Sharing
You can send someone a link to a chapter or to the whole book. They open it in a browser. They need no account and no copy of FoxQuill.
Making a link#
- A chapter: open it and press Share above the title.
- The whole book: press the share icon in the top bar.
Then choose three things.
What they can do.
| Choice | What it means |
|---|---|
| Read only | They can read it. Nothing else. |
| Read and comment | They can leave a note on any paragraph. |
| Read, comment, and suggest edits | They can also rewrite it. Their version comes back to you as a new draft. Your text is never changed by anyone but you. |
When it stops working. Seven days, thirty days, or never.
A password, if you want one. Send it in a separate message from the link.
Sending the link#
A link looks like this:
https://share.foliowrite.studio/s/<id>#<key>Send the whole link, including everything after the #.
That part is the key. FoxQuill locks the text before it leaves your computer, and the key only travels inside the link. The service that stores your chapter holds something it cannot read. If you cut the link short, nobody can open it.
The page your reader opens carries a FoxQuill top bar, so someone who has never heard of FoxQuill can see what it is.
What comes back#
FoxQuill checks for new comments when you open a book, and every fifteen minutes while it is open.
Comments appear in the Comments tab of the right rail, next to Cards and Notes. A chapter with new comments shows a small number in the sidebar. Each comment says who wrote it and which paragraph it sits on. Press Done when you have dealt with it.
A comment is saved as soon as it is written. The reader’s page says Saved, and the comment is still there after a refresh.
Replies work both ways. You answer from the Comments panel. Your reader answers on the link. A thread is one level deep: a comment, and replies to it. There are no replies to replies.
Everyone on a link sees every comment on it. Replies need this. If you do not want two readers to read each other, give each of them their own link.
Suggestions become a new draft on that chapter, named
Suggestions from <name> <date>. Open the draft menu above the chapter title
to read it beside your own. Take what you want. Delete the draft when you are
finished. Your own draft is never touched.
Keeping a link fresh#
A link holds a snapshot of your text as it was when you made the link. If you keep writing, the reader still sees the old version.
Open Settings > Sharing, find the link, and press Update the snapshot. The same link then shows the new text.
Taking a link back#
Settings > Sharing > Revoke. The link stops working right away and the stored copy is deleted. Anyone who opens it sees “This link is no longer available”.
What the service stores#
The link, what it allows, when it ends, and your encrypted text. No name, no email, no account. The only name it holds is the one a reader types for themselves so you know who commented.
Real-time writing together is not part of FoxQuill. Suggestions you review are.