Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Manuscript version tracking

This is topic Manuscript version tracking in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/writers/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002232

Posted by TheoPhileo (Member # 1914) on :

I know we discussed this not too long ago, but I just poked around in MS word and found the version tracking tool.

If you go to File|Versions, there is a checkbox to "Automatically save a version on close," and the option to open previous versions of a document. It dates the versions for you, and you can also manually save a version at any point, and leave comments if you'd like ("Before deleting that big scene in the trailer park" or whatever). Looks like this might be a nice tool to have.

Have any of you ever used this before?

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

I'd never even seen it before. I got out a blank document, turned the feature on, and ran some tests. Here's what it seems to do: Every time I hit save, the versions tracker saved the most recent changes, but also kept a backlog of each pervious version. So, when I typed:

"This is a test." and hit save, I had a file with that sentence in it. When I added, "This is only a test." and hit save again, I got a file with both sentences in it. When I went to the version tracker I had two versions of the file, one with the first sentence only, one with the second sentence.

When I added, "Do not be alarmed." and closed the document without saving, however, the version tracker did not have a copy of the document with that new sentence in it.

[This message has been edited by Christine (edited July 13, 2005).]

Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :

I've used it. It does cause file sizes to be quite a bit larger, but it does allow you to go back and look at earlier versions.

I'm not sure of it was related to file version or not, but I decided to stop using version after I had a story file become so corrupted that Word would not open it. It's the only document that's happened with, but if I hadn't also had the story saved in a non-Word format, I would have had to retype it from printouts.

Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :

I've used it once or twice trying to figure it out, but it's not a useful tool for me. If I'm making changes that warrent wanting a new version then I just rename it.

I think I picked this up from Christine, but this is how I do it.

I start the story and call the file Title.doc. (or whatever) If I make a major structural change (like adding a character or deleting a scene), I save the new version as Title.2.doc. If it's a minor change within the major one, then it's Title.2.1.doc.

Editing of the words I don't feel the need to save, although I do keep a TitleScraps.doc file for my stories.

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

I don't know if you got it from me or not but that is how I do it. Complete rewrites get a new number before the decimal, smaller changes or editing runs get a new number after the decimal.

Posted by Creativity Rising (Member # 2666) on :

I've have experience with the version features in Word.

FIRST A WARNING I heard from a professional writer friend who spent an hour on the phone with Microsoft's tech help in India trying to fix manuscript corrupted by the version feature.

The techie confessed that there are inherent problems in the version feature and that it should not be "relied upon." However, this problem has been apparently fixed in the MS Word 2003.

I have MS 2003 and used the feature religiously for about a month.

I stopped using the feature for three reasons:

1. All the while I was sticking to the old system of pasting my cuts into another document. I find the traditional system easier to search for material I want back or wich to move to another point in the manuscript.

2. It made the files too large. I do A LOT of revisions and that starts adding up in version mode.

3. I back up my entire writing folder (which has about 20 sub-folders) every week. I zip them and burn them to CD, and then drop the CD off at a neighbours house. This way my work is protected from the entire house burning down.

But I took this a step farther about a month ago. I daily upload any manuscripts I worked on that day to a gmail account, which can hold 2mb of storage. This way, even if something terrible happens, I can recover all my work by merely going on-line. Even if lightning destroys my house, I only need go to the library and log onto the internet to recover my work.

I write for 5 hours a day, and that does feel like a lot of work to have to go back and do again. And what if it all happened at the end of the week?

So, in short, with this back up system, which I think is essential for anyone who cares about what they are writing, Microsoft's version system seemed superfluous.

In creativity rising,

John