What is importing vs. downloading?
They can have different meanings based on your point of view. For purposes of
this website, we'll use the following meanings. Importing will be
defined as taking a document (script) that is located on your computer, making a
script out of it and storing it on this website. Downloading
will be defined as taking a script that is located on this
website and transferring it to your mobile device.
How do I import a Script?
-
Create a script on your computer. See How Do I Format a script so the MyLines app can understand it? And How Do I Create a Script?
- You must have a list of all the Roles in the script.
- You must be signed on to your web account.
-
Under Scripts on the toolbar, choose Import. Enter the New Script Name and press the Create Script button.
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That script will now be listed under Available Scripts. Click on it, and choose the Import button.
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Enter all the Roles in the Script. They can be entered in any order; MyLines will automatically sort them into alphabetical order. Enter the roles carefully; if a role is not listed here exactly as it appears in the script, it will not be able to have lines highlighted or played back!
-
Under How to recognize a Scene, type {scene}. You must have {scene} at the beginning of every new act or scene, in order for MyLines to recognize this new part of the script.
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Check Upper Case is Directions, if blocks of uppercase text in your document are stage directions. Anything in parentheses (like this) is automatically assumed to be stage directions, and will be shown in italics.
-
Use the Choose File button to select the document containing your script on your PC.
- Press the Start Conversion button. Script conversion should take 10-20 seconds.
- Your script is ready to use. You might want to use the View
mode of the script to help better proofread your imported script.
-
To download the new script onto a device, choose Download from the left hand menu in the MyLines app. You will see a list of all the scripts you have available on your web account. Choose one to download. You must be in a wireless environment to download a script onto your mobile device.
- If you find any errors, you can make the changes to the document on your PC and
re-import it. It will replace all the lines you currently have.
How Do I Create a Script?
See the following links for a sample script from a word processor (MS Word)
and a plain text file (.txt)::
Sample script in MS Word
Sample script as text file (.txt)
Uses Role on line by itself.
Sample script in MS Word
Sample script as text file (.txt)
Uses Role on same line as dialogue
Contents of a script
A script is composed three types of lines:
- Act/Scene - A line indicating the beginning of a new Act or
Scene. It can also be used to identify other sections of the play like
character descriptions or prop lists.
- Dialogue - Words to be spoken by an actor. These may
include stage directions imbedded within the dialog, typically included within a
set of parentheses.
- Stage directions - Full paragraphs that include no dialogue,
and indicates what is to happen on stage
The following describes how each of these three lines is identified in more
detail.
Act/Scene
On this line of your script, there needs to be a “designator” phrase to the app that a new Act or Scene is about to begin. Currently, the designator is {scene}. Every time you want to distinguish a new act, scene or section of your script, you must type {scene} directly before it.
Dialogue
This is where the box labeled "Roles in the
script" on the Import screen comes in.
Any names in this box will be used to identify that a new character is speaking. Upper or
lower case do not matter. The roles can be entered in any order; MyLines will automatically sort them into alphabetical order. Enter the roles carefully! If a role is not listed exactly as it appears in the script here in this box, it will not be able to have lines highlighted or played back! In the sample script there are only 2
characters in the first act, so the Role box only needs to include the names
GRETA and PHILLIP.
If more than one character is speaking the same line,
you can indicate this by typing all the character names and separating them by commas. Type a colon : when all characters have been listed. Thus the
following line indicates that Phillip and Greta speak the line at the same time:
- PHILLIP, GRETA: Now isn’t this a touching scene.
All lines up to the next Act/Scene, Stage Directions or Role Name are considered lines for
that role.
MyLines uses a colon : as a Role Separator. The Role Separator is the mark that separates the role name from his/her spoken lines.
Any words in a dialogue that are within a set of parentheses are considered stage
directions. These words will be displayed in italics.
Stage directions that are typed between the role name and the colon will appear in capital letters. If you want them in italics, place them within parentheses after the colon.
Stage Directions
Stage directions are presented to the user in italics and slightly indented from
the dialogue. There are four things that determine which lines are stage
directions:
- Any text before the first Act/Scene or dialogue in the script. - The
copyright information in the sample script.
- Any text after an Act/Scene line and before any dialogue. - See the lines
immediately after the About BLACKOUT line in the sample
script.
- Any paragraph that does not include lower case letters. - See the lines
immediately after the Act I/Prologue line in the sample
script.
- Any paragraph that begins and ends with a set of parentheses and has no
other parentheses within it. - See the last four paragraphs of the sample script.
OTHER FORMATTING
To make italics on the MyLines script, insert <i> at the beginning of the word or phrase, and </i> at the end.
To make bold, insert <b> at the beginning of the word or phrase and </b> at the end.
To make an underline, insert <u> at the beginning of the word or phrase, and </u> at the end.
What Formats can I use to Import a script?
File formats are identified by the extension (the last 3 letter of the file name
after the dot). The following formats can be used for importing scripts.
NOTE: The Mac computers may not include the extension on the name of the file,
so you may need to rename it before doing the import.
NOTE: Open Office (.odt) files were available at one
time but did not consistently work. Save .odt as text or another
format to upload.
- .txt -a plain text file.
- .docx - Microsoft Word® 2007 and newer
- .doc - Microsoft Word® 97 - 2003
- .rtf - Rich Text Format. Created by Microsoft WordPad and Mac TextEdit.
How do I format a script so the MyLines App can Understand it?
MyLines can read documents written in or converted to Microsoft Word or text format, so that’s the format you need to start with.
Everything in between parentheses (like this) will automatically be italicized. That information is assumed to be stage directions.
Role names will automatically be bolded. Role names are separated from their dialogue by a colon : .
Role names are separated from their dialogue by a colon : .
You must insert {scene} at the beginning of every act or scene. This designator {scene} tells the app that a new act or scene is taking place.
All text between an act or scene (as distinguished by {scene} ) and dialogue (the first listed role to appear) is automatically considered stage directions and will be italicized.
To make italics, insert <i> at the beginning of the word or phrase, and </i> at the end.
To make bold, insert <b> at the beginning of the word or phrase and </b> at the end.
To make an underline, insert <u> at the beginning of the word or phrase, and </u> at the end.
Stage directions that are typed between the role name and the colon will appear in capital letters. If you want them to appear in italics, place them within parentheses after the colon.
Are Scripts From Publishers Available on the MyLines App?
Permission is needed from a publisher to reproduce a script on the MyLines app.
Many publishers are starting to offer their scripts in the correct electronic format, for easy download.
Ask your publisher if their scripts are compatible with MyLines!
We would be glad to work with them. Have them contact us for more information at info@mylinesonline.com.
Can I copy a script created on the MyLines Lite version to the Current version 2.0?
Yes, by uploading/downloading through the web site. You must do the following:
- Make sure you have registered your app (use Web Setup on the left hand
menu on the app)
- Start the Lite version
- Upload the script from the "Script Info" option ("Scripts" option for
Android).
- Start the Full version of the app.
- Go to the "Select Script" Option ("Scripts" for Android) and
select "Download"
- Your script should appear on this screen.
- Select the script.
Where can I Find Help Using the MyLines App?
Refer to "About" on the Left-Hand menu on the app.