Writing News

Every entry is one file in news/. The file name is its id, so news/update-1.yml is opened with /aquabook open update-1.

The fastest way to start is writing the book in game and running /aquabook create <id> with it in your hand. /aquabook create template writes a commented file with every option instead.

Options

news/hi.yml


title: "<color:#33CCFF>Hi</color>"
author: "Aquatic Studios"
date: "01/01/26"
timestamp: 0
 
icon: ENCHANTED_BOOK
custom-model-data: 0
permission: ""
auto-open: true
footer: true
lore: []

Key	What it does
`title`	Book title, also the name in the history menu
`author`	Shown as the book author
`date`	Shown in the menu, written with `date-format` from `config.yml`
`timestamp`	Used to sort, newest first. `0` falls back to `date`
`icon`	Icon in the history menu
`custom-model-data`	Model data for resource packs
`permission`	Node needed to see the entry. Empty means everyone
`auto-open`	`false` keeps it in the history but never opens it on join
`footer`	`false` hides the like, read and history line
`lore`	Custom icon lore. Empty uses the one from `messages.yml`

The newest entry is the one that opens on join. /aquabook create stamps the current time, so a new entry always goes first.

Pages

pages is a list of pages, and every page is a list of text chunks. A chunk is either plain text or a map with one action.

news/update.yml


pages:
  # page 1
  - - "&0&lPlain text
 
"
    - "&4Red &2green &1blue
 
"
    - text: "&2Go to page 2 &a>"
      hover: "&dJumps ahead"
      page: 2
 
  # page 2
  - - "&0&lLinks
 
"
    - text: "&2Open a website &a>"
      url: "https://www.spigotmc.org/"

Action	What it does
`hover`	Text shown when the cursor is over the chunk
`url`	Opens a link, the client asks first
`command`	Runs a command as the player
`suggest`	Writes the text in the chat box
`copy`	Copies the text to the clipboard
`page`	Jumps to another page of the same book

hover can go together with any of the others.

A page fits about 19 characters per line and 14 lines, and the footer takes 3 of them on the page it sits on. Use for a line break and `

` for a blank line.

Placeholders

Placeholder	Returns
`%title%`	Title of the entry
`%author%`	Its author
`%date%`	Its date
`%id%`	Its id
`%likes%`	Likes, including the ones set with `setlikes`
`%views%`	Times it was opened
`%player%`	The reader
`%version%`	AquaBook version
`%server-version%`	Minecraft version of the server

Any PlaceholderAPI placeholder works too, like %player_name%.

Colours

Format	Example
Legacy	`&a`, `&l`
Hex	`&#RRGGBB`
MiniMessage	`<bold>`, `<#RRGGBB>`, `<gradient:#33CCFF:#0F6E9E>`, `<rainbow>`

The page is light, so keep the text dark. Plain text without a colour uses book.default-color from config.yml.

Footer

The line at the bottom of the book: likes, a read mark and a shortcut to the history.


❤ 172   ·   ✔ Ok   ·   ≡≡≡

Where it goes and what each button does is set in Configuration, the text in messages.yml:

messages.yml


book:
  footer-prefix: "
 
 
"
  footer-separator: "&8   ·   "
 
  like: "&c❤ %likes%"
  like-hover: "&dClick to leave your like &c❤"
  liked: "&7❤ %likes%"
  liked-hover: "&7Thanks for your like &c❤"
 
  read: "&9✔ Ok"
  read-hover: "&fClick to mark it as read &9✔"
  already-read: "&7✔"
  already-read-hover: "&7You already marked this one as read"
 
  menu: "&9&n≡≡≡"
  menu-hover: "&fClick to see more news"

Default files

`hi.yml`

news/hi.yml


title: "<color:#33CCFF>Hi</color>"
author: "Aquatic Studios"
date: "01/01/26"
timestamp: 0
 
icon: ENCHANTED_BOOK
custom-model-data: 0
permission: ""
auto-open: true
footer: true
lore: []
 
pages:
  - - "<gradient:#33CCFF:#0F6E9E><bold>AquaBook</bold></gradient>\n\n"
    - "&0You are using\n&0AquaBook &8v%version%\n\n"
    - "&0Server version\n&8%server-version%\n\n"
    - text: "&2Spigot page &a>"
      hover: "&dOpens the resource page"
      url: "https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/authors/aquatic-studios.1990546/"
    - "\n"
    - text: "&2Discord &a>"
      hover: "&dJoin the support server"
      url: "https://discord.gg/cdT5g5xsVq"
 
  - - "&0&lYour turn\n\n"
    - "&0MiniMessage and\n&0PlaceholderAPI\n&0both work here.\n\n"
    - text: "&2/aquabook\n&2create template &a>"
      hover: "&dClick to run it\n&7Needs aquabook.admin"
      command: "/aquabook create template"
    - "\n"
    - "&0Files live in\n&8/AquaBook/news"

`template.yml`

news/template.yml


# commented example, copy it and rename the file: the file name is the id.
# it sits behind aquabook.admin and never pops up on join, so it bothers nobody.
 
# book title, also the name shown in the history menu
title: "&#FFEE00Template"
 
# shown as the book author
author: "Aquatic Studios"
 
# date shown in the menu, written with date-format from config.yml
date: "01/01/26"
 
# used to sort, newest first. 0 falls back to the date above
# the newest entry is the one that greets players on join
timestamp: 0
 
# icon in the history menu
icon: ENCHANTED_BOOK
custom-model-data: 0
 
# empty means everyone sees it
permission: "aquabook.admin"
 
# false keeps it in the history but never opens it on join
auto-open: false
 
# false hides the like / read / history line at the bottom
footer: true
 
# custom lore for the icon, empty uses the one from messages.yml
lore: []
 
# pages of the book, each page is a list of text chunks.
# a chunk is either plain text or a map with one action.
#
# actions:      hover    text shown when the cursor is over it
#               url      opens a link
#               command  runs a command as the player
#               suggest  writes the command in the chat box
#               copy     copies text to the clipboard
#               page     jumps to another page of this book
#
# placeholders: %title% %author% %date% %id% %likes% %views%
#               %player% %version% %server-version%
#               any PlaceholderAPI placeholder, like %player_name%
#
# colours:      &a legacy, &#RRGGBB hex, and MiniMessage tags from
#               Kyori Adventure: <bold> <gradient:..> <rainbow> <#RRGGBB>
#
# a page fits about 19 characters per line and 14 lines, and the
# footer eats 3 of them. use \n for a line break, \n\n for a blank one.
pages:
  # page 1
  - - "&0&lPlain text\n\n"
    - "&0Black text on the\n&0page, colours work\n&0the same as chat.\n\n"
    - "&4Red &2green &1blue\n\n"
    - text: "&2Go to page 2 &a>"
      hover: "&dJumps ahead"
      page: 2
 
  # page 2
  - - "&0&lLinks\n\n"
    - text: "&2Open a website &a>"
      hover: "&dAsks before opening"
      url: "https://www.spigotmc.org/"
    - "\n\n"
    - text: "&2Run a command &a>"
      hover: "&dRuns /aquabook menu"
      command: "/aquabook menu"
    - "\n\n"
    - text: "&2Suggest a text &a>"
      hover: "&dWrites it in the chat box"
      suggest: "/aquabook create "
    - "\n\n"
    - text: "&2Copy the ip &a>"
      hover: "&dCopies it to the clipboard"
      copy: "play.example.com"
 
  # page 3
  - - "&0&lPlaceholders\n\n"
    - "&0Hi &8%player%&0!\n"
    - "&0Entry: &8%id%\n"
    - "&0Date: &8%date%\n"
    - "&0Likes: &8%likes%\n"
    - "&0Reads: &8%views%\n"
    - "&0Ver: &8%version%\n\n"
    - text: "&2Go to page 4 &a>"
      hover: "&dJumps ahead"
      page: 4
 
  # page 4
  - - "&0&lMiniMessage\n\n"
    - "<gradient:#33CCFF:#0F6E9E>gradient text</gradient>\n"
    - "<rainbow>rainbow text</rainbow>\n\n"
    - "&0&lPlaceholderAPI\n"
    - "&0Hi &8%player_name%\n"
    - "&0Ping &8%player_ping%\n\n"
    - text: "&2Back to page 1 &a>"
      hover: "&dJumps back"
      page: 1