---
title: "Tag a character with @"
description: "Type @ in a sentence to tag a character, pick them from the list, and Galley counts every chapter they appear in. Places work the same way with #."
source: https://usegalley.com/docs/tag-a-character
---
# Tag a character with @

Tagging a name tells Galley which character you mean, so it can spell them right every time and
count the chapters they turn up in.

*A line of prose with an @ mention picker open, offering Irene Adler, beside Irene Adler’s story bible card with her aliases and the three chapters she appears in.*

Typing @Ire in A Scandal in Bohemia, with Irene Adler’s page beside it.

## How to do it

1. **Type `@` at the start of a word.** A list of your characters opens under the line.
2. **Type a few letters.** The list narrows as you go, so `@Ire` finds Irene Adler and not
Lestrade. Other names count too: if Irene Adler has “the woman” as an alias, typing that finds her.
3. **Pick the character.** Click the name or press `Enter`. The name goes into your sentence,
spelled the way it is on the character page.
4. **Check their page.** Open **Characters** in the top bar. Their page now
lists the chapter you tagged them in, with a count beside it.

💡 Places work exactly the same way, with `#` instead of `@`.

## When the name isn’t in the book yet

Type it anyway. The bottom of the list offers to **create** a new character with that name, or to add
what you typed as an **alias** of someone who’s already there.

## What the tag gets you

- **Spelling that holds.** The name comes from the character page, so it’s the same in chapter one
and chapter twelve.
- **Appearances, counted.** Each character page shows the chapters they’re in and how many times.
In the Holmes book, Irene Adler is in 3 of 12 chapters, 15 mentions in all.
- **Renaming in one go.** Change the name at the top of the character page and every tagged mention
changes with it. Galley takes a snapshot of each chapter first.

## Good to know

- You don’t have to tag anything. The list only opens when you type `@` or `#` at the start
of a word, so an email address in a sentence won’t set it off.
- Untagged names still count. Galley also counts a character’s name and aliases when they appear as whole words.
Tagging matters most when two characters share a name, because the count can’t tell them apart without it.
- In the finished book a tag is just the name. There’s no link, colour or formatting in the PDF or the EPUB.

## Next

Everything else the story bible keeps is in [Characters, world & notes](https://usegalley.com/docs/the-story-bible). To
find a name you spelled two ways before you started tagging, run
[Name consistency](https://usegalley.com/docs/revision#name-consistency).

[PreviousCharacters, world & notes](https://usegalley.com/docs/the-story-bible) [NextTrim, type & conventions](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design)

## Go on, write a page in it.

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