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A plotboard is a file where you lay out, away from the manuscript, what happens in what order, as cards. The screen is three layers from top to bottom: the header, the title and description, and the card board.
The default screen with a plotboard open (file view). All three layers — header, title and description, card board — fit into one frame from top to bottom. On the card board, plot cards run horizontally with part cards stacked inside them.
The default screen with a plotboard open (file view). All three layers — header, title and description, card board — fit into one frame from top to bottom. On the card board, plot cards run horizontally with part cards stacked inside them.

One plotboard. The header, the title and description, and the card board sit top to bottom.

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Header

On the left sits the path from the project down to this board. The buttons on the right start out as eight: Notes, Tasks, Label, Status, Backlinks, Relationship Graph, View Toggle, and Orientation. Version history and Share link are hidden, so you have to turn them on under Customize in More. More also holds Export, Lock File, and Move to Trash. Export as image and Export as PDF, under Export, appear only in file view. Lock the file and dragging cards around or creating new ones is blocked.

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Title and description

Above the card board there is a large title field, with a description field below it. While empty they show “Plotboard Title” and “Add a description” dimmed. Press the down arrow at the end of the title field and you drop into the description field.

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The card board

Plot cards stand like columns with part cards stacked inside them. Add New Card (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A) at the end of the row adds a column. The Orientation button in the header switches between laying the columns out horizontally and stacking them vertically. The choice stays with the board itself, so it holds when you open it again.
The same board switched to a vertical layout. The plot cards are stacked from top to bottom.
The same board switched to a vertical layout. The plot cards are stacked from top to bottom.

The Orientation button switches between the horizontal and vertical layouts.

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Size and zoom

Hold Cmd/Ctrl and turn the wheel over the board to zoom between 50% and 200%. Plotboard in the settings window holds Card Width (200–600px) and Zoom Level. Reset to Default returns them to 350px and 100%. These values belong to the account, so they apply to every plotboard at once.

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Finding within the board

Cmd/Ctrl + F opens the find field. It scans the titles and descriptions of plot cards and part cards, steps through them one at a time, and can replace as well.
Find works only in file view. Switch to folder view and the results drop to 0, so come back with View Toggle.