Annotations

Annotations let one entity comment on another — a research note pinned to a chapter, an editor's remark attached to one specific sentence. Notes can do this out of the box; any type can be given the ability (the annotator trait — see Entity Types & Traits).

Two kinds of attachment

• Whole document — the note is about the target as a whole.
• Quoted passage — the note anchors to an exact quote inside the target. The quoted passage is highlighted in the editor.

To annotate a passage, select the text and right-click — the menu offers to attach an existing note or create a new one on the spot.

Whole-document notes can also be attached from the target's inspector (**Notes → Attach**).

Quotes that survive editing

Prose moves. Writingale keeps quoted annotations attached through three layers:

1. Live tracking — while a document is open, edits move the annotation along with its text.
2. Exact relocation — when the document is reloaded, the quote is looked up and re-anchored where it now lives.
3. Fuzzy matching — if the wording itself changed, a close-enough match re-anchors the annotation and updates the stored quote to the new wording.

Stale annotations

If all three layers fail — the passage is genuinely gone — the annotation is flagged stale rather than silently dropped. Stale annotations are marked in red in the inspector so you can re-anchor them to new text or retire them deliberately. The example book keeps one stale annotation on purpose (Note on the old opening), pointing at an opening paragraph that was cut in the second draft.

Where to see annotations

• On the note: the inspector's Annotates section lists everything it's pinned to, with quote previews and stale flags.
• On the annotated document: attached notes are listed in the inspector's Notes section, and quoted passages are highlighted in the editor.