Ask HN: Change Control for Non-Coders

3 pointsSentinelLdnma3y ago7 comments

Formerly a writer of code, exploring writing prose.

Is there a diff tool that can track changes better than MS Word "Track Changes" but not as complex as git?

Plain text with possibly markdown. Local or cloud.

7 comments

I was looking for such a tool (I use Markdown), but in the end I kept using Git. It turns out it’s also pretty good for non-code content :)

SentinelLdnmaOP3y ago

Agreed. But I need non-coder noobs to also use it (i.e., an Editor, fellow writers without dev background).

I suppose I could write them something with big easy buttons that only performs the actions they need.

ausudhz3y ago

Git has plenty of open source GUIs that would help.

thorin3y ago

The main reason that track changes is so horrendous to work with is that MS formatting is a lot more complex that ascii. It does kind of work, if you are strict about the kinds of changes you make and start from a fairly fixed template. Some kind of markdown would be better but even that gives complexity which just isn't there with code.

solardev3y ago

The Google Docs revision history is pretty nice and a lot easier to work with then either Git or Word.

Also MediaWiki might be another option. Janky though compared to gdocs

SentinelLdnmaOP3y ago

Didn't know gdocs had history, thanks for the pointer.

solardev3y ago

The "suggest changes" mode is also really nice, for multiplayer documents

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

Ask HN: Change Control for Non-Coders

3 pointsSentinelLdnma3y ago7 comments

Formerly a writer of code, exploring writing prose.

Is there a diff tool that can track changes better than MS Word "Track Changes" but not as complex as git?

Plain text with possibly markdown. Local or cloud.

7 comments

scastiel3y ago

I was looking for such a tool (I use Markdown), but in the end I kept using Git. It turns out it’s also pretty good for non-code content :)

SentinelLdnmaOP3y ago

Agreed. But I need non-coder noobs to also use it (i.e., an Editor, fellow writers without dev background).

I suppose I could write them something with big easy buttons that only performs the actions they need.

ausudhz3y ago

Git has plenty of open source GUIs that would help.

thorin3y ago

solardev3y ago

The Google Docs revision history is pretty nice and a lot easier to work with then either Git or Word.

Also MediaWiki might be another option. Janky though compared to gdocs

SentinelLdnmaOP3y ago

Didn't know gdocs had history, thanks for the pointer.

solardev3y ago

The "suggest changes" mode is also really nice, for multiplayer documents

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse