Writing—whether alone or with others—is never just writing. It’s rewriting, reworking, and revising. Occasionally, it’s even revisiting previous drafts or ideas.
With version history, you can write (or rewrite) freely, while Ellipsus saves previous versions in the background. At any time, writers and collaborators can view, compare, and restore past versions.
Browse previous versions
Open your main document—or any draft—and click on Version history to view a timeline of your previous writing sessions. Click on any date to expand it and view a timestamped history of individual versions. Select any timestamp to view a version—the selected version will appear in the right-hand pane, next to the current text.
Below each timestamp, you’ll see the display names of any editors. And if you’re viewing the version history of your main document, you’ll be able to see when specific drafts were merged.
Once you’ve selected a version, you can either compare it to the previous version (i.e., the preceding timestamp) or the current draft (i.e., the text in the left-hand pane). Comparing a version with the previous one allows you to see the changes made between writing sessions; comparing it with the current draft shows the evolution between then and now.
Restore a draft
Writers and collaborators can restore past versions to create a new draft. There are two ways to restore a draft:
Click the ellipsis (…) next to a version and select Restore as new draft.
Click on a version and then select Restore as new draft in the bottom-right.
Restored drafts have the following naming convention until renamed: Draft name - Original creation date [Restored]. Whoever restores a draft will be listed as its owner, even if they’re restoring a draft created or edited by another collaborator.
Pro tip: Want to create a draft from another draft? Just restore the latest version of that draft as a new draft and write away!
Frequently asked questions
Can I name a version?
No. Currently, versions are automatically named based on their timestamp. (The only exception is the merge history of drafts into the main document.) However, we plan to add this functionality in the future.
Can I manually create a version?
No. Ellipsus autosaves in real time and automatically creates a version every 10 minutes, provided that there has been some writing activity.
Can I delete or hide specific versions?
No, but this is something we’re considering. If you’d like to share more about your use case, you can get in touch at [email protected].