Community Suggestion: Print out or export of articles
Print out or export of articles
New Feature Addition · Api · Created by DesNordlund
declined
backup export
What functionality is missing? What is unsatisfying with the current situation?
The only way we can get our articles out from World Anvil today is through the backup function. The backup is not meant for anything but restoring on World Anvil, which is okay, but sometimes, it would be nice to be able to export the articles in a more accessible format.Today, I have to go through each article and copy-paste the text, which is tiresome and risks missing text since some of it is not in the major editor but in the extra fields. I also risk missing whole articles.
Why do I need to get the articles out of World Anvil, then? Well, it is not because I don't want to continue with World Anvil, but because I want to have the Scrivener application as my base. I want to use my texts for a book, and I also feel more comfortable writing in that program and then copy-paste into World Anvil.
How does this feature request address the current situation?
I believe there ought to be more people who would like the option to get a copy of their texts in a format accessible to standard word processors. I prefer to get it all as simple text files, but Word, Libre Office, or RTF is fine too, with or without images.It does not need to be an instant export but could be a link sent in an email as the current backup function.
If you have the option to select what to export in the article tree, you could also limit the export amount.
Of course, it could be up for debate what to do with link lists and such, but I, for my part, am only interested in getting the text and its headlines out.
What are other uses for this feature request?
For me, this is not only a matter of getting my material to a new base but also a matter of comfort and safety. I would hate to lose my work because of a situation out of my control. I have had material on other sites that, for one reason or another, was made inaccessible to me (one disappeared, one made new tiers that required me to pay more to keep my material, and so on—my point is, you never know).Although I am sure World Anvil has the very best intentions and hopefully has the best finances, and the risk may seem low that anything unpleasant should happen, life has taught me that online sites are no good place for keeping your one and only copy. No offense intended.
Follow up
**Comment to Alyvin's comment.** I've never heard of Brigid's Anvil, and I don't know where I'm supposed to have either. But both ways suggested exports to HTML or CSV which both are not word processor friendly. (CSV is good for importing data into Excel, not for long texts, by the way.) So, as Alyvin also says, I have to open each article and take the text from there. This it totally against the point of my feature request, as the idea was to not have to copy paste things article for article. I already do this, and this is the reason for the feature request. I'm sorry if I was not clear on this.
By the way, the "Export this World" function described by Alyvins is the "backup function" I mentioned at the top.
**Comment to ss2020's comment.** I think some export function has been requested before, but as far as I know, none like this, and in either case it is a vital function. They have the texts, they can create an HTML. I don't see why they can't use either the text or the HTML to create another format. I've done that myself in my work, arranging menu options that automatically gets texts from a database and put together a RTF document. No matter what, they have the text and they can obviously export them into json-files. All I want is it all in one textfile, reasonably arranged, instead of nestled into a thousand jsons.
I'm sad to hear you declining this. My point was to have it as one collected document, not as many, and I have described well why the current solution is not adequate. It is unfortunate that you don't respond to this but says that what I ask for can already be done, which it can't. Well, this is vital to me, for reasons that I have described. I'll pack my things and leave and I wish you the best of futures. Bye.
The Team's Response
Thanks for the suggestion! We're declining it because we already have exporting features, both for the entire world and an individual article. While we understand JSON can be difficult to work with, the HTML export can easily be copy-pasted into any word processor. World Anvil is an online-first platform, and therefore we prefer to dedicate our resources to improving the features we have on the site.
Current score
41/300 Votes · +10602 points
Votes Cast
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+300
by Arachnophonia
on 2024-11-28 01:28 -
+1
by A Uncontrollable Mlem
on 2024-11-26 23:36 -
+300
by JackLink916
on 2024-11-26 19:47 -
+300
-
+300
by Alexandria the Great
on 2024-11-25 08:09 -
+300
by holydemiurge
on 2024-11-24 01:51 -
+300
by illumiinae
on 2024-11-22 16:56 -
+300
by Blossom Tree Art
on 2024-11-22 12:36 -
+300
by Jupiter Melichios
on 2024-11-22 02:45I really hope WA continues to be successful and is around for a very long time, but I worry regularly about the fact that all my work would just be lost if anything happened to this site. An export function would be wonderful.
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+300
-
+300
-
+300
by Kebrevo
on 2024-11-20 07:33 -
+1
by SebGreg732
on 2024-11-19 20:50 -
+300
by JetpackMonkey
on 2024-11-19 20:43 -
+100
by Fociño
on 2024-11-17 22:21I'd give this more points but wasted most of them in my own suggestions lol.
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+300
by Crimsoncav
on 2024-11-17 21:45 -
+300
by leus
on 2024-11-17 07:57 -
+300
by A Revolutionary T-Rex
on 2024-11-15 20:04 -
+300
by A Fierce Unicorn
on 2024-11-15 10:19 -
+300
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+300
by FeatherAndSword
on 2024-11-14 19:21 -
+300
by DepressedDM466
on 2024-11-12 13:59 -
+300
by nacho22
on 2024-11-12 11:03 -
+300
by Achilles Tiger
on 2024-11-11 19:59 -
+300
by atrippuk
on 2024-11-11 12:40 -
+300
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+300
by A Fluffy Dragon
on 2024-11-08 20:57 -
+300
by Escritora Novata
on 2024-11-06 17:48 -
+300
by Jekljoe
on 2024-11-06 14:18 -
+1
by Amancham
on 2024-11-06 08:17Having an option to export just the text of an article or all articles in simple text files would certainly be nice.
I'm not sure, if that is even an option or if it would be way too hard to implement, though. -
+300
by ss2020
on 2024-11-04 15:09I am pretty sure this has been asked for prior and has been denied due to the amount of work it would entail, but it would be nice.
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+300
by morganarcher
on 2024-11-04 02:53 -
-1
by A Mischievous Dragon
on 2024-11-04 00:11 -
-1
by Alyvins
on 2024-11-03 13:14It’s already possible to export your entire world (to CSV or HTML) with Brigid's Anvil (https://brigid.istralar.com/). You can also directly use the export button by navigating to World Settings > Open Tools & Advanced Actions > Export this World. This will take you to the toolbox created by Soulink (https://toolbox2.worldanvil.com/), where you can export specific parts or your entire world as well. Once exported, you can open any HTML files (once per article) in a browser to view your text (or convert them to a text file, though the HTML code will remain visible).
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+300
by Exarx
on 2024-11-03 10:27 -
+300
by PhntmDrgn
on 2024-11-03 08:45 -
+300
by Mekachu04
on 2024-11-03 00:51 -
+1
by A Roaring Goblin
on 2024-11-02 20:23 -
+300
by DeathBroke69
on 2024-11-02 09:04 -
+300
by rmkbookworm
on 2024-11-02 05:53 -
+300
by Kranjax
on 2024-11-01 13:37As an IT professional, the first rule of information security is "Backup". Incidentally, so are the second and third rules. The ability to export my work would give me an unbelievable amount of peace of mind. I trust World Anvil, but those outside who have potentially nefarious intentions, not so much. And there's still the "technology can fail" aspect. I would love to be able to export the things that I have spent a literal decade writing to something else, just for my own mental well being.
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+300
by DesNordlund
on 2024-11-01 07:57
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