Comments on: Version Control – Nightmare of Writers, Editors, and Clients

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:29:17 +0000

Rico, I use track changes… and it’s fine as long as there aren’t a bunch of people using it on the same manuscript… but I can’t write by committee anyway… it’s in file names that I’ve had a problem.

By: Rico

Rico — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:36:32 +0000

Anne, I have to agree with Scott and Melissa. Word’s ability to track changes is a pretty useful feature. The challenge is getting it to run right!

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:54:33 +0000

Thanks… I love th eidea of an update page for each client… will try that next!

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:33:41 +0000

I am increasingly using the track features function in Word, which is extremely helpful. I do use a simple file naming system:

quote number _ (date) _ client or project _ draft number

example:

123_(2008-01-11)_JaneDoe_01.doc

This varies with some clients. For short projects or articles, I may use an entirely different naming convention but the one above is a must for anything that might be revised more than once.

By: Marina Martin

Marina Martin — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:22:27 +0000

Each of my writing clients has their own update page, with the latest version of the file to download and all previous revisions available, as well. This has eliminated the version control headache for me.

By: Thursday

Thursday — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:11:06 +0000

Every time I either receive a new version of a file, or create a new version myself, I change the file name. Nothing complicated, though: I usually go with ‘Project Name v1.doc’ and just change that ‘v1′ to ‘v2′, ‘v3′, etc.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:26:40 +0000

I try to get clients/editors to use an online tool like Writeboard or Google Docs, which have good version tracking. Not everyone buys in, unfortunately. When I have to deal with word processor files, I either include the name of the person and the date of the revision -- for example, draft_brochure_Scott_010208.doc -- or put the revision number in the file; draft_brochure_rev1.doc. Of course, the Track Changes feature in Word (and the Changes feature in OpenOffice.org Writer) work pretty well, too.

By: french panic

french panic — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:43:02 +0000

Project_Version#_myinitials…. then the next person would add their initials…so:

Craptastic_4_fp_aw

However, as you have pointed out, this won’t work if someone else has an arbitrary naming system and doesn’t want to play along. When working on an editorial board, this became a bit of a nightmare (too many editors!!)

By: Misti

Misti — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:02:47 +0000

Notes, notes, and more notes.

Okay, so I’ve admittedly not worked on anything quite like what you’re describing, but if I did, I’d probably put a lengthy MS Word comment or a note in the material itself to make it clear precisely who had it when and who was next.

You can always delete the notes.