Getting started
Install
The installers are on the
releases page: a
.dmg for macOS, an .exe for Windows, a .deb and an .AppImage for
Linux. The q.e.d. website says how to get
past the first warning of your system. q.e.d. looks for a newer version
each time it starts and asks before installing one.
Your site is a folder
Everything a site consists of is in one folder on your computer: its pages, pictures, settings and history. There's no account and no server behind q.e.d.; the folder is the site. Keep it where your other documents are, and back it up like them.
Make a site, or open one
When no site is open, q.e.d. offers three ways in:
New site…
Asks for the site's title, its language and where to put its folder. q.e.d. makes the folder with a start page and starts its history.
Open site folder…
Opens a site that's already on your computer, made with q.e.d. here or elsewhere.
Get a site from git…
Brings a site over from a server where it was backed up; see Backups.
Later, the site's title at the top of the window is a menu: switch to a recently opened site, open another one, make a new one or close it.
Finding your way around
The tabs below the title hold everything about the open site:
- Pages: the site's pages, posts and shared blocks, and the editor for the one you pick. See Pages and blocks.
- Media, Downloads and Static: pictures, files to download and files the website needs as they are. See Pictures and files.
- Site: title, description, language, the web address, logo, search and page width. See Site settings.
- Menu: the sidebar, and a menu made by hand if the automatic one isn't what you want. See Menus.
- Theme: colors and fonts. See Colors and fonts.
- Publish: build the website and put it online. See Publishing.
- Versions: the site's history. See Versions.
- App: settings for q.e.d. itself: its own colors (all screenshots here use catppuccin-mocha), the manual's language, updates, and the setup for AI assistants.
A podcast site has a few more: Podcast, Audio, Transcripts and Contributors. See Podcasts.
The App tab: q.e.d.'s own colors, and updates.
Look at the result
The round button with the eye, in the top right corner, builds the site and opens it in your browser, at the page you're editing. Nothing is put online by that: the preview runs on your computer only. Change something, save, and press it again to see the change.
Saving
Nothing is saved until you press Save. A dot on a tab and the words Unsaved changes say there's something to save, and Discard throws it away. Every save is kept in the site's history, so you can always go back; see Versions.
This manual
Manual, next to the preview button, opens this manual in a window of its own, for the version of q.e.d. you have, without an internet connection. Some places in the app link to the page that explains them.