Read and edit a tour as a script
Use Script mode to read the whole tour as one document, edit every step's words in place, and rewrite the tour for another audience.
A tour is a story, and it's hard to judge a story one tooltip at a time. Script mode lays the whole tour out as a single page, chapter by chapter, with an estimate of how long it runs when spoken. You can read it the way a buyer will hear it, fix the words where you read them, and rewrite the whole thing for a different audience from the same captures.
This article covers reading and editing a tour in Script mode, what the chips and the video tape strip tell you, and the Audiences menu.
You're in the right place when you want to review or tighten a tour's copy, or make a version of it for another kind of buyer.
How do you open Script mode?
Open the tour in the builder and select Script in the mode switch at the top center of the builder, between Build and Preview. The canvas and storyboard give way to a single page you can scroll.
To go back, select Build, press Esc, or use one of the jump links on the page (see How do you jump back to the canvas?).
If the tour has no steps yet, the page says there's nothing to read. Capture screens and add steps first, and they appear here as a script. See Create a tour.
What's on the script page?
The page reads top to bottom in the order the tour plays.
| Part | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Header | The number of cards and an estimate of the spoken runtime, such as "12 cards · ≈2:40 spoken". The Audiences menu sits on the right, next to a reminder that you can click any line to edit and press Esc to return to the canvas. |
| Chapters | Each chapter slide in the tour starts a chapter, titled with the slide's headline, such as "Chapter 01". Anything before the first slide is the Opening. A tour with no slides is one unbroken stretch. |
| Cards | One card per step, numbered across the whole tour. Each card shows the step's title and its description. |
| Card label line | Above each title: the card number, an icon for the step type, and the screen's name. Video steps also show the time they appear, such as "@ 0:42". A camera tag means the step zooms or pans. |
| Chips | Under each card: the screen the step sits on, plus a chip for each action that plays with it. |
| Screens without a card | A dashed row that says "[screen name] plays without a card", for a product screen that has no step. |
| Tape strip | Above the first card on a video screen, a timeline of that recording. |
How is the runtime worked out?
ShowPilot counts the words in every card's title and description and estimates how long they take to say at a presenter's speaking pace. It's a guide for length, not a measurement of the recording. Screens without a card add nothing to it.
What do the chips under a card mean?
The first chip, with a ⌗ mark, names the screen the step sits on. The rest are beat chips: one for each action that plays at that point, such as click, scroll, spotlight, count or type. A chip that starts with on enter plays as soon as the screen appears, before the first card.
Beat chips are read-only here. They show you where the motion is in the story without letting a typing slip break it. To change or move an action, go back to Build and use the storyboard. See Edit what's on a screen.
What does "plays without a card" mean?
That screen is in the tour, but it has no step, so a self-guided viewer sees it with nothing to read. That's fine for a screen that should speak for itself, such as a short transition, or one where an action plays on its own. If the screen needs words, select canvas ↗ on the row to open it in Build and add a step. See Step types.
Seeing these rows in one place is the quickest way to find a gap in the story.
How do you edit the words?
Click the line you want to change
Hover a card and the title and description highlight. Click the title to type into it. Click the description to open a small text editor with formatting. Titles hold up to 50 characters, the same limit as the step form.
A card with no description shows "Write what the viewer should hear here…". Click it to start writing.
Link steps have a title but no description, because a link is a hotspot rather than a tooltip. See Step types.
Let it save
There's no save button. About a second after you stop typing, the change saves to your draft and saved ✓ flashes on the card's label line. If you switch modes or leave the builder mid-sentence, what you typed still saves.
Edits here are the same edits the step form makes. When you go back to Build, the step shows the new words.
Publish when you're done
Script edits change your draft, like every other builder edit. Viewers keep seeing the published version until you select Publish or Update at the top of the builder. See Publish a tour and manage revisions.
Script mode edits the words of your steps. It doesn't change what's on the captured screens themselves. To change text inside a screen, such as a heading or a table value, use the element tools or the AI tools in Build. See Edit what's on a screen and AI tools in the builder.
What does the tape strip show on a video screen?
A video screen gets a strip above its first card, headed Tape and the screen's name. It's a map of that recording, so you can see how the words line up with what happens on screen.
| Mark | What it means |
|---|---|
| Summary line | The recording's length and its count of camera moves. When there are any, it also counts clicks, typed characters and cards. |
| Shaded spans | Camera moves: the stretches where the view zooms or pans. Hover one to see its kind and times. |
| Dots along the bottom | The click trail, taken from what you clicked while recording. Hover a dot to see what was clicked and when. |
| Numbered circles along the top | Where each card appears on the tape, by card number. |
| Thin lines | Where ShowPilot cut the recording into scenes. |
If ShowPilot doesn't know the recording's length yet, the strip says "plays end to end" instead of drawing marks.
The strip is for reading. To retime a step, trim a camera move or add a zoom, select timeline ↗ on the strip. That opens the screen in Build, where the video timeline does the editing. See Video screens.
How do you jump back to the canvas?
There are three ways back to Build:
- canvas ↗ on a card's label line (it appears when you hover the card) opens that card's screen with the card open for editing in the right panel.
- canvas ↗ on a "plays without a card" row opens that screen.
- timeline ↗ on a tape strip opens that video screen with its timeline.
Press Esc anywhere on the page to return to the canvas. Esc doesn't fire while you're typing in a title or description, so you won't lose your place mid-edit. Click outside the field first, then press Esc.
How do you rewrite the tour for another audience?
The same captures can tell different stories to different buyers. A security reviewer and a sales leader need different words over the same screens. The Audiences menu in the Script header rewrites the tour's copy for a different audience or brief, and lists the other versions built from the same capture.
Open Audiences
In Script mode, select Audiences at the top right of the page. When other versions of this tour exist, a number next to it counts every version, including this one.
Pick the audience and the brief
At the top of the menu, pick an audience chip. The chips are the tour audiences set up in Settings → Context, on the Audiences tab. See Set up your audiences.
Under the chips, the brief box says who the tour is for and what it should do. It starts with the brief this tour was last written from, so edit it rather than starting over.
Rewrite
Select Rewrite ✦. The button shows Rewriting… while ShowPilot works, then Rewritten ✓. When the audience changes, ShowPilot plans the story again for the new audience before it writes.
A rewrite replaces, on every screen with a step:
- The first step's title and description.
- The first step's first button label.
- The spoken narration for that step, when Narrate this tour is on in the tour's settings.
It can also rename the tour to fit the new story. Other steps, and everything on the captured screens, stay as they are.
The rewrite changes this tour's draft. It doesn't make a copy. If you want to keep the current version and add another alongside it, use a new version instead.
How do you make a separate version for another audience?
When the tour was built from a capture session, the menu has a second part, Versions from this capture:
- Each other tour built from the same capture is listed, with the audience it was written for. Select one to open it in the builder.
- New version for another audience ↗ starts a new tour from the same capture. ShowPilot asks what kind of tour it is and for a brief, then assembles and writes it. The current tour isn't touched.
Tours that didn't come from a capture session, such as a blank tour or a copy, don't show this part. To make a second version of one of those, copy it from Tours, then rewrite the copy. See Create a tour.
Test it
Script mode is working when:
- You open a tour and select Script, and the header shows a card count and a spoken runtime.
- You change a card's title, and saved ✓ flashes on that card.
- You press Esc, open the same step in Build, and it shows the new title.
- You select Preview and the step reads the way you wrote it.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| The page says there's nothing to read | The tour has no screens with content or steps yet. Add screens and steps in Build. |
| Esc doesn't go back to the canvas | You're typing in a field. Click outside it, then press Esc. |
| A card has no description to edit | It's a Link step. Links are hotspots and have a title only. |
| Versions from this capture is missing | The tour wasn't built from a capture session. Copy the tour from Tours to make another version. |
| The audience you want isn't a chip | Add it on the Audiences tab in Settings → Context, then reopen the menu. |
| Viewers still see the old words | Script edits and rewrites save to your draft. Select Update at the top of the builder. |
FAQ
Does editing in Script mode change the step's position or anchor?
No. Script mode only edits the words. Anchors, buttons and actions stay where they are, which is why the chips can't be edited here.
Will a rewrite overwrite my hand edits?
On the first step of each screen, yes: its title, description and first button label are rewritten. Steps after the first on a screen keep their words. If you want to keep your current copy, start a New version for another audience instead.
Can I rewrite the tour without changing the audience?
Yes. Keep the same audience chip, change the brief, and select Rewrite ✦. ShowPilot writes to the new brief with the same audience.
Why doesn't the runtime match my video's length?
The runtime estimates how long the card copy takes to say. A video screen's length is on its tape strip.
Where do chapters come from?
From chapter slides. Each slide starts a chapter named after its headline. Add or move slides in Build to change the chapters. See Chapter slides.
Related articles
Video screens
Use the timeline to place steps at the right moment in a recorded take, add zooms and pans, loop a stretch while a step waits, and follow a take through processing.
AI tools in the builder
Change what's on captured screens with AI Edit on one element, Ask AI across a screen or the whole tour, and Find & replace for exact text swaps.