By the end of this guide, you'll know that your writing is protected automatically — and exactly what to do when you want to be certain.
The short version
You never need to hit save. Draftingboard saves your work automatically every time you pause typing. Your writing is stored on your device first — so it works offline — and then backed up to the cloud in the background.
Every time you stop typing for two seconds, your work saves. You'll see “Saved at [time]” in the top bar confirming it happened.
That's it. There's nothing else you need to do for regular writing.
Draftingboard works without an internet connection. All your writing is stored on your device, so:
You can write on a plane, on a train, in a café with bad WiFi — your work saves exactly the same way.
The cloud backup will catch up automatically the next time you're connected.
If a background sync attempt fails while you're offline, you won't see any error — your writing continues uninterrupted.
Your words are never held hostage by your connection.
Switching devices — one at a time
Scenario: You wrote on your laptop at the coffee shop and want to continue on your desktop at home.
When both devices have changes
Scenario: You wrote a scene on your laptop offline, and also made edits on your phone while you had a signal.
The safest approach: pull before you push.
Force push — confirm your work is in the cloud right now
Use this before closing your laptop, switching to another device, or any time you want certainty. You'll see Pushed ✓ in green when it's done.
Force pull — bring in work from another device
The pull never silently overwrites your work. If there's any difference, you always get to review it first.
When your local version and the cloud version have both changed, the merge dialog lets you combine them.
Your local version. Amber-highlighted text marks words that exist here but not on the cloud — things you wrote that haven't been pushed.
The cloud version. Blue-highlighted text marks words that exist there but not here — changes from another device.
Merge editor (bottom)
An editable area pre-filled with your local version. Copy blue sections you want from the right panel, paste them in, and edit freely. Three shortcuts:
| Message | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Saved at… | dim | Everything is up to date |
| Pushing… | yellow | Force push in progress |
| Pushed ✓ | green | Cloud confirmed — you're done |
| Checking server… | yellow | Force pull fetching from cloud |
| Already in sync ✓ | green | Versions match, nothing to do |
| Versions differ | yellow | Merge dialog is open |
| Not on server yet | yellow | Document hasn't been pushed yet |
| Push / Pull failed | red | No connection — try again when online |
Status messages clear automatically after a few seconds.
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