Updates

What has changed on Writer's Grove, newest first.

Simpler New Series and New Book forms

Version 1.10.1 · October 5, 2026

Releases 1.9.1 to 1.10.1.

The New Series and Add New Book forms are tidier. The instruction lines under the fields are gone; where one still helps, it is in the field itself until you type. The keywords label says they are comma separated.
Spelling is no longer a separate field when you create a series. The Language list starts with the five English varieties (American, British with -ise or -ize spellings, Canadian and Australian), and the one you pick sets the word list the editor's spelling check uses. The other languages follow. Edit Series keeps its Spelling field.
The fields on both forms have more room between them.

Version 1.9.0 · October 5, 2026

Releases 1.8.1 and 1.9.0.

A chapter can now carry up to two YouTube videos, for a reading of the chapter or anything else that goes with it. Above the editor on New Chapter and Edit Chapter there is a row of boxes: Add Top Note, YouTube Video, YouTube Video. Tick a video box and paste the video's address; a watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed or live address all work. Untick it and save to remove the video.
The videos show above the chapter text to signed-in readers, in YouTube's own player.
Like the notes, the videos belong to the chapter and are saved from Main, not from a branch. The local draft dialog shows them too.
An address that is not a YouTube video is refused on save with the reason under the field, and nothing else in the chapter is lost.
The chapter editor is tidier: the hints that repeated their labels are gone, the labels are bold, the note boxes read Add Top Note and Add Bottom Note, the editor is labelled Chapter, and the page heading no longer repeats the breadcrumb.
The Help page's Writing tab has a YouTube Videos topic.

Version 1.7.1 · October 5, 2026

Releases 1.7.0 and 1.7.1.

Every series now has a lore bible: a place for the characters, places, factions and anything else you need to keep straight while you write. The Lore Bible button on the series dashboard opens it in a new tab, so it can sit beside the editor.
You name the sections yourself (Characters and Places are common first ones), rename them, move them up or down, and delete a section once it is empty.
Each entry has its own page, written in Markdown. Link to another entry by writing its name as [[Name]], or [[Name|shown text]] to show other words. A name with no entry yet becomes a link that opens the new entry form with the name filled in.
Under every entry, Mentioned in lists the entries that link to it. Renaming an entry updates every link to it in the series.
Find and replace works across the lore too, from a button on the lore index. It searches every entry of the series and shows the same preview as the editor's.
The Help page's Writing tab has a Lore Bible topic.

Version 1.6.1 · October 4, 2026

Releases 1.6.0 and 1.6.1.

When the editor opens with a local draft that differs from the chapter on the server, the dialog now names each side plainly: Local Draft is what this browser saved while you typed, Server Version is what was last saved to WritersGrove.
The buttons are Keep Server Version and Keep Local Draft. A box above them, Save the other version as a new branch, keeps the version you do not pick as a branch of the chapter instead of discarding it. A branch keeps the chapter text only, not the notes above and below it.
If the branch cannot be saved, the dialog says so and stays open, so nothing is lost.
The Help page's Local Saves and Branches topics describe the dialog.

Version 1.5.4 · October 4, 2026

Releases 1.5.0 to 1.5.4.

The chapter editor has a Tools menu in the row above the text, with Find and replace as its first item. Ctrl and H with the cursor in the editor opens it too.
Find and replace reaches this chapter, this book or the whole series, with Match case and Whole word options, and can take in the branches you check.
Preview lists every match with the words around it, the match struck through and the replacement in its place, so you can uncheck the ones to keep, or Replace all changes them in one go. The list scrolls on its own under the title, with the buttons always in view. The text open in the editor changes there, as one step you can undo; every other chapter changes on the server, and a published chapter changes for readers at once.
On a phone the dialog's buttons stack full width.
The Help page's Writing tab has a Find and Replace topic and a Keyboard Shortcuts in the Editor topic listing every key the editor answers.