Planner
The Planner is an optional Creator Studio tab for planning a story: which conversation happens on which day and at what time, who is in it, what it is about, and which flags it depends on. It replaces the spreadsheet many creators keep next to their Ink files.
It fills itself from the story you already have. Every chapter and conversation shows up on its own, and the context you write at the top of each Ink file becomes the conversation's notes.
Turning it on
The Planner is off by default. Open Story → Story settings (gear button) → Studio tools and switch on Planner. A Planner tab appears left of the Story tab. Co-authors see the same setting.
Turning it off only hides the tab. Your plan is kept and comes back when you switch it on again.
Context lives in the Ink file
The Planner reads the comment block at the very top of each Ink file as that conversation's context. Write it however you like. A common layout:
/*
Relevant flags
no_ben_camping_trip // Ben skipped the camping trip
Context
Mel wakes up and texts about the weekend.
IF no_ben_camping_trip she teases you about it.
Outcome
mel_weekend_plans // set when you agree to meet
*/
Mel: Morning!
Editing the context in the Planner rewrites that comment, and editing the comment in the Ink editor updates the Planner. Both are the same text. EXTERNAL, INCLUDE, VAR and // lines may sit above the comment.
Flag names in the context are highlighted. Green means the flag is set somewhere in the story, blue means it is only checked, and the rest stay plain text.
Timeline
The default view shows one chapter at a time. Pick a chapter from the tabs above the list (each shows how many of its conversations are done). Inside a chapter, conversations are listed in story order with a divider for each in-game day. The tabs open on the first chapter that still has work left.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Status | Idea, Writing or Done. Click to change it |
| Time | Unlock time of the conversation (--:-- when it has none) |
| Conversation | Name and character |
| Context | The top comment from the Ink file, plus the planner-only date |
| Right side | Flags it sets and checks, open in Ink editor |
Side conversations, injections and app DMs are listed under a separate Side threads and DMs tab at the end.
Linking side threads to the conversation that starts them
Side conversations, injections and app DMs are usually triggered from a main conversation. Link them so the plan shows the connection:
- Open a main conversation and use Link a thread to add side threads or DMs. Several threads can be linked to one conversation
- Or open a side thread and pick the conversation in Triggered in
- Linked threads show nested under their conversation in its chapter, and carry a Triggered in chip that jumps to it
Links are detected automatically from tags such as <side-conv-x>, <inject-x>, <thegramdm-x> and <fansonlydm-x> in the main conversation. A link you set yourself always wins over a detected one. Choose Not linked on a thread to keep it unlinked. Planned conversations work too, and their links move to the real conversation when you create it.
Every chapter has a Chapter notes box at the top for plans and reminders. It saves when you click out of it, and players never see it.
Click a row to edit it in place:
- Context writes the Ink header comment
- Day and Time set the conversation's unlock day and time, the same fields as the conversation settings
- Date is a free label for your own calendar (
June 3,Week 2). Players never see it - Status overrides the automatic guess
Ctrl/Cmd + Enter saves. Leaving with unsaved changes asks first.
Status
Until you pick a status yourself, the Planner guesses one from the Ink file:
| Guess | When |
|---|---|
| Idea | No dialogue yet |
| Done | The Ink file has dialogue |
Writing is never guessed. Set it yourself while a conversation is in progress. Pick Guess from Ink file in the status menu to go back to the automatic guess. The status chips at the top filter the list and show totals.
Planning ahead
Plan conversation and Plan chapter add a planned row that is not part of the story yet. Planned rows have a dashed outline, can be moved with the arrows, and never reach players. Use Plan conversation here under a chapter to place one at that spot.
Pick the character first. The name fills in by itself and follows how you already name that character's conversations: if Mel's last conversation is Mel6-2, her first one in chapter 7 becomes Mel7-1. You can type your own name instead.
When you are ready to write it, press Create conversation. Studio creates the conversation at that position in the main story and copies your context into the new Ink file's top comment. Create chapter does the same for a planned chapter.
Deleting a planned row only removes it from the plan.
Chapter settings
Chapters have the same settings in the Planner as in the Story tab. Click the pencil next to a chapter name to edit them:
- Subtitle is the line under the chapter name in the reveal
- Being written shows the chapter in the library as being written and keeps it closed to players
- Supporter lock needs an unlock link to pass the chapter. It only appears on live community stories
On a planned chapter these settings are kept in the plan and applied when you press Create chapter. On an existing chapter, saving changes it right away. The chapter thumbnail is still set in the Story tab.
Other views
Cast is one row per character and one column per chapter. Each dot is a conversation, colored by status.
Search, the character filter and the status filters work in every view.
Export
The download button saves the plan as a CSV file (chapter, day, weekday, time, date, conversation, character, status, context, flags) that opens in Google Sheets or Excel.
Drafts
A version draft shares the plan with the live story. Planning in a draft and publishing it keeps every row and link.