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First launch

The start window

Section titled “The start window”

When Nota opens, the start window comes first. It is the quickest way back into what you were working on.

The Nota start window with New project, Open project and a list of recent projectsThe Nota start window with New project, Open project and a list of recent projects
  • New project — an empty project in the main window.
  • Open project… — pick a .nota project anywhere on disk.
  • Recent projects — the projects you opened or saved lately, newest first, with when you last touched them. Click one to select it, double-click it (or select it and press Return) to open it. The arrow keys move through the list.
  • Show on startup — turn the start window off if you’d rather go straight to an empty project. File ▸ New (⌘N) and File ▸ Open… (⌘O) work the same from the main window.
  • Documentation, Settings and What’s New at the bottom open this manual (at Your first track) and those windows.

When a new version is out

Section titled “When a new version is out”

The start window also shows a banner when a new Nota is available: Update downloads it with a progress bar and checks it against the release’s checksum, Release notes opens the release page, Dismiss hides the banner. Once it’s downloaded, choose Restart now — or Later, and it installs the next time you quit.

What’s New

Section titled “What’s New”

After an update, a What’s New window lists everything that changed since the version you had, once. You can bring it back any time from Help ▸ What’s New — or read the changelog.

The What's New window listing the highlights of Nota 0.50.1The What's New window listing the highlights of Nota 0.50.1

Help ▸ About Nota shows the app and engine versions and the licence.

If Nota didn’t close properly

Section titled “If Nota didn’t close properly”

While you work, Nota keeps a recovery copy of the open project in the background (about every 30 seconds, and only when something changed). If Nota or your computer stops unexpectedly, the next launch asks:

Nota didn’t shut down cleanly. Recover unsaved work from …?

Recover brings the project back as it was; Discard throws the recovery copy away. The recovery copy is a safety net, not a save — save your project as usual (⌘S), see Projects and saving.