Getting started

Making an account

Two ways in, and they reach the same place. Use whichever you prefer.

1. Go to the sign up page and either choose Sign up with Google, or fill in your name, email address and a password.
2. If you used an email address, Docmode sends you a message with a link in it. Open the message and follow the link to confirm the address is yours.
3. You land on Home, which is empty the first time. That is expected.

Your first document

1. Select New document in the sidebar on the left.
2. A blank page opens with the cursor already in it, so you can begin typing straight away.
3. The first line you write becomes the name of the document, and appears in the sidebar as you type it.

Anything beyond plain text, a heading, a list, a picture, a table, comes from one menu. Type / anywhere on an empty line and pick from the list that appears. Blocks and the slash menu covers all of it.

How a document gets its name

There is no title field to fill in. A document is named after its own first line, which updates as you edit that line, so a page that begins with a heading is already called the right thing without you naming it twice.

If you would rather it was called something else, rename it from the menu beside it in the sidebar. Renaming by hand pins the name: from then on it stays what you set, however much the first line changes.

Saving

There is no save button. Your writing is saved as you go, and the indicator at the top of the document tells you where it has got to.

• Auto Saved. Everything you have written is stored.
• Saving. A change is on its way. This is usually too brief to notice.
• Reconnecting. You were signed out in the background, most often by simply leaving the page open a long time. Docmode signs you back in and saves again by itself. Nothing is lost and there is nothing to do.
• Not saved. A save did not get through, usually a dropped connection. Select it to try again. Do not close the tab until it reads Auto Saved.
• Changed elsewhere. The document was edited somewhere else, in another tab or by someone you shared it with, while you had it open. Sharing a document explains what to do.

What each part of the screen does

The sidebar, on the left. Home, a search box, anything shared with you, your folders, and your documents. Every document you have is reachable from here. You can hide it to write without distraction, and bring it back the same way.

Home. What you were last working on, anything waiting for you such as an unread comment, and a count of your documents, your published pages and the AI actions you have used this month.

The document itself. The middle of the screen is the page. Panels for sharing, publishing, history and AI open along the right hand edge when you ask for one, and close when you are done with them.

Where to go next

If you only read one more page, read Blocks and the slash menu. It is most of what there is to learn about writing here.