What is Who Where When?
Who Where When is a web app that keeps your story bible: every character, place, faction, item and piece of lore in your series, with the facts about each one. It runs in your browser at whowherewhen.app, so there's nothing to install.
What sets it apart from a notes document is that facts know when they were true and which chapter revealed them. That lets the app check your series for contradictions, and lets you publish a companion wiki that hides spoilers from readers who haven't caught up.
What can it do?
- Keep one bible per series. Each series is a universe with its own books, chapters and entries. Entries link to each other with @mentions and show backlinks.
- Record facts with sources. "Kael Varn, eye color: green, Book 1 Chapter 2", with the quote that says so and the in-story dates it was true.
- Check continuity. Conflicting facts, characters who act after they die or before they're born, someone in two places at once, ages that don't add up, and likely duplicates. The check runs on every change.
- Use your world's calendar. Custom months and eras, so dates read the way they do in your books.
- Show the shape of the story. A timeline with a lane per character, a relationship graph, family trees, and maps you can pin places to.
- Work with your own AI. Copy a prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, paste the reply back, and review every change before it's saved. Or, with Pro, connect Claude, ChatGPT or another AI directly.
- Share it. Invite co-authors as editors or viewers, see every change in History, undo mistakes, and publish a spoiler-safe reader wiki.
Who is it for?
It's built for authors of long series, where book four has to agree with book one and nobody can hold it all in their head. It works just as well for a single novel with a large cast, and for co-authors who need to share one source of truth.
What doesn't it do?
It isn't a word processor, and it doesn't write for you. Your chapters stay wherever you draft them. You can store chapter text in Who Where When so facts can link to the exact passage, but you don't have to.
It also doesn't send your manuscript to an AI by itself. Text only reaches an AI if you paste it into one, or if you connect your AI and ask it to read a chapter.
To get going, follow How to use Who Where When, or read What is a story bible? if the idea is new to you.
Common questions
Is Who Where When a writing app?
No. You write in whatever you already use. Who Where When keeps track of what your books say about characters, places and events, and checks that it stays consistent.
Do I need to use AI?
No. You can build the whole bible by hand. AI prompts and the AI connector are optional ways to fill it faster.
Keep your story straight
Who Where When keeps every character, place and date in your books, and tells you when the story contradicts itself.
Start your story bibleMore in Start here
- How do I create my first universe?Create a universe for your series, or open the sample, then add books, entries and a calendar. Here's what each step does.
- How do I upload my manuscript?Upload a .docx, .md or .txt file to a book and Who Where When splits it into chapters, counts appearances and suggests names to add.
- Does Who Where When work for a single novel?Yes. A standalone novel gets its own universe with one book. Everything works, though the reader wiki can only hide spoilers book by book.
Related
- How to use Who Where WhenA step-by-step tour of Who Where When, from signing up to a continuity check and a published, spoiler-safe reader wiki.
- What is a story bible?A story bible is the reference file of everything that's true in your book or series. Where the idea comes from, who needs one, and what it isn't.