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Editor menus and quick actions#

The right-click menus, the element picker, and the name suggestions that put your most-used actions one click away.

There is no "/" slash menu in Nabu. When you want to reach for something deliberately, you use one of three things: the right-click menu below, the element picker, or the keyboard shortcuts on Keyboard shortcuts.

Right-click in the script#

Right-click a line, press Shift+F10 or the keyboard Menu key, or press and hold on touch. The menu follows the spot you chose. A highlighted passage stays selected, even when you open a mark’s answers at another spot.

  • Cut / Copy / Paste use the editor’s normal clipboard format. Cut and Copy appear for a selection. If the browser refuses Paste, use Cmd+V or Ctrl+V.
  • Change element changes the current line or only the selected text. Choices follow what that part of the script can hold. A scene-heading change asks first because it affects scene numbering.
  • Insert page break / Remove page break uses the same command as the keyboard shortcut.
  • Show on Board brings this scene’s card into view. On a character cue, Show NAME in Characters selects that character’s record, matching its name or saved aliases regardless of capitals.
  • Ask Nisaba about this scene / passage / NAME starts a paid conversation with that context. Nisaba speaks first. While another reply is running, one request can wait; refreshing discards a request that has not started. A further request is refused until the waiting one is delivered.
  • Get a note on this scene starts a paid read and opens Notes on its saved answer. It waits until your newest words have saved. If no unique note is available, Notes says so instead of selecting a different recent note. If the answer is lost, Nabu keeps the request through refresh and checks for that same read for a limited time. A failed response can leave the outcome uncertain; that request stays protected from a second read. A confirmed temporary refusal asks you to retry on the earlier scene using the same request. If Nabu cannot confirm the outcome, use Report a bug… for help; refreshing or changing scenes does not discard the request. A support report does not itself clear it; some older requests can remain unresolved. It is unavailable on omitted scenes.
  • Insert note adds a screenplay note that does not print in the PDF.
  • Omit scene / Restore scene sets the scene aside or brings it back.
  • Report a bug… opens the bug form.

The Nisaba actions use your plan. Clipboard actions, formatting, notes you type, navigation, omission and the local thesaurus use no model usage. Menu rows use plain ink and a static Nabu mark. A row your plan does not include carries the same coloured plan pill used elsewhere in Nabu; the tag is not a price.

Answer a mark#

Right-click a flag or finding for the answers its current state permits: for example Resolve, Dismiss, Suggest a fix, or Reopen. Accept appears only when an actual edit is available. An unavailable answer stays visible with its reason. Open review retains the evidence and the chooser when marks overlap.

A human-note mark opens its existing note editor. A thread underline opens that thread’s inspector. Pending suggestions keep Accept, Dismiss and Discuss; a stale edit says Accept anyway, and a note-only suggestion offers no Accept. Alternatives and batches open their existing review to choose a draft or answer the batch.

Misspellings show local corrections and Add to project dictionary. Replacing a spelling changes only the current word; Cmd+Z undoes it. Clicking or hovering a spelling still uses the spelling review. Some contextual corrections can't be applied automatically; they remain visible as advice. When Accept is unavailable, edit the word in your script.

Selected text and the thesaurus#

A selected passage puts editing first and keeps the clicked mark’s answers reachable. Passage Ask carries exactly those words, with unsorted draft material labelled as such. For a selection inside a single action or dialogue line, open Change element → Music Cue to attach a cue. Remove music cue appears in the same submenu when one is attached. Both act on the highlighted passage, even if you open the menu elsewhere.

For one whole selected or pointed word, Thesaurus (Pro) offers separate meanings with their part of speech. Choose a meaning, then a replacement. It uses an English WordNet 3.1 dictionary loaded in the browser the first time you open the menu on a word, with no model call or word lookup sent to a service. Initial loading, unavailable data and no alternatives are different states. Some exact inflections and newer words have no alternatives; it does not guess tense or choose the intended meaning for you. A word or page that changes before replacement must be selected again. The replacement uses normal editor undo.

Quiet inline suggestions now lives in the toolbar’s Layers control. It keeps its account setting and hides unsolicited machine marks only. Human notes and requested proposals remain. The other layer switches are separate display choices for this browser.

The element picker#

Press Enter on any blank line and a popup appears. Press the first letter of what you want:

Key Inserts
s Scene Heading
a Action
c Character
p Parenthetical
d Dialogue
t Transition
n Note

The picker also shows each element's ⌘-chord shortcut. Use ↑ / ↓ to highlight a choice and Enter to pick it, or press Esc to dismiss it.

Character-name suggestions as you type a cue#

As you type a name on a character cue line, a list offers matching names already used as character cues in this script — typing RUTH also finds DR. RUTH. On an empty cue, the list opens on the likely next speaker. Use ↑ / ↓ to choose one; press Enter to accept it and drop to the dialogue line, or Tab to accept it and add a parenthetical first. Esc dismisses the list.

Typing @ in an action or dialogue line turns that line into a character cue and opens the same suggestion list.

A name Nabu doesn't recognize is added as a new character the first time you use it.

Note: Names are matched in capitals, and character cues capitalize themselves, so don't worry about caps as you type.

Renaming a character#

When you edit an existing character's name in a cue, a popup asks what you meant:

  • Press 1 to change just this one cue.
  • Press 2 to rename that character everywhere in your script.
  • Press Esc to dismiss it.

The Characters page also offers Rename "…" everywhere… in its right-click menu (see Characters and locations).

Touchscreen and tablet#

Instead of right-clicking, press and hold on the spot you want and the matching menu opens.

Good to know#

  • The menu changes with where you click. Right-clicking a plain scene gives you scene actions; right-clicking one of Nisaba's underlined suggestions gives you accept/dismiss; right-clicking a highlighted passage gives you the passage menu.
  • How changes arrive. Ask Nisaba explicitly for alternatives or Workshop drafts when you want to compare and pick. A direct writing or rewriting request may commit to the script with undo. Either way, Cmd+Z or History gets the earlier version back.