Find and Replace Text | World Anvil

Find and Replace Text


Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Go back to the Voting Board

Find and Replace Text

New Feature Addition · Articles & templates · Created by Geoffrey of Monmouth
declined
Perhaps this function already exists and I am not aware of it. What I would like to suggest is a "find and replace" feature where one can search for every instance of a word across all articles within their world and replace it with chosen text.

I may be the only one to constantly need to revise names and events, but having to do so across multiple articles is time consuming and prone to missing instances. An automated search function would save time, improve usability, and reduce the confusion for readers who might otherwise stumble across inconsistent naming etc.

The Team's Response

Thank you for your suggestion!   First, The search in Articles can already search full articles. Second, a find-and-replace function won't be implemented due to resource limitations, and the chances of a catastrophic and irreversible user mistake (without an undo-button) are very high.   In the future, we can explore better ways to present the results found in the search; we think that variables are a good workaround for things that may change. For now, we will look at way to improve this workflow.
Login to Vote
Current score

118/300 Votes · +26504 points

Votes Cast

  • +300

    by Pookas Kreations
    on 2023-03-25 00:43
    good option

  • +300

    by Raxafar
    on 2023-03-24 10:29

  • +300

    by GalloEX
    on 2023-03-24 06:55

  • +300

    by Carshand
    on 2023-03-23 19:38

  • +300

    by Anthony Molinaris
    on 2023-03-23 14:06

  • +300

    by Vertiline
    on 2023-03-23 13:29

  • +100

    by Cypher Ninja
    on 2023-03-23 06:45

  • +300

    by Kurai0okami
    on 2023-03-23 06:02

  • +300

    by beebidon
    on 2023-03-23 04:40

  • +100

    by Slinkadath
    on 2023-03-23 04:25

  • +300

    by Kuelos
    on 2023-03-23 02:49

  • +300

    by BaalAdvocate
    on 2023-03-23 02:14

  • +300

    by OmegaCerberus
    on 2023-03-22 21:55

  • +300

    by themrbeasley
    on 2023-03-22 18:47

  • +300

    by yuzukiri
    on 2023-03-22 16:56

  • +300

    by holydemiurge
    on 2023-03-22 15:22

  • +300

    by dragonladyroars
    on 2023-03-22 10:54
    Absolutely crucial when you have tons of articles and need to replace one word in them all. For instance, sometimes I decide I want to change the name of a character or item or what-have-you in my book. Trying to remember all articles containing a reference to the changed word is a currently nightmare.

  • +300

    by Krys P
    on 2023-03-22 03:53

  • +300

    by GrimCrusader100
    on 2023-03-22 02:57

  • +100

    by ladylibrary
    on 2023-03-22 01:22

  • +300

    by Galahad423
    on 2023-03-21 14:50
    This would be so helpful- as someone who's seriously reconsidering renaming the world itself, I'm dreading having to go through and retroactively edit every article to reflect the change

  • +300

    by Logan Mountain
    on 2023-03-21 13:29

  • +300

    by DanielAlmis
    on 2023-03-21 10:23

  • +300

    by jorre998
    on 2023-03-21 09:26

  • +300

    by CyanKnight
    on 2023-03-21 04:58

  • +100

    by A Enfeebled Elf
    on 2023-03-20 22:18

  • +300

    by A Sneaky Bananafolk
    on 2023-03-20 19:03

  • +100

    by AnnTheAuthor
    on 2023-03-20 17:42

  • +100

    by TheWiseguy
    on 2023-03-20 15:52

  • +300

    by DougisYourDM
    on 2023-03-20 15:28

  • +300

    by rubyodegee
    on 2023-03-20 02:43

  • +100

    by mgjemi
    on 2023-03-19 22:52

  • +300

    by A Rambunctious Dryad
    on 2023-03-19 22:24

  • +300

    by A Wild Dryad
    on 2023-03-19 16:04

  • +300

    by mogaoscar
    on 2023-03-19 09:51

  • +1

    by Earthbinder
    on 2023-03-19 01:03

  • +300

    by SebGreg732
    on 2023-03-18 17:00

  • +300

    by A Lusty Unicorn
    on 2023-03-18 16:58

  • +300

    by jdtcreates
    on 2023-03-18 16:38

  • +300

    by A Frightened T-Rex
    on 2023-03-18 07:32

  • +100

    by emmag24
    on 2023-03-18 01:54

  • +300

    by ShadowCook
    on 2023-03-17 21:02

  • +1

    by A Mischievous Dwarf
    on 2023-03-17 19:12

  • +300

    by A Cute Velociraptor
    on 2023-03-17 15:33

  • -300

    by endlessxaura
    on 2023-03-17 15:26
    I agree with SoulLink. I think what we need is a way to refactor names and titles.

  • +300

    by DarkAegyptiacus
    on 2023-03-17 12:51
    The amount of times I've come up with a better name for something that's already everywhere in my world, this would be a huge help

  • +300

    by Shadowfighterpro
    on 2023-03-17 00:01

  • +300

    by oaster2000
    on 2023-03-16 15:11
    As someone who changes names/uses placeholder names generally this would be an amazing option

  • +300

    by Skyerix
    on 2023-03-15 18:41

  • +300

    by Tiberius Fursten
    on 2023-03-15 17:24

  • +300

    by Potat The Wise
    on 2023-03-15 06:31

  • +100

    by Drewbermensch
    on 2023-03-15 04:50

  • +300

    by Turalyon
    on 2023-03-14 20:22

  • +300

    by MrJollyham
    on 2023-03-14 14:57

  • +300

    by Tobus
    on 2023-03-14 13:44

  • +300

    by A Cute Cthulhu
    on 2023-03-14 13:32

  • +300

    by ProteinMaster
    on 2023-03-14 09:25
    Definitely need this as someone who changes their mind a lot

  • +300

    by Anima0Libera
    on 2023-03-14 05:28

  • +100

    by Chrysoula
    on 2023-03-14 01:04

  • +100

    by Raven Elliot
    on 2023-03-14 00:32

  • +100

    by Writing Bishop
    on 2023-03-13 20:54

  • +300

    by incedio7
    on 2023-03-13 20:17

  • +300

    by Eliora Yona
    on 2023-03-13 14:15
    If this could be made possible, that would be great! Scrivener does this and it is amazing! Over the years I have made changes to my world and that means words have changed. This would really help consistency, again if it can be possible.

  • +300

    by Jekljoe
    on 2023-03-13 11:39

  • +300

    by Barbarossa Sparklebeard
    on 2023-03-13 11:38

  • +300

    by lydiahstucki
    on 2023-03-12 22:38

  • +300

    by fwalton
    on 2023-03-12 03:54

  • +300

    by of100
    on 2023-03-12 01:51

  • +300

    by PrismCoalition
    on 2023-03-12 00:42

  • -300

    by ReforgedLogic
    on 2023-03-11 18:30
    I agree this may just be the programmer in me but to make a word refractor or the ability to tag a word as a link element to refract it without it being its own article, element, or link would be nice

  • +300

    by Zurchonic
    on 2023-03-11 11:39

  • +300

    by deleyna
    on 2023-03-11 09:39

  • +300

    by T16
    on 2023-03-11 07:14

  • +100

    by Lord Mcberry
    on 2023-03-11 05:56

  • +100

    by LoreParmenter
    on 2023-03-11 05:14

  • +100

    by Ben and the Gays
    on 2023-03-10 21:38
    Or if you change the title of an article, will it automagically change every time that article is linked?

  • +300

    by Justin Hamersly
    on 2023-03-10 04:15

  • +300

    by Scalenex
    on 2023-03-10 02:26
    This might not be feasible, but if it is feasible, it would be something I would very much like to have.

  • +300

    by Jacob-W
    on 2023-03-09 18:27
    I don't know if it's technically possible to search a whole world for a word and replace it. but find and replace in a single article would already be amazing!

  • +300

    by Huldrekarl
    on 2023-03-09 17:37

  • +300

    by donpedicinijr
    on 2023-03-09 15:50

  • +300

    by Dunnxx
    on 2023-03-09 14:06

  • +300

    by Exarx
    on 2023-03-09 09:34

  • +100

    by A Cute Mlem
    on 2023-03-09 02:47

  • +300

    by NovaTheBi
    on 2023-03-08 20:30

  • +100

    by Jesuisfrog
    on 2023-03-08 18:10

  • +100

    by SparkyTheSec0nd
    on 2023-03-08 07:14

  • +100

    by pyrrha
    on 2023-03-07 19:52

  • +300

    by ivory.
    on 2023-03-07 03:42

  • +300

    by MKHETH II
    on 2023-03-07 02:34

  • +300

    by SixPathsSage
    on 2023-03-06 22:37

  • +300

    by eggoscrombled
    on 2023-03-06 18:55

  • +100

    by ss2020
    on 2023-03-06 17:27

  • +100

    by Adcheryl
    on 2023-03-06 14:34

  • +100

    by PoppaeaSabina
    on 2023-03-06 03:22
    Disagree with SoulLink, sorry. A software designed to facilitate worldbuilding can really benefit from ease-of-use features, and I will say the way Office Word has its find and replace feature is one of my favorite things since I switched to using it over WordPad.

  • +100

    by Stiria21
    on 2023-03-06 02:05

  • +300

    by liamcolt
    on 2023-03-05 23:17

  • +1

    by KajetanWrites
    on 2023-03-05 21:02

  • +300

    by Xander the Bard
    on 2023-03-05 18:36

  • +100

    by toffepajja
    on 2023-03-05 16:19

  • +300

    by Nubs
    on 2023-03-05 16:15

  • -100

    by UnknownWriter88
    on 2023-03-05 16:14

  • +300

    by cheesemijit
    on 2023-03-05 16:10

  • +100

    by Eldorion
    on 2023-03-05 13:12

  • +100

    by Tijmuhn
    on 2023-03-05 09:47
    Although I agree with SoulLink, I will give some coins just so Dimitri might take a short look into this in what way this might still be semi-possible

  • -300

    by SoulLink
    on 2023-03-05 08:36
    The search function can already search across articles, including generic content fields. Go to the articles interface and tick the Full Search toggle. This way you can find all instances of a term and go in and replace them.   Additionally, there is a referenced by function for established relationships.   Adding an automatic replace functionality is challenging and likely to cause issues. Personally, I would not want to just replace all across an entire world, since that is likely to go wrong.   If you use a placeholder name, I can recommend using variables. This way, you have to only change the name in two places (the article title and any variables of it that you have). To avoid having to do too much editing later.   Otherwise, having to do editing later is just the way it goes with big projects, and honestly at some point just not avoidable.

  • +100

    by SueScamander
    on 2023-03-05 08:11

  • +300

    by BenScerri
    on 2023-03-05 08:10

  • +1

    by ExpatEyePune70
    on 2023-03-05 07:07

  • +300

    by A Fluffy Kobold
    on 2023-03-05 06:30
    The fact that I can't do this (or simply don't know how to do this) for my world stops me from mass-creating articles to fill in at a later date. There are a lot of world-building things I don't know yet and might change, and because I can't change all instances of a name for a place, person, object, etc. later, I end up not creating articles until I'm certain of things so that I have less to search for and edit later :/

  • +300

    by Willow H.R. Harper
    on 2023-03-05 06:29

  • +300

    by hamilcarbarca
    on 2023-03-05 05:11

  • +300

    by Thorkull
    on 2023-03-05 03:02

  • +300

    by illumiinae
    on 2023-03-05 01:35
    Even just being able to search for text across articles would be supremely helpful.

  • +300

    by storyauthor
    on 2023-03-05 01:25

  • +100

    by Alishahr
    on 2023-03-05 00:18

  • +300

    by Chriscliff
    on 2023-03-04 23:51

  • +100

    by SAann
    on 2023-03-04 23:24
    I need to change names and such across the board sometimes, too, so would love this feature.

  • +300

    by Geoffrey of Monmouth
    on 2023-03-04 23:15

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Listen to our Podcast

Our Allies

Dungeon Fog
Gold Ennie 2019 for Best Digital Aid
by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.009 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 12:58, May 7 2024