Greetings Folks:

This isn't a post about new software, nor is it even about outliners or PIMs. I am not even suffering a case of CRIMP. But I do have a question. Does anyone have a good system for keeping different versions of a manuscript sorted out? I just finished writing a review article for a journal. As I was writing, I kept things organized the way I normally do, which is to say not very systematically. Versions were named Document_1.doc, and as time went on, things devolved to Document _3_revisions.doc. Then various versions of final: Document_4_final.doc, Document_4_final2.doc etc. In the end, I had an unholy mess after I added references.

This raised a question for me-before I start my next writing project, what is the best way to keep track of versions? I don't like to overwrite earlier versions because I might go back and pull something out that I deleted in a later version.

Do any of you have any suggestions as to naming conventions, etc to help this process? Is there such a thing as version control software for writing?

I thank you for any insights you can give.

Jim

I start each file name with a text-expanded today?s date, triggered by a shortcut ? I use ?td?. The date is set up to be in reversed form e.g. 2011-07-08. That makes it generally possible to see at a glance how the trail of versions runs. To make it more fine-grained, you can add a text expansion for the time too. Of course you could always sort on Created Date and/or Modified Date instead. But whatever the system you always have to be disciplined about the generic name of the document and keep it consistent. When you start to vary that (usually by accident or memory failure), things start to go awry.

When I was on the Windows platform, I used this: http://www.ajcsoft.com/active-backup.htm

I've had a lot of trouble with this myself and have come up with some possible solutions.

One method you can use to avoid this proliferation of files is to just maintain two files per project: a WORKING file and an ARCHIVE file. You call them TITLE WORKING and TITLE ARCHIVE.

All your early drafts go into the ARCHIVE file. The WORKING file has the latest version.

If you start another rewrite, just copy the contents of the WORKING file into the top of the ARCHIVE file and you've got a backup.

Using two monitors works great with this system. You put the ARCHIVE file up on one monitor and the WORKING file up on the other. One thing you can do if you're going to do a major rewrite is copy your latest version from the working file to the archive file for reference and then delete everything in the working file so you can start with a clean document.

Eventually, your WORKING file will become your final draft and you'll have an ARCHIVE file with copies of all your previous drafts with the latest draft at the beginning of the document.

I'm experimenting with another system where you keep ALL your drafts in one file. Basically, you write a rough draft, then go through it, correcting minor errors and typing new versions of paragraphs and so on immediately following the original versions WITHOUT DELETING THE ORIGINAL. So you might end up with three or four versions of the same paragraph, one after another, in the same file. The trick is to not delete anything except for the minor stuff where you're just fixing a word or a sentence here and there. Then, when you're finished, you go back through the file and delete all the old stuff.

This should work pretty well if you can tolerate working in a messy file like that. Track changes might work for this as well. I'm still experimenting with it myself.

Jim wrote:

Does
anyone have a good system for keeping different versions of a manuscript sorted out?

Hi, Jim.

My system isn't good nor is it significantly different from what's been mentioned. However, if you are using a Mac, Apple has supposedly integrated a solution into the new version of the OS due out on next week. I'll be very interested to see what it offers:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/whats-new/auto-save.html

There was also a demonstration during the recent keynote address at WWDC. It looked pretty slick.

Tom S.

I wasn't aware of this until just now, but Word has a version control feature which could be very useful in combination with Track Changes. The version control lets you save and revert to various versions of the document. These versions are apparently all kept in the same document, so you wouldn't have multiple files all over the place.

I haven't used it, but Edwin's Writing Outliner purports to have a revision control function. You might give it a try. See here:

http://writingoutliner.com/software-features/project-revision-control.php

Steve

Jim,

The retention of earlier versions is vital for projects that are important. It is also vital that when one is revising the draft, one revises the CORRECT version. I can recall that on one project, a contractor made revisions to a document that was three versions back, losing all the revisions of the more recent versions. Luckily, I caught it and we had kept copies of all versions.

Before I retired, on important documents, I always added a number to the end of the document's title. For example, Title001, Title002, etc. It is also useful to include a time stamp at the beginning of each version to help reduce the chances of revising the wrong version , as I just described.
-cassius
--------------
Jim wrote:

Greetings Folks:

This isn't a post about new software, nor is it even about
outliners or PIMs. I am not even suffering a case of CRIMP. But I do have a question. Does
anyone have a good system for keeping different versions of a manuscript sorted out? I
just finished writing a review article for a journal. As I was writing, I kept things
organized the way I normally do, which is to say not very systematically. Versions
were named Document_1.doc, and as time went on, things devolved to Document
_3_revisions.doc. Then various versions of final: Document_4_final.doc,
Document_4_final2.doc etc. In the end, I had an unholy mess after I added references.


This raised a question for me-before I start my next writing project, what is the
best way to keep track of versions? I don't like to overwrite earlier versions because
I might go back and pull something out that I deleted in a later version.

Do any of you
have any suggestions as to naming conventions, etc to help this process? Is there such
a thing as version control software for writing?

I thank you for any insights you can
give.

Jim

Jim wrote:

Does
anyone have a good system for keeping different versions of a manuscript sorted out? I
just finished writing a review article for a journal. As I was writing, I kept things
organized the way I normally do, which is to say not very systematically. Versions
were named Document_1.doc, and as time went on, things devolved to Document
_3_revisions.doc. Then various versions of final: Document_4_final.doc,
Document_4_final2.doc etc. In the end, I had an unholy mess after I added references.


This raised a question for me-before I start my next writing project, what is the
best way to keep track of versions? I don't like to overwrite earlier versions because
I might go back and pull something out that I deleted in a later version.

Jim,

The mess that you describe does not seem that unholy. Perhaps you could take a few moments and clean up the naming structure, but otherwise it seems reasonable. I like to follow the software convention of numbering versions, but the most that I would go is one place right of the decimal, and usually I do not even go that far. Now, if you are working with another person, then all bets are off. Why not KISS?

--Ken

In my experience, you need to HAVE version control, but you don't want to actually USE it. That's a last resort; it's very opaque and clumsy.

Wikis and wordpress blogs both have version control, as well as auto datestamping, categories and tags.

I use a unique workflow for my writing. For me it has solved the whole problem of worrying about conflicting versions... whether from modifying the wrong version of a file, or from just generating new thoughts that must be somehow integrated.

It's part of an overall system which I describe in this rough draft here: http://brainstormsw.com/outliner/lkjlkj-2-3-2-2/

BrainStormWFO doesn't play much role in my longform writing, except to manage tasks associated with it, or if I need to exceed the limits of my working or long-term memory.

Basically, it involves 3 tiers:
3. Brain-dumps to a T3 blog
2. Focused blog posts to a T2 blog, organized by category
1. An integrated wiki

Separating your writing into tiers according to how finished and polished it is helps tremendously to remove a lot of the early conflicts and friction involved when you're first brainstorming about a topic, and also later when you're adding new material to a topic that already has finished writing.

I also have a detailed procedure for reconciling conflicts while writing the final version in the wiki, which is described in the post I linked to.

Just skip down to the T3 section: http://brainstormsw.com/outliner/lkjlkj-2-3-2-2/

Hugh wrote:

When I was on the Windows platform, I used this:
http://www.ajcsoft.com/active-backup.htm

Some additional options:

History Explorer http://www.exendo.se/history-explorer-simple-version-control.html

Dropbox http://www.dropbox.com includes a (paid) option for maintaining file versions. I can't find a direct link to it, but you'll get it if you click to upgrade from the free version.

Nomadesk http://www.nomadesk.com includes a file revisions feature making it possible to restore previous versions of files for up to 2 weeks.

Google Docs https://docs.google.com can track changes --now also for spreadsheets apparently.


Until recently I've used a system similar to Hugh's http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/9833 Now I'm experimenting with Dropbox and Google Docs (especially for collaborating).

@Gary: I would advise against keeping everything on one file --unless one also meticulously keeps consecutive backups. I've had much trouble with corrupted files in the past.

@JB: The wiki approach sounds good, but it is mostly useful for (plain) text. What about other file types?

Non plain text files range from hexadecimal to MS Word to encrypted archives.

File delta compression from version to version gets less practical as you move away from plain text.

I prefer to keep everything in plain text if at all possible, and for as long as possible before final output.

There are several options for files that aren't text. I recommend either Dropbox or Evernote. Personally I only use Dropbox.

I keep track of which versions are current by simply noting it down in my plain text system, and using a consistent file directory tree sorting procedure.

Good morning:

I am only adding to this thread (It's an old one!) because I have settled on an approach to versioning, at least for the short term. I have setup a folder on Box(My University provides everyone with 50 gigs of space on Box) In that folder will reside the versions of the draft. My plan at the moment is to use a naming convention to keep track of files. The convention I plan on using is: filename_date(dd-mm-yy)_version number. So the third version of the text that I edited today would be:text_11-02-15_3. Then my collaborators(I have three.)will append their initials to the draft and re-deposit on the Box folder. This should keep things straight, and I will be able to keep all the versions of a draft. When we are done, and the grant is submitted. I can archive everything and just keep the final version.

I looked around at version control systems to use, but given the short term nature of what we are writing now(Due on Feb 19)this doesn't seem like a good time. However, in my looking around, Draft Control was looking pretty useful. (http://www.draftcontrol.com/ However, it is Mac only, and two of the people with whom I am working are on PCs. For keeping track of changes in the draft I will be using Track Changes in Word. I really can't stand using Track Changes in Word, but everyone else here uses it, so I guess I will as well.

Cheers
Jim

Another option for the collaborative element, as mentioned by Alexander earlier in the thread, would be using Google Docs, which does have versioning, and tools for commenting as well as "suggesting edits" (which I haven't tried yet, only just noticed it's there today). However, I'd still maintain local copies of originals, just in case.

Another good one on the Mac is DeltaWalker. In fact, I think they may have a PC version, too...

Oh, and yes, they do. Check it out at http://www.deltawalker.com/

They often have deals on BitsDuJour

Sorry, that was in response to your point about Draft Control, incidentally!

Your idea is a good one, especially on the Mac. I've just discovered the latter's ability to drag and drop text fragments into folders, where they promptly become 'text clippings', which can be opened in any text editor or word processor. You can drag text out of anything at all - web pages, PDFs etc. etc.

I suspect Windows (especially 8+) has a similar feature, but haven't got a Windows 8 machine I could try it on. Actually, I do, but it's functioning as a server. Still, in the interest of science...