Attention owners of, or subscribers to, FileMaker Pro 18, 19, 20, 21 or new 22: you are in a wonderful position to own a free copy of NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner.

Welcome to NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner

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For visitors new to this website and new to NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner, please visit our Wix website, where there is a simpler presentation of material. Often the news items that are at the top of the current webpage may contain difficult - one may say, advanced - material, which may not be what newcomers may at first wish to engage with.

(Updated: 8:12 am, Sunday, 8 February 2026 AEST).

Feature articles

Software review of FileMaker 2025 (aka version 22)
Book review of Learn FileMaker Pro 2024 by Mark Conway Munro
Forensic deconstruction of a While function
The wonderful but difficult While function

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS ITEMS  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THINGS ARE LOOKING GOOD

There comes a time when the Team can say with confidence that its two applications, NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner, have reached a level of maturity that any one who has access to FileMaker Pro (aka Claris FileMaker) but has not yet downloaded one or the other application is "silly" ("silly" used here affectionately). Both applications are free and highly sophisticated. Once you have FileMaker Pro installed on your laptop or desktop, all you need do is download either application, drag and drop from the Download folder onto your desktop, double-click to open (at first it may take several seconds to launch) ... and that's it. Your ownership of, or subscription to, Claris FileMaker has been enriched by the addition of either of these two incredible data processors. Not 100 per cent happy? Simply delete the icon representing either. Gone, as if never there in the first place (in other words, no uninstalling required whatsoever). "It just doesn't get better than that", one may say. Why wait? Go to the bottom of this webpage and download NoteMaker or ScriptPlanner.

Not having direct generative artificial intelligence (genAI) is meant to be the "kiss of death" for both applications in today's increasingly genAI-layered world; but on the contrary, it's one of their best "selling points". It's your intelligence meeting directly the challenges of the tasks these two applications present to you -- no genAI as intermediary, no shortcuts. We boldly predict this: the more the world succumbs to the brilliancy of genAI, the more of a haven will the raw offerings of NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner increase. GenAI is fantastic: you see it when it wonderfully predicts the likely next word when you're messaging and when Grok can turn a mere photo into a short video. These are nothing less than minor miracles. Just as traditional programming (primarily via the CPU) provides certainty -- and increasingly valued for such -- genAI (primarily via the GPU) can never provide 100 per cent certainty since it is ultimately based on high probabilities (one member of the Team refuses to knowingly drive within the vicinity of a driverless vehicle because of the possibility that a one-in-a-million situation may arise for which genAI has not been trained for). The Team argues in respect to genAI: be careful not to become a member of the passive race of Eloi (~ humans) ruled over by the active race of Morlocks (~ genAI) (*). NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner ensure you keep your mind active every step of the way. While in either application, you are your own intelligence -- it's essentially the only state NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner will allow you to be in.

In conclusion, don't be "silly" and miss the incredible opportunity offered to you as owners of, or subscribers to, FileMaker Pro to own forever and for free two wonderful applications, NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner, which provide environments free of direct genAI; here, instead of training genAI, you train your own intelligence.

(*) "Eloi" and "Morlocks" are terms used in HG Wells's 1895 novel, The Time Machine.

 

SCRIPTPLANNER 1.1.8.2 IS NOW 1.1.8.3

Today, 5 February 2026, is witness to the release of the latest update to ScriptPlanner. Nearly all that has been done for the update is to revise the User Manual.

 

UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT: SCRIPTPLANNER 1.1.8.2

Today, 2 February 2026, the NoteMaker Team has again "sadly" lost its will to reduce the number of updates when it comes to ScriptPlanner. (On the other hand, the Team is doing great with NoteMaker: for several months now, it is still on version 2.5.4).

ScriptPlanner 1.1.8.1 has been updated to 1.1.8.2. A small update indeed, but it does introduce what we consider is a big improvement to the Scenario popover.

BACKSTORY. The Scenario popover is the most intelligent feature ScriptPlanner has to offer. It is an environment for screenwriters to create a proto-script or, in other words, a collection of raw fragmented script bits for each event (scene or episode) -- that is to say, an environment for toying around (experimenting) with action lines and pieces of dialogue.

WHAT DOES THE 1.1.8.2 UPDATE DO? It improves the flow of proto-scripting by making it possible for screenwriters to create a row for an action line or for dialogue -- without recourse to the mouse(*) -- by pressing the Tab key (while the cursor is in the current Action/Dialogue field);  if instead you wish it to be a character row, press the Down Arrow key (while the cursor is in the new Action/Dialogue field), select the character by using the now normalised Down Arrow key and press Enter/Return. The result is that one's fingers remain on the keyboard for the common task of creating a row, thus improving efficiency.

(We beg forgiveness for not updating the User Manual to reflect the recent changes. We'll soon set ourselves the task of doing so).

(*) However, using the mouse is necessary for creating the very first row.

 

NEW DATA CENTRES: CPU vs GPU

In the last six months, the big tech companies building huge data centres, especially for developing generative artificial intelligence (genAI), are more and more realising it is not all about the GPUs (the chips that deliver a billion parallel operations that make possible graphics, such as pictures, 3D renderings and videos, and also genAI), but that the CPUs have become ever-more necessary. The metaphor is this: the CPUs are the brains and GPUs provide the hard labour. Both need each other: hard labour (GPU) is aimless without guided supervision (CPU).

This is where Intel, the company that historically makes most of the CPUs for laptops and desktops, has been caught out. When CEO Pat Gelsinger left the company, the new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, reduced Intel's capacity to make CPUs in order to stop the company bleeding money (possibly also overwhelmed, like so many of us, by the lopsided cry: "in today's world, it's all about genAI's need for GPUs"), only to be caught unprepared for the surge in demand in the last six months by new data centres for old-style CPUs for their servers.

The lesson possibly is this: discern better what is propagandish justifying a "mad rush" to something new and what is "steady-as-she-goes" perspective; in other words, keeping the balance by weighing the elements that are making the new reality with the solid elements from the old reality. The big tech companies are realising that CPUs are just as important as GPUs for operations in their new data centres housing large language models that train genAI. The historically great company, Intel, unless it can quickly redirect its resources, has likely missed a golden opportunity that was just "made for it".

DISCLAIMER. The above is only an opinion and not an expert one at that. Every statement made above should be critically examined by readers, for they are made by hobbyists whose only notable expertise is in creating applications (NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner) using FileMaker Pro. Please note in general: every opinion given by the Team is done only in the spirit of providing "food for thought".

 

SCRIPTPLANNER NOW 1.1.8.1

ScriptPlanner has been updated today (25 January 2026) from 1.1.8 to 1.1.8.1. The littlest of changes has been made. On the Project Overview, specifically on the Plot tab, pressing the Enter/Return key will now result with the pointing triangle being created two paragraphs down instead of one paragraph down.

 

SCRIPTPLANNER JUMPS FROM 1.1.6 TO 1.1.8

Can those who love ScriptPlanner keep a secret? On the quiet, ScriptPlanner has gone from 1.1.6 to 1.1.8. The Team almost vowed to stay with 1.1.6 for a long time – unless a bug was discovered that would hamper workflow. The good news is that no major bug has been discovered, but little improvements have been made to the Project Overview popover, such that in some cases it may provide all the planning needed before jumping into the screenwriting software of your choice. The improvements are as follows ...

First, a new tab has been included, labelled “Cast”, which, for reasons of space, is short for a “list of characters” rather than for a list of actors and actresses. Before you begin planning your project in earnest, you have the opportunity to give a rough outline of – and name – the possible characters involved in the story.

Second, the order of the tabs has been changed in the belief it would improve workflow. The new order is: “Cast”, “Plot”, “Strands”, “Notes”, “Series”, “To Do” and “Synopsis”. “Synopsis” is last because in a way it is putting together the contents of most of the other tabs in a presentable narrative for others (eg, producers) to read. “Cast” is first in the belief one may wish to have some idea of the characters before noting down the plot pointers and story strands.

Third, “Cast”, “Plot”, “Strands” and “To Do” tabs have the facility to create bullet points.

Finally, a little bug fix: a scroll bar has been inserted for the “Series” tab.

The result is that the Project Overview environment has evolved to a degree that it now may be all that is needed for preliminary planning before beginning to write the screenplay in your preferred screenwriting software. This is an incredible development in ScriptPlanner that began with 1.1.6 and further developed in 1.1.7 (unreleased) and 1.1.8.

Imagine outlining your story to a degree that you may not need to create a single record in the database – all done on the Project Overview popover. Wow!

But, “keep it hush”, please. By going to 1.1.8, we have “betrayed” our determination to stay with 1.1.6 for a very long time. But try planning on the Project Overview popover in 1.1.8 for yourself … you just may be glad we did bring out the update. Our recommendation is to stay on 1.1.6 for your current project and use 1.1.8 for the next project.

We wish all a happy and creative new year 2026!

 

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE MAKERS OF NOTEMAKER

Dear owners of, and subscribers to, FileMaker Pro,

       The NoteMaker Team comprises two amateur hobbyists who obtain creative joy from building databases (eg, NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner) on a remarkable platform called FileMaker Pro (FMPro), one of the best put-together software from anywhere in the world.

        We wish to offer a copy of our NoteMaker (NM) program to you totally free of charge, no strings attached, forever yours. We believe you shouldn't hesitate to download a copy of NM for the simple reason you have absolutely nothing to lose but always with the possibility of value-adding to your copy of FMPro should NM "prove to be the goods".

        The thing is this: when you download NoteMaker you are only downloading the file, not the application. NM only becomes an application when opened by a preinstalled copy of FMPro. The beaut thing is: if you are not 100 per cent happy with NM, merely delete the file, end-of-story, no uninstalling required. There is no system-level interference with your computer's innards.

        By trialling NoteMaker, there is the chance you may find you are one with its rationale and workflow. For years now we've been testing NM's real-world version called "My Notebook" and we have never seriously looked at any other (most likely fantastic) professional note-making software out there. The more we use "My Notebook", the more we've come to love NoteMaker; the more we use "My Notebook", the better NoteMaker has evolved. At version 2.5.4, NM has become a superbly mature note-making tool. If you love FMPro, you may love NM as an expression of what can be done on this wonderful database-creation platform (owned by Claris, a subsidiary of Apple).

        Every feature and function in NoteMaker has been built from the ground up with the tools and objects available from FMPro. NM has no module from a third party vendor as, for example, the wonderful novel-writing enabler, Scrivener, is believed to have (and perhaps many others too). The simple but nifty calendar in NM was wholly built from scratch on the FMPro platform. If nothing else, owners of, or subscribers to, a copy of FMPro may do well to have a look at what their beloved software can produce. You'll be amazed that out of a supposedly business-oriented, database-creation platform that is FileMaker Pro can come an application, NoteMaker, that simulates some word-processing features that are essential to making notes.

        In a world being overwhelmed with the miracle that is generative artificial intelligence (genAI), NoteMaker is refreshingly free of direct genAI. NM is a space or sanctuary where you may exercise, at every turn, your intelligence. In a case of counter-intuitive irony, we hope NM being free of direct genAI is its best "selling point" in today's increasingly AI-dominated world.

        In conclusion. To our way of thinking it doesn't make sense not to try NoteMaker if you are fortunate to have access to FileMaker Pro: NoteMaker is free, it doesn't need installing, can be deleted with just two quick clicks, yet it could turn out to be a wonderful addition to what you can do with your copy of FMPro. You may come, like we have, to love NoteMaker. All we ask is to try NoteMaker for yourself. Download it today(*). You have absolutely nothing to lose but the chains of inertia.

Sincerely,
The NoteMaker Team

(*We recommend obtaining your copy of NoteMaker by downloading from this website. It's always possible that corrupt, reverse-engineered or outdated copies may be in circulation [**]. By downloading from our website you are guaranteed the best and latest version. A preinstalled copy of FileMaker Pro [version 18, 19, 20, 21 or 22] is necessary. NoteMaker has not been scaled for downloading on mobile devises [tablets and smartphones]: please only download to your laptop or desktop. NoteMaker is fine with the Mac and Windows operating systems).

[** With our beloved NoteMaker we aim for the highest standards in every aspect of the application. If you have obtained a copy by means other than from this website and find something strange, untoward, ambiguous or, worse, rude in any of our text (field labels, tooltips, the manual,) or graphics, please delete the reversed-engineered file and download a fresh unadulterated copy from our facility at the bottom of this webpage. We are strict on ourselves to keeping to the very highest standards {and morally speaking, to a strong sense of decency} and we will not allow ourselves to tolerate substandards of any kind {***}].

{*** If an aspect of NoteMaker causes offence, please let us know immediately by using the Contact Form (subject: "offence taken") and please explain clearly where and what is the offence}.

 

Is NoteMaker good for students? Two decades ago one member of the Team formulated a hypothesis for effective summarising called Essay Paragraph Construction (EPC) theory. It is based on a five-sentence template for each paragraph.
1st sentence: make an assertion (generally speaking, please keep it "short and sweet")
2nd sentence: elaborate on the assertion
3rd sentence: support the assertion with a piece of evidence (a fact, statistic, quotation, paraphrase)
4th sentence: discuss the assertion in relation to the evidence (perhaps exhibit evidence-weighing or source-management skills)
5th sentence: exit(*).

If you're a member of the general public using NoteMaker you may simply wish to make notes. If you're a student you may instead wish to write summaries. If you tick the EPC checkbox on the bottom of NoteMaker's home page, the gateway opens to the world of guided summarising. The Note field now has as its placeholder the five-sentence types. Students also have access to a sampling of 11 fully annotated summaries.

The five-sentence template is only a guide. Rarely need there be five sentences to each paragraph. Often, paragraphs may comprise two, three, four ... six, seven or more sentences (see sampler). But each paragraph should always begin with an assertion (or, put another way, begin by making a point to be argued for)

The thing about summaries adhering (even roughly) to EPC theory is that their structure possibly makes them essay-ready. When students are given an essay question to write to, they may already have summaries ready (perhaps needing a tweak or two) to be implanted as body paragraphs.

(* The exit sentence is the most dynamic as it can go from merely summing-up the paragraph, to merely reasserting the assertion, to renergising the current paragraph by being a gateway for more sentences, to acting as a pivot to the assertion for the next paragraph or to dynamically challenge the assertion and by doing so present a reformulation of the original assertion [but without changing the original assertion in the first sentence, testimony you are open to be influenced by the evidence and arguments presented], thus making for a rather dramatic "exit". It is also the sentence you may wish to imbue with your personality, to write with flourish; whereas the four other sentence-types may need to be more clinical).

 

Tab overhaul in ScriptPlanner's Project Overview popover.

Today (4 December 2025), the Team has redone the tabs in ScriptPlanner's Project Overview popover.

Tab	Placeholder Text
Plot	"Plot pointers"
Strands	"Story strands"
Synopsis	"Story summary for others to read (public document)"
Notes	"Notes"
Series	"List of other titles if a series"
To Do	"To-do list"

We believe this is a more useful presentation of the tab group. The new To Do tab is a bland, straightforward representation of the Task Manager popover situated at the footer of the Event page.

Normally, we would pass on to our users what we believe is an improvement, but we will keep to the new policy of holding back improvements to allow for their accumulation over time.

We are currently testing the new-look tab group in our real-world version of ScriptPlanner to see if in fact the grouping is more useful than the previous one in preplanning screenplays and TV/streaming series.

 

Experience wins over theory. Our continued real-world use of "My Notebook" shows the way for the development of NoteMaker. One of the new features for the visual calendar is the checkbox, "Always show current", situated at the footer of the calendar, which, for one thing, every time you go to the calendar from the home page, you'll always be presented with the current month of the current year. Experience with "My Notebook", "tells us" that it should be the default, that it should always be the case. However, two factors will prevent us ridding the choice the checkbox offers: our pledge not to update NoteMaker for the next few months (in other words, keep everything as is) and the general idea that it's always good to give users choices. Theory leads the way but experience shows the way.

 

The way the new Personal Found Set works. The Personal Found Set facility is a great new feature of NoteMaker. It allows users to make fluid found sets of their own, forever retrievable. The facility is situated at the bottom of the directory on the home page and in the footer on the Collection layout.

Users may store up to 13(*) Personal Found Sets. The way it works is this: whatever the current found set shows in the directory (on the home page) or listed on the Collection layout can be captured, saved and retrieved at any time. The operation is similar to that of saving finds via normal NoteMaker searches: for example by going into Find mode, entering the criterion "health" in the Contextual Statement field, clicking the Perform Find button, and, say, 11 notes are displayed, which are automatically saved and listed as "health" by NoteMaker.

Personal Found Sets operate slightly different: they are more flexible, they can be personalised. Say of the 11 notes on "health", you omit one, the remaining 10 can be saved as a Personal Found Set by:
1. clicking the "Storage for Personal Found Sets" popover button;
2. once the popover appears, click the Capture button (with the down arrow icon) and name your now personalised found set, say, "My Health". Done;
3. anytime you wish to make your personalised found set reappear, click the Load button (with the up arrow icon) on the popover;
4. your personalised found set of 10 notes on "My Health" reappear;
5. but it gets better; say, you wish to add a note to the 10, perhaps from the Collection label, "Medicine"; easy, simply click the green plus + button (when your personalised "My Health" found set is showing in the directory), enter the contextual statement (or part thereof) of the note you wish to add and click the Add Note button. Your Personal Found Set now has 11 notes;
6. PLEASE NOTE: the new personalised found set must be recaptured by clicking the Capture button.

One senses how that much more powerful (useful) NoteMaker is with the wonderful feature called Personal Found Sets. Try it, we can almost guarantee you'll love it.

(* 13 is an arbitrary figure. We did this for one reason: we wanted to make all Personal Found Sets visible all at once without scrolling. Almost a limitless number of Personal Found Sets could be had if we created a related table, but as stated previously we did not desire out-of-immediate-view Personal Found Sets. The premise for this is that a Personalised Found Set is precious and should be in view on the popover with the others. We are crossing our fingers the great majority of our users will never need more than 13 Personal Found Sets. [Please note: it will help if Personal Found Sets do not merely duplicate normal saved finds as listed on the thin vertical strip popover button next to the large Find button on the top wide toolbar]. We recognise for some people 13 is an unlucky number; we could have increased the number of Personal Found Sets to 14 or to a maximum of 15 but our desire was to have the popover leave visible at least two of the contextual statements as listed in the directory in the interest of orientation.
Added 22 November 2025, revised 23 November 2025. The Team is having some regrets not having gone to 14 or 15 Personal Founds Sets. The problem in doing so now is the complexity involved. We could have done it then when we knew exactly what we were doing, but now we're confessedly anxious in re-engaging with that complexity because our memory of the subtle bits and pieces has largely gone due to the passage of time. The fault lies with us: we failed to document all the nuances involved in creating new rows of Personal Found Sets. However, what may save us from having to re-engage as developers with Personal Found Sets any time soon is our new policy to keep NoteMaker 2.5.4 as is for the next few months. Nonetheless, please let us know what you think of the limit of 13 Personal Found Sets. How important to you is viewing two contextual statements from the directory for the purpose of orientation? If you are happy with 13, we'll be happy too; if we have to re-learn how to add an extra row or two, that is fine too).

 

 

Who may benefit from using ScriptPlanner and NoteMaker?

• RE SCRIPTPLANNER
• screenwriters wishing to do preliminary "fleshing out" of a story-idea
• scriptwriters of TV/streaming series, who may wish to plan the overall series and each individual episode
• perhaps novelists who may wish to outline their story-ideas or detail some aspects (though Scrivener has fantastic planning tools for novelists)
• RE NOTEMAKER
• students wishing to gather and organise information and write summaries
• collectors of philosophical wisdom or wise takes on life
• cooks wishing to store recipes
• coders wishing to replicate code for learning purposes or as references
• collecters of interesting facts
• people who like making lists of things (eg, one's own top 50 films)
• diarists and keepers of journals to record and track life experiences
• researchers who wish to systematise pointers to their findings
• traditional FileMaker users curious to see some amazing things FileMaker Pro has been made to do in NoteMaker
• generally, anyone who wishes to record bits and pieces of information

ScriptPlanner and NoteMaker help, allow and enable you to ...

• RE SCRIPTPLANNER
• plan in detail each scene (or what ScriptPlanner calls "event")
• provide time and place for each event
• delineate character almost to the nth degree by having characters "answer" a questionnaire
• facilitate a character's arc
• outline or detail episodes in a series
• position markers for Acts
• script preliminary chunks of dialogue
• track a subplot strand
• RE NOTEMAKER
• write, store, search and manage thousands of notes in the one file
• organise groups of notes under collection labels (categories) and sub-labels (sub-categories)
• link one note directly to another
• make some notes stand out from the rest by entering them in the Mark Special popover
• (specially for students) write effective summaries via scaffolding and fully explained Essay Paragraph Construction (EPC) theory
• create keywords, which NoteMaker will track and list on a per-note basis
• transform abbreviations (eg, "wsj" to "Wall Street Journal")
• make use of a two-tiered to-do list (one on the Keyword field adjacent to the Note field and the other for an overall to do list
• schedule events with NoteMaker's new visual calendar or via Event Notes
• access the manual, About NoteMaker, (situated within the NoteMaker file)

ScriptPlanner and NoteMaker have limitations ...

• configured only for the hard disc drives or solid state drives of desktops and laptops, not cloud-based
• not scalable, but will fit screen aspect ratios 16:9, 16:10 and 3:2 of desktops and laptops in full-screen mode
• entirely developed in Windows; the feeling, however, is that NoteMaker should render okay with the Mac OS; and feedback (via a screenshot) from a Beta-Tester has shown that ScriptPlanner's Event page renders perfectly on a Mac machine
• dates are in the British format, day/month/year (unless FileMaker automatically transcribes dates to month/day/year for American users)
• available only in English

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screenshots ScriptPlanner & NoteMaker

(Please note: the Event and Character pages — see the following screenshots — are where you will likely spend most of your time in ScriptPlanner)

Fig: Event page.

Some pointers regarding the image ...

• it's easy to see ScriptPlanner is purely a database application (note the word, "records" in the top toolbar)
• each event (commonly known as a scene) is equal to one record in the database
• the row of popover buttons along the bottom of the Event page lead to environments to further detailing the event
• events (scenes or episodes) can be linked to each other (as reference points one to the other)
• the big empty space to the left is the directory of event (scene or episode) titles
• it's possible to track one subplot strand
• dividers are provided to separate groups of events (scnes); for example, Acts

 

 Time to have a look at the Character page ...

Fig: Character page.

Some pointers regarding the image ...

• the Beat popover button next to the character's name leads to a portal for listing the key moments in the character's life (before and) during the story (and even after the story)
• a facility is provided for character arcs
• the Role Status field is accompanied by an embedded list comprising
• protagonist
• antagonist
• primary character
• secondary character
• tertiary character
• one-off character
• prominent non-speaking role
• the Profile popover button opens to a portal, which is fed into from the Questionnaire layout

 

 Time to have a look at NoteMaker's home page ...

Fig: NoteMaker's home page.

Some pointers regarding the image ...

• the idea behind the design of the home page is to have many functions in proximity to the Note field
• the big empty space on the left is the directory, which lists the headings (contextual statements) of notes (currently empty because no note has been created)
• the Collection field is a means of grouping notes by tagging them with labels (eg, contextual statement = "James Dean", collection label = "Biography")
• Notes can also be linked to each other to create a network-like connections
• if you think the home page is cluttered, a new decluttering checkbox has been introduced (it is situated to the left of the Note-Focus button)

 

 NoteMaker decluttered ...

 

Fig: NoteMaker in declutter mode.

Some pointers regarding the image ...

• in declutter mode, only the essential functions and fields show
• though aesthetically cleaner-looking, the home page loses quicker access to certain functions
• the irony is the Hide checkbox itself is almost hidden (it is next to the Note-Focus Card button - a faint tiny square is possibly seeable in the above image with a magnifying glass)
• the go-to calendar button remains to encourage users to check their calendar
• the Set Due Date button is temporary: once it isn't clicked before a field is filled it will permanently disappear (when clicked, the note becomes an event-note, a calendar item [by the bye, not related to the visal calendar])

 

 Time to have a look at NoteMaker's ReOrderAble list ...

Fig: NoteMaker's ReOrderAble list extension.

Some pointers regarding the screenshot ...

• the ReOrderAble list is one of several options that extend the reach of the Note field
• list whatever you like (eg, your top 50 films, your favourite novels or top 10 recipes)
• items on the list can have their order easily repositioned
• new to v1.4.0 is creating and linking a list-item to a note (notice the new Link button [with the search icon] next to the Delete button).
• when on the home page from the ReOrderAble list a Return button (shown above with a sort-of red "cross" on the left margin) will take you back to the list with the originating item highlighted
• the ReOrderAble list makes for a fantastic sub-directory of notes

 

 Time to have a look at NoteMaker's Storyboard ...

Fig: NoteMaker's Storyboard extension to the Note field.

Some pointers regarding the screenshot ...

• Lon Chaney is one of the greatest actors of the silent-film era; the image is from the 1923 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Another fantastic version is the 1939 film, starring Charles Laughton as the hunchback, Quasimodo.
• storyboards are great for depicting many aspects of life, nature and the universe that have cycles, stages or phases
• storyboards combine visual frames and text (as captions)
• most often, however, the Storybaord extesnion will be used for storing single images (as shown above) or links to documents

Questions and Responses

Why ScriptPlanner?

ScriptPlanner provides a purely database approach to planning screenplays. It provides a level of granularity probably unmatched by any other planning environment for screenplays.

Is ScriptPlanner every screenwriter's dream?

No. Far from it: it could be a nightmare for some screenwriters. It comes down to one's comfort level in working with database systems. Databases tend to be "cut and dry" environments.

As a screenwriter, how should I approach ScriptPlanner?

There are over a hundred fields and dozens of features in ScriptPlanner and yet they need not all be used. It's a little bit of a paradox that the less fields filled, the more poignant become the contents of those fields that are filled.

What is the history behind ScriptPlanner?

Development of ScriptPlanner began about six years ago, but it was a project that received scant attention, the focus always having been on NoteMaker. It is only in the last 16 or 17 months that all resources were put into accelerating ScriptPlanner's development. The effort was frenetic: metaphorically speaking, little time was taken to breathe-in air. There was a period that for a stretch of 12 days a communication blackout was put in place to ensure minimal distraction: it's as if to make atonement for the years of neglect. Exhaustion reigned as testing was relentless to ensure errors are "as scarce as hen's teeth". However, after all that, there is the wonderful result: ScriptPlanner version 1.1.6 is now a wonderfully mature product.

Why use ScriptPlanner when, for example, Final Draft 13 has wonderful planning tools?

Without a doubt, the planning tools in Final Draft and other screenwriting software are superb. However, Final Draft's current v13 does not have a page template for each character's description and backstory (correct as up to 17 November 2025); instead each character has a dedicated row in a spreadsheet, which over time may become cluttered. As a data processor, ScriptPlanner not only provides a page ("record", in database parlance) per character but also links to other internal environments to further delineate character.

Can ScriptPlanner ever replace, say, Final Draft?

Never. For one thing, a screenplay cannot be written in ScriptPlanner. Secondly, Final Draft's planning tools are symbiotic: ongoing planning and writing the screenplay go hand-in-hand in the same workspace (these in-script planning tools are called "Outline Elements" in Final Draft and they're nothing less than marvels).

Who are likely to take to ScriptPlanner?

Unfortunately, not many. For one thing budding screenwriters are unlikely to have too strong an inclination to be involved with business-oriented database-creation software such as FileMaker Pro.

What's in it for those who are screenwriters who have access to FileMaker and also take to ScriptPlanner?

An extremely useful planning tool that works on many levels. The NoteMaker Team is hard-pressed to think what can't be done with ScriptPlanner in terms of preplanning screenplays.

 

 

Why NoteMaker?

NoteMaker attempts to make writing notes that are highly searchable and easy to link and group.

 

Is NoteMaker easy to learn?

Its basic worklow is as easy as 1>2>3: click the New Note button, (1.) fill in the heading (contextual statement), press Tab, (2.) select or formulate a collection label, press Enter, and finally (3.) write the note.
(The NoteMaker Team recommends keeping to the basic workflow and only use other features on a need-to basis. For example, if a list requires only three items, keep it within the Note Field; if a list comprises 30 items consider the ReOrderAble list extension).

 

Should I use just the one file for all my notes?

It's convenient to keep everything in the one place. On the other hand, it could spell clutter. NoteMaker's facility for collection labels and sub-labels help manage all your notes in the one file. For the general user, the NoteMaker Team recommends using the one file (however, students may have multi-purpose files; eg, one for Modern History and another for Ancient History).

 

What if you have over 1,000 notes? Surely, clutter will reign.

NoteMaker has been especially designed not to feel cluttered whether there are 10 notes or a million notes. ("My Notebook" is the name of the test NoteMaker file the Team is currently using, which, up to 17 November 2025, has 1,718 notes — the Team will testify that there is no sense of clutter with the 1,718 real-world notes: it feels the same as if there were only 100 notes).

 

If all in one file, what name is suggested for the file?

"My Notes" or "My Notebook" or any other generalised yet descriptive title you see fitting. Please bear in mind, by centralising all notes in the one file, NoteMaker's visual calendar becomes the single go-to calendar.

 

How does NoteMaker compete with other note-making programs?

It doesn't. NoteMaker approaches making notes in its own way. Some people will take to the approach and others won't. NoteMaker's approach centres on being a data processor rather than a word processor.

 

In what way is NoteMaker specially helpful for students?

NoteMaker has an exposition called Essay Paragraph Construction (EPC) theory that, coupled with detailed examples, may help students write more effective standalone (or essay-ready) summaries.

 

So NoteMaker isn't for everbody, only students?

The part of NoteMaker dedicated to students is only a tiny fraction of the coverage offered by the application. NoteMaker is a general-purpose application, intended for all who love making notes.

Please fill out the form below to touch bases with the NoteMaker Team

 

(Many thankyous to Google for making it easy to create the structure for a workable contact form).