Skip to content
Dabble HelpHelp

Use sticky notes

A thought hits you mid-scene. Not the next line, just a reminder to yourself. Use sticky notes in Dabble to catch it without leaving the page.

Each sticky is a draggable, colored note that floats beside your text on a scene, a character profile, or a notebook page.

Here’s how to add them, move them, recolor them, and tuck them out of sight when you want a clean page.

We’ll cover:

  • Before you begin: the three documents that support stickies
  • Steps: add a sticky and drag it into place
  • Tips: recolor, delete, and hide your stickies
  • Troubleshooting: when the button is greyed out or stickies vanish

Before you begin

Section titled “Before you begin”

Stickies live on three kinds of documents: a manuscript scene, a character profile, and a notebook page. Anywhere else, the toolbar button stays disabled.

The expanded formatting toolbar in a scene, with the Add Sticky Note icon highlighted and its Add Sticky Note tooltip showing.

Steps

Section titled “Steps”
  1. Open a supported document: a manuscript scene, a character profile, or a notebook page.
  2. In the formatting toolbar, click the Add Sticky Note (note) icon.
  3. In the color popover, pick a color: yellow, green, blue, or pink. A new sticky appears near the center of the editor.
  4. Click into the sticky and start typing. The placeholder reads Write a note…
  5. To move it, drag from the sticky’s header area. It stays within the editor gutter and snaps to the left or right side.

Your text and the sticky’s position save automatically as you work.

A green sticky note reading "Rework this whole scene" pinned over a manuscript scene, floating above the text as a reminder.

Tips

Section titled “Tips”
  • Change a sticky’s color from its menu using Change Color.
  • Delete a sticky with the × in its header, or use Delete Sticky from its menu.
  • Hide or show all stickies from View Options (the eye icon at the top of your project) using Sticky Notes, or press the keyboard shortcut: ⌘⌥K on Mac, Ctrl+Alt+K on Windows. Toggling visibility here never deletes a sticky. It just tucks them out of sight until you turn them back on.
  • Stickies hide automatically in Focus mode so nothing distracts you while you write.

The View Options menu open from the eye icon in the header, with the Sticky Notes toggle checked and its ⌘+⌥+K shortcut beside it.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

The sticky note button is greyed out. You’re probably on a document that doesn’t support stickies. Open a scene, a character profile, or a notebook page and try again.

You don’t see your stickies. They may be hidden. Open View Options and turn on Sticky Notes, or press ⌘⌥K / Ctrl+Alt+K. Stickies are also hidden while you’re in Focus mode.

Section titled “Related”