Writeboard: Version Control and Diff for the Masses · 177 words posted 10/02/2005 10:36 PM
37Signals has quietly released Writeboard, a simple collaborative writing application. (I say “quietly” because as I write this Sunday night, I don’t see an official announcement. Expect hysteria by Monday morning.)
Solution Watch and tech crunch have detailed write-ups, but two features are of note to developers: Writeboard includes simple diff and version control, and both are supported so intuitively that they need no explanation, even to non-programmers.
As you edit and save your document, Writeboard automatically keeps track of your versions (see the screenshot). Switching versions is as simple as clicking a link. And diffing is as simple as checking the boxes for two versions and clicking “Compare.”
Strangely, Writeboard uses Textile as its markup language. I’ve used Textpattern for more than a year so I type textile much faster than HTML, but I have yet to come across a single non-technical client who actually uses textile for markup.
I get a Unix vibe when using Writeboard: think small pieces, loosely joined. It’s not a grand application, but what little it does, it does very well.
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