Drafts arrive with changes still pending
A document that comes back from the other side, or from a colleague, often still carries tracked changes that nobody accepted. Some were tracked, some were not, and some were accepted along the way. Comparing such a document raises a question: compare it as it looks with the changes showing, or as it would read if they were accepted?
Version Story does the second. Before comparing, it accepts every pending tracked change in each version. The comparison then runs between the two accepted texts.
What that means for the redline
- The redline shows the net difference between the two versions. Every insertion, deletion, and move between the earlier version and the later one is marked, regardless of whether the later version's author tracked it.
- A tracked change in the later version appears as a change. If a reviewer tracked a deletion, the accepted text no longer contains the deleted words, so the comparison against the earlier version shows them as deleted.
- A tracked change in the earlier version is treated as accepted too. The comparison starts from the earlier version as it would read with its own pending changes accepted.
- Edits made with tracking off are found. The comparison does not depend on Word's tracking at all. This is how a redline shows every change when the other side turned tracking off. See Find Changes Made Without Tracked Changes.
Comments on tracked-deleted text
When a reviewer deletes a passage with tracking on, Word places any comment on that passage inside the deletion. Accepting the deletion naively would drop the comment along with the text. Version Story keeps it: the comment is classified from the comment itself, and a reply added after the deletion is shown as a new comment in the thread. See Comments.
Where the comparison runs
The same engine handles every comparison, whether it is started in the Version Story app, through the REST API, or from Claude or ChatGPT.
Related
- Comments
- Compare Documents, in the Version Story app
- Capabilities: everything a comparison covers
Frequently asked questions
What happens if a document still has tracked changes in it when I compare it?
Version Story accepts all pending tracked changes in each version before comparing, then compares the two accepted texts. The redline shows the differences between the two versions as they would read with every change accepted.
Will the comparison find edits that were made with Track Changes turned off?
Yes. The comparison works from the text of the two versions, not from Word's change tracking. An edit made with tracking off is found the same way as any other difference.
Do I need to accept all changes before comparing?
No. The comparison does that itself. Accepting them in Word first gives the same result.
Are the comments on tracked-deleted text kept?
Yes. A comment whose anchor text is pending deletion is kept and classified from the comment itself, so it is not shown as removed unless the comment is gone from the later version.
