A better alternative to using Track Changes in Microsoft Word
Simul is a simple version control and collaboration tool that makes it easy to collaborate on Microsoft Word documents with others.
Does this sound familiar?
You create a Microsoft Word document and need to collaborate on it with others
You email it to 3 colleagues who all make changes (sometimes with Track Changes turned on, sometimes not) before emailing it back to you
You spend hours trying to identify what changes were made across multiple documents, and then incorporate them all into a single version
You repeat this process over and over again until the document is finished
Problems with this approach
Hard to find latest version
With so many different versions across multiple email threads it’s impossible to know which one is the latest, so you resort to ridiculous filenames like 'Ninja Report_ final_FINAL'
Time wasted identifying and merging changes
You spend valuable time trying to identify changes across multiple documents and merge them back into a single version
No history of changes
Once Track Changes have been accepted or rejected, they're gone forever, so it’s almost impossible to go back over the document and see what changed, when it changed, and who changed it.
No access to old content
Want to revert back to a previous version of the document, or access some content that was previously deleted? You'll have to spend hours digging through old email threads trying to find the right file.
How Simul helps
Simul makes it easier to collaborate on Microsoft Word documents. Here’s how it might work in a real-life situation.
You create a Word Doc and write the first draft
You upload the finished first draft to Simul
Simul automatically assigns Version 0.0.1 to your document
You invite your colleague James to collaborate on the document
James opens the latest version in 1 click, and makes some changes
Simul automatically creates Version 0.0.2 and shows you the changes James made, even if Track Changes wasn’t turned on.
You and James continue collaborating on the document, and you actually both open it and make changes at the same time
Simul automatically recognises when multiple people are editing the document at the same time, and saves each person’s changes in a separate branch so that nobodys work gets overridden
You can then merge these branches in just 1 click, and each author’s changes are marked up as tracked changes in Word, allowing you to easily identify the differences, accept or reject the changes, and fix any conflicts
In order to finish the document, you need some input from another colleague, Joel. However, Joel isn’t tech savvy and you don't want to invite him into Simul, so you need to share it with him via email instead.
Simul makes it easy to share the latest version with Joel, even if he isn’t in Simul. You simply download and email it (or you can export to cloud storage tools like Sharepoint & OneDrive and share it that way)
Joel receives the latest version of the document, adds the final section of content and sends it back.
Simul makes it easy to upload Joel’s changes as a new version even though he isn’t in Simul. You simply drag and drop the file into Simul. It then creates a new version, shows you what was changed and makes it easy to merge Joel’s edits in.
You’ve now finished the document, and it’s time to publish it and share the final version with others
Publishing a document in Simul gives it a major version (1.0.0 rather than 0.0.1) and enables you to download as PDF, share via email or link, export to file services like Dropbox and more.
You create a Word Doc and write the first draft
You upload the first draft to Simul
Simul automatically assigns Version 0.0.1 to your document
You invite your colleague James to collaborate on the document
James opens the latest version in 1 click, and makes some changes
Simul automatically creates Version 0.0.2 and shows you the changes James made, even if Track Changes wasn’t turned on.
You and James continue collaborating on the document, and you actually both open it and make changes at the same time
Simul automatically recognises when multiple people are editing the document at the same time, and saves each person’s changes in a separate branch so that nobodys work gets overridden
You can then merge these branches in just 1 click, and each author’s changes are marked up as tracked changes in Word, allowing you to easily identify the differences, accept or reject the changes, and fix any conflicts
In order to finish the document, you need some input from another colleague, Joel. However, Joel isn’t tech savvy and you don't want to invite him into Simul, so you need to share it with him via email instead.
Simul makes it easy to share the latest version with Joel, even if he isn’t in Simul. You simply download and email it (or you can export to cloud storage tools like Sharepoint & OneDrive and share it that way)
Joel receives the latest version of the document, adds the final section of content and sends it back.
Simul makes it easy to upload Joel’s changes as a new version even though he isn’t in Simul. You simply drag and drop the file into Simul. It then creates a new version, shows you what was changed and makes it easy to merge Joel’s edits in.
You’ve now finished the document, and it’s time to publish it and share the final version with others
Publishing a document in Simul gives it a major version (1.0.0 rather than 0.0.1) and enables you to download as PDF, share via email or link, export to file services like Dropbox and more.
Benefits of using Simul
Easily access the latest version
All collaborators can easily find and open the latest version of the document in 1 click.
Work on documents simultaneously
Multiple people can work on a document at the same time & Simul will automatically create separate ‘branches’ for each version so people aren’t overwriting each others work.
Easily see what changed
Easily compare different versions of a document - regardless of whether tracked changes were turned on or not - so you always know what changed, who changed it, and when.
Merge changes in 1 click
Merge versions in 1 click, and each authors changes are marked up as tracked changes in Word, allowing you to easily identify the differences.
See the full history of changes
Easily go back over a document and see what changed, when it changed and who changed it.
Easily revert to old versions
Easily revert to a previous version of the document, or take content from a previous version to add to the latest.
“The thing we love about Simul is it keeps everything in one place. Each time someone makes an edit, a new version is created and Simul shows what changed, plus we can add comments that summarise why we made the changes as well. So in one spot we can see the full history of a document, including what changed, who changed it, when it changed and why it changed ”
Colin Malarchuk - Legal Operations Specialist
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