Palabra

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05 Apr 2014

Palabra: Tips and Tools for 21st Century Writers

A guide for writers, to use version tracking, revision control, repository storage and collaboration software.

A Different Approach to Revision and Collaboration

Git for Writers introduces the free and open source distributed content versioning system Git specifically for digital writers. Although Git is originally a tool for software development, it can be used to track history and open up the writing process for any digital formats that are plain text, including XHTML/HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, and even templating systems in PHP (e.g., WordPress or Drupal).

But Git is more than just another tool, however. It suggests an entirely different model of revision and version tracking than track-changes features in word processors. Git and related services, such as GitHub, also offer a model of collaboration that is much more expansive and scalable than wikis.

Git for Writers is structured to support writers working alone, perhaps on different computers (e.g., a laptop and a desktop or wherever), as well as multiple writers working together. For each writing situation, Git for Writers offers a set of concepts, practical hands-on use of Git and related services, and three sample scenarios for how Git can change the way you write.

Alone

Concepts

  1. Git Versus Track Changes
  2. Maintaining History
  3. Possible Futures
  4. Test Like Nobody’s Watching

Hands-On

  1. Git Setups
  2. Creating a New Project
  3. Staging a Commit
  4. Making a Commit
  5. Reviewing History
  6. Rolling Back
  7. Branching Sideways

Scenarios

  1. Plain Text To-Do List
  2. Personal Web Site
  3. WordPress Template

Wherever

Concepts

  1. Git Versus Emailed Files
  2. Into the Woods---
  3. One Project, Many Machines
  4. Starting from Other Than Scratch
  5. ---Back to Civilization
  6. Public/Private

Hands-On

  1. GitHub Setup
  2. Pushing
  3. Pulling
  4. Branching
  5. Tagging

Scenarios

  1. Remote Backup (By Default)
  2. Research and Writing
  3. Managing Website Updates

Together

Concepts

  1. Git Versus Wiki
  2. Everybody’s Everything
  3. Optimistic Locking
  4. Conflict Resolution

Hands-On

  1. GitHub: Forking
  2. GitHub: Collaborators
  3. Tracking Branches
  4. Pull Requests

Scenarios

  1. Organization Website
  2. Collaborative Essay
  3. Git for Writers