Guide to Explorer Mode

Explorer mode is a Guild Feature!
If you want to use it, please consider supporting World Anvil!

The Explorer is a feature that lets the author of a world quickly browse and edit its articles, maps, and timelines —all in one page. It features a full-body search bar, a tree-structured article list, a quick edit mode and more!

The basics of exploration

The Explorer can be accessed from the left sidebar, under the drop-down for your world:

Once you access the explorer, an additional sidebar will appear with these four options (click on the screenshots to expand):

Codex

This is a list of all the articles in your world grouped by category. Categories are collapsed by default, but you can expand them by clicking the category name. If you click on any article, it will instantly open in the main section of the page (and not in a new tab). Under the article title you can find the visibility status, and the are also some options at the bottom of the article box: "Quick Edit" (using the same page), "Edit" (in a new tab), and "Open in world" (to view the article in presentation mode, in a new tab).

Compendium

The Compendium is very similar in functionality to the Codex, but instead of using categories, it uses article templates. All articles using the character template will be grouped under "Characters", and so on. As with the Codex, you can quickly open any article by clicking on it, and it will also have the same edit options.

Atlas

Atlas is the same as the Codex or the Compendium but for maps. It contains a list of all the maps of your world, and while it does not have a quick edit option for more advanced settings, it allows you to quickly add new markers on the map: just right-click anywhere on the map to do it! There is also an edit button that will take you to the map edit page (new tab), as well as a button to create a new map (also in a new tab).

Chronicles

Finally, the Chronicles section is a list of all timelines of your world. The section is divided in master and parallel timelines, and when you click one, it will display it in the main section of the page. You can click on historical events to edit them as normal in a new tab and there's also a general edit button for the whole timeline at the bottom.

FAQ

Can my co-authors use the Explorer mode in my world? Yes, co-authors with enough access can use the Explorer mode in the world they write for.

The search bar

The search bar in the Explorer mode is pretty straight-forward: just type the word or words you want to look up and a list of all content that include the search query will appear. It searches in all articles (both title and body text), timelines, historical events, maps and images.