How do you copy a Realm?

[meek75]

This seems like a good place to reiterate that we need a better way of moving things between the story and mechanical almanacs. I have come up against this several times and the work around you are detailing here is cumbersome to say the least. This feature has already been requested though. It comes up more often with newer users who are still experimenting with organization I think, but the new user is not going to be able to figure out this process alone.

[GThiel]

+++++1
As a computer programmer with over 30 yrs experience, I was unable to figure out how to make the "cumbersome" method to work. I'm not trying to do something all that difficult, I just want to move a specific group of monster stats from World Almanac to a group within Mechanics Reference. The method detailed above seems to be dealing with generic categories, not the specific one I want to move. I am frustrated with myself for making the initial error in placing the group in the wrong area and with the program for not allowing me to fix the problem. This (and Pins and Calendars) is just about the only thing I do not like about Realm Works.

[AEIOU]

How many entries are you looking at moving? 10, 20, 100?

Another very viable option is to open the existing mob in a tab and a new tab in the Mechanics section. Then copy/paste the relevant fields by toggling between the two. Save new one, delete old one. Rinse and repeat. Yes, it'll probably take time that you could do something more productive. But it'll be done with minimal cleanup necessary.

When I moved my bestiary over to Mechanics, it gave me a chance to rethink what I was doing. I simplified the stat blocks, standardized the presentation and added HL portfolios. By doing 5-10 a night, it went quickly and I got other things done.

[GThiel]

For the most part, I used HeroLab to export the monster as a text file then imported it into Realm Works as a RTF file. And my monster count is now 170, so no, I don't want to redo everything one at a time :-)

[rob]

The following process should get you sorted out. Is it ideal and obvious? Nope. But it should work well and entail minimal work on your part.

1. Go to the Manage tab and select Categories
2. Select the category that all your monsters you want to migrate are based upon
3. Click the Options button next to that category and duplicate it, creating a temporary new category with an alternate name
3. Save the change
4. Select the category that all your monsters are based upon again
5. Click on the Options button at the top (next to the Save button)
6. Select the "Move All Topics to Category" option and move them all to the new category you just created
7. From the same menu, select the "Move To" option and change the new category you created to be an Articles category
8. Save the change
9. Select the Move All Topics to Category" option again, moving them to the category you want them to belong to on the Articles side
10. Delete the temporary category you created to orchestrate all this

All your monster topics should now belong to the correct category on the Articles side of the fence.

Hope this helps!

[GThiel]

Originally Posted by rob

The following process should get you sorted out. Is it ideal and obvious? Nope. But it should work well and entail minimal work on your part.

1. Go to the Manage tab and select Categories
2. Select the category that all your monsters you want to migrate are based upon
3. Click the Options button next to that category and duplicate it, creating a temporary new category with an alternate name
3. Save the change
4. Select the category that all your monsters are based upon again
5. Click on the Options button at the top (next to the Save button)
6. Select the "Move All Topics to Category" option and move them all to the new category you just created
7. From the same menu, select the "Move To" option and change the new category you created to be an Articles category
8. Save the change
9. Select the Move All Topics to Category" option again, moving them to the category you want them to belong to on the Articles side
10. Delete the temporary category you created to orchestrate all this

All your monster topics should now belong to the correct category on the Articles side of the fence.

Hope this helps!

Thank you Rob for trying to help .. .. .. Monsters were created in a group category of "Other List". So I started working thru your list, got to step 6 and moved all to the new category "Monster List". tried step 7 and got following

[Parody]

If any of your to-be-changed Topics contain or are contained by other Topics (so they form a hierarchy in the Navigation Pane) you need to undo the containment so all of your to-be-changed ones are listed at the top level with no child Topics.

I'd give full instructions but I'm not at a computer right now. Sorry.

[rob]

As @Parody said, it sounds like you have some or all of your monsters either contained by or containing other topics that are NOT monsters. When you migrate everything across, all the topics you want to migrate CANNOT have tendrils tying them to the topic hierarchy shown in the nav pane on the left. They must all be top-level topics with no children other than topics of the same category.

For the best way you proceed from here, you really need to give us lots more detail about the topics and categories you've currently been using, including what your topic hierarchy looks like. Only then can we provide you with sound advice on how best to proceed from here. Without that info, we're stuck making wild guesses and gross assumptions that are likely to be wrong.

[kbs666]

Why does the program view topics and articles as different? I appreciate the separate domains but fundamentally aren't topics and articles the same thing?

[MNBlockHead]

Originally Posted by kbs666

Why does the program view topics and articles as different? I appreciate the separate domains but fundamentally aren't topics and articles the same thing?

This.

Really doesn't seem necessary and just makes things more complex. Does it have something to do with how the Content Market will work? E.g., if you buy rules they will be in mechanics, making it easier to move the rules and just the rules into multiple realms?