Plain-English architecture
Tech Details
Plain-English technical details about where FictionTools projects live, how browser recovery and backups work, and what WRS does and does not receive.
The short version
FictionTools is served by the WRS web server, but your fiction project is worked on in your browser and stored on your side. WRS does not operate a project database containing your books, characters, plot notes or optional author-identification fields.
Where does the work happen?
The server sends the FictionTools HTML, CSS and JavaScript to your browser. After the workspace loads, your browser uses your device’s memory to work with the open project. A large project therefore mainly uses the author’s device memory, not a growing amount of WRS server memory.
What is inside a .fictionproject file?
A project file contains structured continuity and planning data: project settings, authors and pen names if you choose to record them, series, books, chapters, scenes, characters, locations, events, relationships, timelines and related notes. FictionTools is not intended to be the primary storage location for the full manuscript, photographs, video or large attachments.
How storage protection is layered
| Layer | Purpose | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Primary project file | The main .fictionproject file you deliberately save | A file location you choose |
| Browser recovery | Fast emergency recovery after a crash, accidental close or power interruption | Browser storage on this device |
| AutoBackups | Short-term rolling safety copies made after changes, when folder access has been granted | Your chosen backup root / AutoBackups |
| ManualBackups | Intentional, unlimited checkpoints that FictionTools does not automatically delete | Your chosen backup root / ManualBackups, or browser downloads when folder access is unavailable |
What about text still being typed into a form?
FictionTools v2 keeps unfinished workspace-form drafts in local browser storage. Those drafts are deliberately separate from committed project records. If a form has uncommitted edits, the main Save and manual-backup actions do not pretend that those fields have already been written into the project file.
Browser recovery is not a permanent backup
Browser storage can disappear if browser data is cleared, a browser profile is removed, a device is replaced, storage is damaged or cleanup software removes site data. It is an emergency safety layer, not long-term storage.
Why automatic folder backups need permission
A normal website is not allowed to write anywhere it wants on your computer. On browsers that expose an appropriate file/folder API, FictionTools asks you to choose a backup folder and grant write access. If that browser capability is not available, FictionTools keeps browser recovery and allows manual downloadable backups instead of pretending that automatic disk backups succeeded.
Firefox specifically
Firefox currently does not expose the picker methods FictionTools uses for direct Save As and chosen backup folders. In Firefox, project saves and manual backups use normal browser downloads. Firefox controls the configured download folder or whether it asks you where to save a download. FictionTools cannot override that browser choice. The workspace detects the capability at runtime and labels the backup actions accordingly.
What does WRS receive?
The private workspace is designed so project contents are not intentionally sent to a WRS project database. Optional ownership information—real name, pen name, address, email, phone, website and private ownership notes—exists only if the author chooses to put it into the local project file.
Google Translate and public pages
Public informational pages include an optional Google Translate control. That control sends the public page URL to Google Translate. The private workspace does not load that control, and FictionTools does not send project contents to Google for translation.
Project-file design and versioning
FictionTools v2.1 uses project-file schema version 3. Records use permanent internal IDs so visible chapter numbers, titles and ordering can change without breaking linked records. The file records the application version that saved it. Older project schemas are migrated forward with a pre-migration safety copy before the upgraded project is saved. Schema 3 adds family-relationship metadata, eras, Houses/organizations, overlapping role and affiliation history, character-personal chronology context, and territorial history. Company ownership/control can remain approximate or intentionally vague when the story does not need accounting-level detail.
Integrity checking
Where the browser supports Web Crypto, FictionTools writes a SHA-256 integrity marker into v2 project files. If a later integrity check does not match, FictionTools warns before opening the file and avoids silently overwriting the original. This detects accidental changes or corruption; it is not encryption or copy protection.
What happens if WRS disappears?
Your saved .fictionproject files remain ordinary files under your control. The data format is JSON-based and intentionally human-readable enough to aid future recovery or conversion. However, the interactive FictionTools interface itself depends on the application being available or preserved separately.