Settings and the usage summary
New in 0.1.0-alpha.3.
Settings (Ctrl+Comma on Windows and Linux, Cmd+Comma on a Mac, also in the palette, on the start screen and in About) gathers Cold Open’s settings in one place. On a Mac it’s also Cold Open ▸ Settings… in the menu bar. Each change applies at once and is kept for next time.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Theme | Follow the system, light, dark, or high contrast |
| Interface size | 100% to 200%, for the whole window, pages included |
| Renderer | Automatic, CPU or GPU. It changes at the next start. Automatic uses the GPU on a Mac and the CPU elsewhere |
| Your name on tracked changes | The name your tracked changes carry (Track changes) |
| Agents can attach | Whether an agent you connect yourself may attach to scripts open here (AI agents) |
| Crash reports | Ask after a crash, or off (Your work is safe) |
| Usage summary | Counting on or off, View… and Reset… (below) |
From the keyboard: Up and Down choose a row, Left and Right change it, Space or Enter switches an on-or-off row, and Esc closes. On the Usage summary row, Tab moves between its switch, View… and Reset….
The usage summary
Cold Open keeps a small summary of how it’s used, on your computer only, so that feedback can say which features you rely on. It never sends it. It goes anywhere only if you tick Include my usage summary when you share feedback, and then you see all of it first.
What it counts:
- which commands and actions you use, by name (such as
text.insertorchanges.accept), and how often; - how many times you start Cold Open, and roughly how long each session lasts (under 5 minutes, up to 30, up to 2 hours, or longer);
- which formats you open and save: Fountain, .fdx or a Cold Open project;
- whether the CPU or the GPU draws the window, and Cold Open’s version;
- the day counting started.
What it never holds: your text, the names of characters, scenes or anyone, file names or folders, or any time finer than a day.
- View it: Settings ▸ Usage summary ▸ View…, or Usage summary… in About. It shows exactly what’s in the file, in plain words. Copy copies it.
- Reset it: Reset… deletes it, after asking. Counting starts again from that day.
- Turn it off: Settings ▸ Usage summary ▸ Counting off. Then nothing is counted or written.
It’s kept in usage.json in Cold Open’s own folder (see Install). See also Privacy.
Share feedback
Share feedback… (in the palette, About and the start screen) opens a box for what works, what doesn’t and what you’d like.
- Type your feedback.
- If you’d like, tick Include my usage summary. The whole summary appears under the tick, exactly as it will go.
- Choose Open the form (no account needed), Open a GitHub issue, or Copy all. Copy all leaves the sheet open, with your text, so you can still open the form after pasting it somewhere.
Cold Open opens the page in your browser with your text filled in, along with Cold Open’s version and your system. Nothing is sent until you submit that page yourself. If it’s too long for the page’s address, Cold Open copies it all to your clipboard and says so: paste it into the page.
Keys: while you’re typing, Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac) opens the form. Esc or Tab leaves the text box; then U ticks the summary, F opens the form, G the GitHub issue, C copies all, T goes back to typing, and Esc closes.
Report a problem… has the same Include my usage summary tick.