leave the page. Above the text you see «Saving…» or «Saved at 14:32»; more in «Autosave and versions».

Autosave and versions

  1. Edits are saved by themselves a couple of seconds after you stop typing, and right away when you go to another page. The status next to the project name: «Saving…», «Saved at 14:32» or «Not saved» with a «Retry» button.
  2. Autosave does not raise the version number. A numbered version goes to «History» when you click «Save version», after 10 minutes without edits, and before a comment, a publication or the restore of an older version. So the history keeps meaningful steps, not every pause in typing.
  3. If someone else changed the document meanwhile, AURA does not overwrite their text silently. A question appears: «Take the newer text» loads their version, «Keep my text» saves yours over it. Your text stays in the editor until you choose.
  • A long document (three headings or more) gets «Contents» on the right on a wide screen: click a section to go to it.
  • If you close the page before your edits reach AURA (for example, offline), the browser asks whether you really want to leave.

Formatting text

  • The toolbar above the text, from left to right: «Undo» and «Redo», «Text style» (normal text or heading 1–3), «Bold», «Italic», «Underlined», «Strikethrough», «Text color» (red, orange, green, blue, purple, gray or «No color») and «Highlight».
  • Paragraph alignment: «Align left», «Center», «Align right» and «Justify». Lists: «Bulleted list», «Numbered list», «Checklist»; «Increase indent» and «Decrease indent» make a nested item.
  • «Link», «Table», «Horizontal line» and «Clear formatting» (removes font style, color and highlight from the selection). When the cursor is in a table, «+ Row», «Delete row», «+ Column», «Delete column» and «Delete table» appear under the toolbar.

Photos in the text: size and wrapping

  1. The «Upload photo» button is available in a created document; in the «/» menu it is «Photo from your device». Upload JPG, PNG or WebP, or insert a «Photo from URL».
  2. Click the photo: the «Image» row appears under the toolbar. Set the width with the 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% buttons, or exactly in the «Width, px» field (from 24 to 2000). You can also drag a corner of the photo or press + and −.
  3. «Text wrapping»: «In line with text», «Left, text on the right», «Right, text on the left» or «Center». This way a venue photo sits next to its description, as in Word.
  4. Drag the photo with the mouse to move it elsewhere in the text. In the «Image description» field, briefly describe what is in the photo; «Delete image» removes it from the document.

Wide mode

  • The «Wide mode» button above an open document hides the document list and the app panels, leaving a single page in the middle of the screen. Handy for long texts and printing.
  • Esc or pressing the button again brings back the normal view. Esc in an open window (for example, when confirming a deletion) closes only that window.
  • The choice is remembered in this browser for your account. On a phone the document already fills the screen, so the button is not there.

A concept as a presentation

  • A design concept is usually shown as slides. If you have access to presentations (beta), creating a document from the «Design concept» template in a project shows «Make a presentation», and a concept that is already written has the «Open as presentation» button above the document. See the presentation article, section «Concept from a document».

Import and download

  1. Click «Import» and choose a .md, .markdown, .txt, .html or .htm file up to 500 KB. Import replaces the content of the open editor, and the result is saved by itself.
  2. Use «Download .md» or «Download .html» for a local copy. HTML includes uploaded images; Markdown with such images is downloaded as a ZIP archive.
  3. To go back to earlier text, open «History», expand a version and click «Restore this version». Edits not yet in the history first become a separate version, and the restore creates one more, so nothing is lost.

What to keep in mind

  • HTML is cleaned: scripts and arbitrary interactive embeds do not run. This is a document editor, not hosting for an arbitrary website.
  • You can upload JPG, PNG or WebP up to 10 MB; after processing the image must fit within 2 MB. Limits: 30 images per document and 100 MB of images per owner.
  • Editing requires the editor or owner role. There is no character-by-character co-editing here: if two people edit a document at the same time, the second one sees the question «Take the newer text» or «Keep my text».
  • The «Client brief» template creates an ordinary text document. For a questionnaire with fields and collected answers, use the «Client brief» section in the project's «Documents» tab. Saving and restoring a document do not by themselves update the public version.
  • The «Cards / List» switch above the list changes the view: cards are larger and show the first lines of the text, the project and «changed 2 h ago, Asya»; the list shows the title, type, when and by whom it was changed, the version and icon actions in one row (hover over an icon to see a tooltip; the trash icon means «Delete»). The most recently changed documents come first. The chosen view is remembered in this browser separately for each page.

Documents on the phone

In the mobile app open «Project documents» in a project or «My documents» in the tasks section. A document is edited by blocks; «Project files» is meant for uploaded PDFs, spreadsheets and other attachments.

  1. Choose one of the six templates or create an empty document. Tap a piece of text or a table cell to change the content.
  2. Add text, a list, a table or an image. To save your edits tap «Save». If there is a conflict, the local text stays on the screen.
  3. In the history you can open an earlier version and restore it as a new one. Markdown, HTML and PDF are saved through the phone's system menu.
  • Saving and restoring a document do not update the published snapshot automatically. A complex source document can be exported or opened on the website.

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