View and Track Revisions and Edits

Revisions Overview

Revisions allow you to see just that: revisions made to the document. They are a great tool in any writing practice and essential for editing. WriterDuet is always saving the changes you are making, but with View and Track you can have an exact record of the changes made. When tracking is enabled, you will be able to see not just where changes occurred but what specifically changed. Then with View, you can see these changes at any time. 

There are two standard revisions and a custom revision. Each comes with specific settings based on industry standards, but they are still fully customizable.

• Production Revision - intended for production purposes, with pre-loaded color page revisions (Blue [MM/DD/YY], Pink [MM/DD/YY], Goldenrod [MM/DD/YY], etc.). This revision will automatically enable tracking on all collaborators so all changes are tracked. 
• Writer Revision - intended for tracking individual writer's changes. This revision can be created by the project owner, the individual writer, or any other collaborator on the project. When created, Track is enabled for only the writer the revision is for. All other collaborators will be able to view the changes in the revision color. 
• Custom Revision - create a revision for whatever you need: tracking more than one collaborator's changes, changes made during a specific writing session, changes made on a specific day, etc.

With WriterDuet's real-time collaboration, this also means both you and a collaborator can view the changes you are each making while they are being made and track them separately!

• Tracking is like "recording." If the box is checked for Track on a revision while you are writing, this means the changes you are making are being "recorded" under this revision. You can always revisit these changes by viewing the revision. 
• Viewing is simply that: viewing the revisions. Only once you are tracking your changes under a revision can you view them. It is like "listening" to the "recording."

Create a Revision

1. Select Revisions > View & Track
2. From the New revision drop-down, select the desired revision type.
   1. Writers - Select a collaborator on your project to track
   2. Production - Select a page type (i.e. Blue ([MM/DD/YY]), 2nd Green ([MM/DD/YY]), etc.)
   3. Custom - Customize the revision name based on date, draft, multiple writers, etc.
3. Choose the tracking colors
   1. The left color selection will alter the text color. 
   2. The right color selection will alter the paper color.
      1. This will not alter the documents page color in your display. Instead, you will see a color banner on the left edge of any page that has revisions.
4. Choose if everyone will be added to this revision.
   1. This will mean that everyone is added to the viewing and tracking for the revision when it is created.  
   2. This defaults to Yes.
5. Select Create

Make Revisions

When a revision is active, you can also control Track, View, and Ignore through the Modes widget (typically found in the right-hand widget panel.)

1. Once the revision has been created, be sure that Track and View are enabled
   1. Determine if you would like to show deleted text by checking or unchecking this option (Pro feature)
2. Make edits to the document (all of the following settings can be changed. See Edit Revision Settings)
   1. You will see your changes appear in the color you selected. 
   2. An asterisk will appear in the right margin
   3. The page will get a color border on the left side that matches your revision color.
   4. If Show deleted text is enabled, it will appear in red with a line through it

Edit Revision Settings

Settings for each revision can be altered for individual collaborators or all collaborators. Track, View, and Ignore can be controlled through the Modes widget, as well, when the revision is active.

1. Select Revisions > View & Track
2. Open the Edit Checkboxes For drop-down to select the user(s) you would like to change settings for 
   1. All Users
   2. [Your name]
   3. [Collaborator's name]
3. Change the desired user-specific and/or document-specific settings
4. Select Done

User-specific Settings

These settings will change for the user(s) based on the selection under  Edit Checkboxes For. 

When editing User-specific settings for All Users, checkboxes will be outlined in red for settings that vary for each writer. Hover over the checkbox to preview the settings for each writer.

• Track - will enable recording/memory of changes made to the script.

• If you have created a revision for yourself and a collaborator, turn off tracking for everyone but yourself. Each collaborator will want tracking on for their revisions only. 

• View - will enable collaborators to see the revisions.
• Ignore - will ignore the revisions in your view. If tracking is enabled, it will continue to track.
• Text color - this checkbox will enable/disable the viewing of the text color
• Page color - this checkbox will enable/disable the viewing of the page color (a color border on the left edge of the page)
• Symbol - will enable the industry standard * (asterisk) symbol that appears in the right margin next to any revision. You can also change the symbol used in the margin.

Document-specific Settings

These settings will change for the document and all users, regardless of user-specific settings. 

• Revision name - Click the revision name to edit it. This will be visible to all collaborators.
• Full - will alter the default settings of the page header and the page color border. 
  • The standard is for the revision header and page color border to only appear on the pages that have revisions. 
  • Full will place a header and border on every page of the script. 
• Remove - will remove that revision tracking and its history from the script entirely.  
• Show deleted text (Pro feature) - will keep deleted text in the script but in red with a line through it. 

View a Revision

Once you and/or a collaborator have tracked revisions made to the document, you can view them at any time.

1. Select Revisions > View & Track
2. Select the desired collaborator(s) from the Edit Checkboxes For drop-down
3. For the desired revision, check the box under View
4. Select Done
   1. The revisions will now be visible on the page.

Mark/Unmark a Revision

If you forgot to have revision tracking on while making edits or you would like to remove a revision from a line, use the Revision Tracking options in the Modes widget on the right to add or remove the revision. 

1. Highlight the desired text or place your cursor in the desired line
2. Select Mark or Unmark as needed
   1. To mark or unmark the entire line, press Shift and then click Mark or Unmark
   2. An asterisk will appear in the right margin, the text will change to the revision color, and a color border will appear on the left edge of the page.

Export Revisions

You can choose to export the revised pages only or export the full document with revisions visible.

1. View the revisions you would like to see
   1. Revisions must be visible on the page in order to be included in the export
2. Go to File > Export
3. Select the desired file format
4. Select the desired Options.
   1. See Export a Document for more info