Frequently asked questions

Writion is a home for everything around your writing — projects and their stages, documents, notes, submissions, finances and launch teams — so the business of writing takes less of your time. Students use it for their assignments.

On your dashboard, click ＋ New Project, choose what it is (a book, an assignment, an online piece, an event…), give it a title and its current stage. You can change any of it later.

Open the project’s Documents tab and click ＋ Add a document (at the top or the bottom of the tab, or on the Start here card). Writion asks, one step at a time:

1. Where is it stored? — a folder on this computer, OneDrive, Google Drive, Google Docs, Scrivener, on paper…
2. Its location — the file’s path, or its link.
3. Its name.
4. What it is — often answered for you.
5. Is this your manuscript?

For your privacy, web browsers never tell a website where a file is saved on your computer — so Writion can’t fill that in by itself. It guides you:

1. Choose the file on my computer… — Writion fills in its name and type.
2. Find the file (don’t open it). Windows: right-click it and choose Copy as path. Mac: right-click, hold Option, choose Copy “…” as Pathname. Then tick I’ve copied the path.
3. Click Paste the path. If your browser won’t allow it, click in the box and press Ctrl+V (⌘+V on a Mac).

Click ↻ Start again at the top of the steps. It clears them and you can begin again; “A folder on this computer” stays chosen.

On the document’s card, click Copy path, then click the Search box on your taskbar, paste (Ctrl+V) and press Enter. If Search doesn’t open it, press Windows key + R, paste and press Enter. On a Mac: in Finder press ⌘ Shift G, paste and press Return. How to open it on the card shows these steps.

Documents on Google Docs, OneDrive and other cloud services open straight away with Open ↗.

No. Writion records where a document is and what it is — never its contents. Choosing a file only reads its name.

Open the project and go to Notes. Add notes for ideas, research or reminders; they stay with the project. For your reports, Writion records when a note was created — never what it says.

Click My Papers at the top of your dashboard and add the papers you’re taking this year — choose them from your institution’s list, or use My paper isn’t listed. Your lecturers confirm each one.

Click ＋ New Project, choose Assignments, then Student (already chosen for a Student-plan account). Pick the paper from your list. A new assignment starts at Brief / Commission, which you can change.

They show whether your institution covers your use of Writion. Covered: no fee. Pending: free while your institution decides, until its cut-off date. Not covered: a $10 administration fee covers your use of Writion until 31 December. If a pending paper is approved after you’ve paid, your $10 is refunded automatically.

When the $10 fee is due and unpaid, you can still see everything and update your papers and settings, but not add or change your work. Click Pay $10 on the banner; writing opens again straight away.

Your lecturer hasn’t confirmed that paper yet. Writion emails them a link to do it. If your lecturer declines a paper (for example after you’ve changed papers), remove it and add your new one.

You may have two. The email you sign in with is your Writion account email, and everything about your account goes there, including “Your enrolment with [your institution] is confirmed.”

Your student email is used for two things only: confirming that you’re enrolled with your institution (Writion sends it one link to click), and sending your reports to your lecturers.

Go to Settings → Profile. You can update your student number there (your lecturers will confirm your papers again). If you’re enrolled with a registered institution and have moved, choose Ask to move my enrolment — you’ll confirm your new student email, then Writion approves the move.

Your launch team is the readers who get an early copy of your book and help spread the word. In a book project, open Launch Team to add your readers, organise them into rounds, and keep track of who has received a copy and responded.

1. Add your readers — their name and email.
2. Create a round (for example, “Advance copies — March”).
3. Add readers to the round and track their progress from there.

A dated record of how a project moved through its stages and how its word count grew — useful for your own records or to show your process. Generate it from the project.

A detailed, verifiable record of how a project developed, with a verification reference anyone can check. It never contains your words. To send one, open the project’s Submissions tab and choose Send a Provenance Report. It is created at the moment it is sent — there is no preview — and goes to both you and the recipient as a secure link that works for 12 months (a student’s goes to the lecturer of the assignment’s paper). It is free for students, and $175 for writers.

In Settings → Profile, choose Change email address. For your security Writion sends two confirmation links — one to your current address and one to the new one. Your email changes once you’ve clicked both.

In Settings → Password. Forgotten it? Use Forgot password on the sign-in page; the email’s link takes you to Choose a new password, then Sign in.

Yes — click Hide on the card. It shrinks to a single line; click Show to bring it back.

This usually means Writion is open in another tab. Close the other Writion tabs and try again.

Writion opens some things in a new window (such as reports), and Notes can use your microphone. On an iPhone or iPad, check these settings:

Safari

• Pop-ups: open the Settings app → Safari (on newer versions, Settings → Apps → Safari) → turn Block Pop-ups off.
• Microphone: in the same Safari settings, under Settings for Websites, set Microphone to Ask or Allow.

Firefox

• Pop-ups: in Firefox, tap the menu → Settings → turn Block Pop-up Windows off.
• Microphone: open the Settings app → Firefox (on newer versions, Settings → Apps → Firefox) → turn Microphone on.

Then close Writion and open it again.

Check the inbox of the email you sign in to Writion with, not your student email, and look in your spam or junk folder too. The email tells you to open My Papers and add your papers for the year. If it hasn’t arrived within a day, email support@writion.co.nz.

Reset links can be used once and expire. Request a new one with Forgot password, and open the newest email.

Close Writion and open it again. If something still looks out of date, refresh the page (Ctrl+F5, or ⌘ Shift R on a Mac).

No. Writion never reads, stores or analyses your words. It records dates, stages, counts and word totals — the shape of your work, not its content.

Yes — in Settings, use Export my data, or Delete account.