Feature Guide to Co-Authors

 

On World Anvil, you can collaborate with others on your world using the co-author system! This allows you, as a World Owner, to give other World Anvil users permission to create material in your world.

 

Your co-authors can have four different levels of access:

       

Managing Co-authors

How to add a co-author to your world on World Anvil

1. Click “World Configuration & Settings” on the side menu, then select “Subscribers and Authors”. This takes you to the Access Rights Management interface.
2. To manage your authors, go to the “Authors” tab.
3. On the Right hand side under “ADD NEW AUTHOR”, write the username of your author (they must have a World Anvil account - a free one is fine). Then select which access rank they should have to your world and click Add New Author.
   Note: to add an Advanced Writer, add the user as a regular Writer first. Then, in the Authors tab, click on "Make Advanced":

   

 

Read about The Different Co-author Ranks

 

How to edit a Co-author’s Rank

To edit the rank of a co-author you already have added, simply follow the steps in the previous section. The new rank you choose will override the previous one.

 

How to Remove a Co-author

As an owner or co-owner, you can remove a co-author at any time.

 

1. Access the "Authors" tab as you did when adding or editing a co-author.
2. On the left menu under authors management, click Revoke Access.

 

Co-authors can be Freemen!

 

Co-author Ranks

Different ranks of co-author have different levels of access in your world.

 

Owner

By law, this is the user that owns, controls and is responsible for the IP. Owners have overarching permissions for their world, and are also ultimately responsible for any public content in their world that is problematic, or breaks Etiquette or Terms-of-Service.

 

This is usually the user who created the world, although worlds can be transferred to other users.

 

Co-Owner

A Co-Owner has access to most content in the world, and most settings, including World Configuration and CSS. Co-Owners can also add other co-authors and subscribers to your world.

 

Suggested use: Highly-trusted collaborators only.

 

Editor

Can create, view and edit content (articles, timelines, maps, etc) in the world, but can't access the World Configuration, and Design Settings.

 

Suggested uses: Trusted copyeditors, co-GMs in a West Marches Campaign, co-writers of a shared world.

 

Advanced Writer

Advanced Writers can only create new articles and edit articles they are the author of.

 

Suggested uses:

• RPG Players who have volunteered to help keep specific parts of your campaign setting or campaign articles updated.
• Involved authors who wish to flesh out specific parts of the world.
• Participants in a shared worldbuilding project (school or professional) who should be able to update and edit their own work, but not affect Canon.

 

Writer

Writers can create articles in your world, as a Draft only. Writers cannot publish articles themselves, and can only see the draft articles they have written themselves.

 

Suggested uses:

• RPG players who want to suggest lore in your world
• Patreon or Kickstarter Supporters submitting content to your world for consideration.

 

Using Co-Author Slots

Each guild tier has a different number of coauthor slots. See how many co-author slots you have on the Pricing Page. A Co-author slot gives a single user access to a single world. For example: If your friend is collaborating in two worlds you own, you’ll need to use two co-author slots; one for each world.

 

Sage Sage tier members can purchase bolt-on coauthor slots. Please message us at [email protected] for more details.

 

Other useful tools when working with co-authors

There are a few other tools and settings on World Anvil that are really useful when working with Co-Authors.

 

Prevent edit conflicts

When a co-author edits an article, their profile picture will appear next to the article title to indicate that the article is being edited. While someone else is editing an article, the system will prevent you from editing it at the same time to avoid data loss.

   

World Credits Override

Your World Credits, on your World Homepage, will automatically display all usernames who are listed as authors. You can override that in World Credits Override, found in the Articles & World Manager -> World Settings -> Advanced options.

   

Display the Authors on the top of the article

Another useful option lets you display the author's name at the top of your article. You can find this option in article settings, under Advanced Options:

   

Open Secrets

Normally, Secrets are... well, secret! Only the author can view them, or Subscribers who’ve been given access. This means that, if your players or co-writers are co-authors, you can still hide secret information from each other. In World Configuration, checking the “Open Secrets” box will let the owner and co-authors to see one another’s secrets.

   

Visibility Toggle

The visibility toggle lets you quickly hide or show sections of your articles, including containers, images and maps, from View Mode. In World Configuration, checking the Visibility Toggle box lets your co-authors use the visibility toggle too! (Note that hiding a section with the Visibility Toggle will not hide it from co-authors who would otherwise have edit access to the content of that article).

   

For more information about this feature, check How to use the visibility toggle.

 

Changing the author of an article

 

Writers and advanced writers can only edit articles they have created. However, you can have them be the author of an article to give them edit access:

 

1. Edit the article and click on the gear button to open the settings window.
2. Click on "Advanced Options".
3. In the "Change Author" field, select a different author.

 

Your advanced writer will now be able to edit the article. For a regular writer, make sure the article is a draft so they can edit it.