Templates
A Template is reusable scaffolding. Trove has three kinds, each answering a different “I keep setting this up by hand” problem:
| Kind | What it stamps | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Scaffold | A tree of Folders and Scenes into a Manuscript | Three-act structure, Save the Cat beats, your own chapter skeleton |
| Scene Preset | Custom frontmatter fields (and an optional body skeleton) onto a Scene | A “fight scene” preset with stakes and injuries fields |
| Entity Template | The field layout for an Entity Type | Every Character starts with role, age, allegiance, voice notes |
Manage all three from Templates in the sidebar — browse, create (New scaffold, New scene preset, New entity template), and edit in-app.
Scaffolds
Section titled “Scaffolds”A Scaffold stamps structure into a Manuscript: Folders and Scenes, ready to fill. Apply one when creating a Manuscript or later from the Manuscript’s Structure screen.
A Scaffold can also work as an outline — seeding each Scene’s synopsis and setting everything to todo, so you get a plan to write into rather than empty files.
Scene Presets
Section titled “Scene Presets”A Scene Preset is a named bundle of custom frontmatter fields, plus an optional body skeleton. Stamp it onto a Scene and the fields appear in the Inspector, ready to fill.
Presets only carry custom fields — the built-in Scene fields (status, POV, story-time, location, synopsis, word goal) are always there and never need declaring. A Manuscript can name a default Scene Preset that auto-stamps every new Scene.
Entity Templates
Section titled “Entity Templates”An Entity Template defines the field layout for an Entity Type — what a Character record asks for versus what a Location record asks for. New Entities of that Type start with the layout in place.
Starters, not schemas
Section titled “Starters, not schemas”There is no live link back to a Template: change a Scaffold later and Manuscripts you already stamped don’t restructure themselves; change a Scene Preset and existing Scenes keep their fields. A Template is a starter, not a schema.
On disk
Section titled “On disk”Templates are plain files in your Trove root, like everything else — portable, diffable, and editable outside the app if you prefer.