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Databases and Data Cards (Labs, new in 1.1)

New in WriterMorph 1.1. See each card type as a database with Table, Gallery, Board and Calendar views, and keep data tables on cards.

Databases are new in WriterMorph 1.1. They are a Labs feature: they stay off until you turn them on.

Turn them on

Open Settings › Labs and turn on Show card types as databases (Table · Gallery · Board · Calendar).

With the switch off, the Database button, View › Database and the Database Kit menu items are hidden. Your cards and their properties stay as they are.

The idea

Every card type in a planner is a database. Its cards are the records and its properties are the fields. Nothing is copied: edit a record and you edit the card, on the canvas and everywhere else.

Each planner has its own databases. A new card type with no cards yet is listed too.

Open the Database panel

Click the Database button in the planner toolbar, or choose View › Database. The panel docks, floats and remembers its size like the other panels.

The menu at the top left of the panel:

picks the database: each card type, with its number of cards,
makes a New Database…, which is a new card type,
lists your Data Cards and makes a New Data Card.

New adds a record, which is a new card of that type. Double-click a record to open it in the card editor. Right-click it for Open, Show on Canvas and Delete; a deleted card goes to the planner's Trash.

The four views

Click + next to the views to add a Table, Gallery, Board or Calendar view. Right-click a view to Rename… or Delete View.

View	What it shows
Table	One row per card. Edit cells in place, click a column header to sort, drag a column's edge to resize it, and drag a header onto another to move it.
Gallery	The cards as tiles. Cover picks the card's own picture or an Image field; Size makes the tiles larger or smaller.
Board	Columns from a select field chosen under Group by, such as Status. Drag a card to another column to change the value.
Calendar	Cards on a date field chosen under Date, by Month or Week. Drag a card to another day. Cards with no date are listed apart.

Each change to a record, such as an edited cell or a card dragged to another column or day, is one step you can undo with ⌘Z.

Search, sort and filter

Search narrows the records as you type.
Sort orders them by a field. Choose the same field again to reverse the order, or Clear Sort.
Filter shows only the records that match. A filter is a field, a test and a value. The tests include is, is not, contains, does not contain, greater or less than, is before, is after, is empty, is not empty, is checked and is not checked.
Fields shows or hides columns.

Each view keeps its own sort, filter and fields.

Fields

Every database has Title, Summary, Status, Tags, Last edited and Words, plus task and story fields where they apply. Add your own with Fields › New Field…:

Type	Good for
Text, Long text	Names, notes, descriptions
Number	Ages, prices, page counts
Date, Date & time	Deadlines, story dates, events
Checkbox	Done or not done
Select, Multi-select	One or several choices from a list
URL, Email	Web addresses and email addresses you can open
Image, Files	Pictures and files from the card's attachments
Relation	A link to records in another database
Formula, Rollup, Lookup	Values WriterMorph works out for you

A field's name belongs to one type: you can't add a field with the name of an existing field of another type.

Relation

A Relation field links records to records of another database in the same planner. The other database shows the link back as a column of its own. For example, make a Factions database, give your characters a Faction relation to it, and each faction lists its members.

Formula, Rollup and Lookup

Calculated values are worked out each time they are shown, never typed by hand. You can sort and filter by them. To change or delete one, right-click its column header.

Formula refers to other fields by name in braces, such as {Words}. You can use + - * /, comparisons, and, or, not, and functions such as if, round, min, max, sum, concat, contains, length, today and days. Type { and WriterMorph suggests field names. Some examples:

Estimated pages at 250 words a page: round({Words} / 250, 1)
A label from a number: if({Words} >= 1000, "long", "short")
Days left until a due date: days(today(), {Due})

A formula with a typing mistake, an unknown field or a loop is refused when you save it. A problem in one record shows as #ERROR in that cell.

Rollup follows a Relation and combines a field of the linked records: Count, Count values, Sum, Average, Min, Max, Percent checked, Earliest date or Latest date.

Lookup follows a Relation and shows a field of the linked records, or one cell of a linked data card's table.

Data cards

Some data doesn't need its own cards: a character's inventory, the sources for one chapter, a budget. A data card holds properties and tables instead of text.

Make one with New card ▾ › Special › Data Card in the planner toolbar, or Data Cards › New Data Card in the Database panel's menu. Special › Properties Card makes the same kind of card for properties only; you can add a table to it later.

A data card can hold several tables:

New Table makes a table of your own. Add columns with Column and rows with New Row, then type in the cells. Columns can be Text, Number, Date, Checkbox, Select, Multi-select, Long text, URL, Email, Image, Files or Relation. Image and Files cells use the card's attachments: pick one, or add it with Add Image… or Add Files….
Link a Database shows the cards of one of your databases inside the data card, as a Table, Gallery, Board or Calendar view. A linked table has no columns of its own; its columns are that database's fields.

Right-click a table's tab to Rename…, Convert to Database… or Delete Table. Convert to Database… turns each row into a card of a new database, up to 1,000 rows at a time, and the table then shows that database.

While you work in a table, ⌘Z undoes table changes. Tables are saved with the project, next to the planner, and go with the card when you duplicate, copy or paste it.

Live Pages and AI apps

A Live Page can query your databases and read data tables. After you allow it to change cards, it can also add records and change data tables.
With AI Connections on, Claude Code or Codex can read your databases and data tables. With Allow changes on, it can also create databases, fill in their fields and write data tables.

File › Export › Database Kit (.wmkit)… saves the planner's card types, fields, views and calculated fields, and the project's Live Pages, without any of your cards. File › Import › Database Kit (.wmkit)… adds them to the planner that is open.

From Notion and Obsidian

A Notion export imports as a new project with its databases. Obsidian notes keep their database through a collection: line. See Importing Your Work.

Older versions

WriterMorph 1.0 doesn't know databases. It shows a data card as an ordinary card, without its tables. If you open the same project on more than one Mac, use 1.1 on all of them.