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Track Changes

Opus uses CriticMarkup for track changes—a standard designed for academic manuscript review.

What is Track Changes?

Track changes lets you:

  • See what was added, deleted, or modified
  • Accept or reject individual changes
  • Collaborate with reviewers and advisors
  • Export tracked changes to Word format

Enabling Track Changes

  1. Click the Track Changes button in the toolbar (or press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T)
  2. The button highlights to show tracking is active
  3. All edits are now tracked

Suggestion Mode

Users with "Suggester" permissions can only edit in track changes mode—they cannot make direct changes.

CriticMarkup Syntax

Behind the scenes, tracked changes use CriticMarkup:

Additions

{++added text++}

Displays with a green highlight.

Deletions

{--deleted text--}

Displays with red strikethrough.

Substitutions

{~~old text~>new text~~}

Shows both the original and replacement.

Highlights

{==highlighted text==}

For marking important passages without changing them.

Comments

{>>This is a comment.<<}

Inline notes that don't affect the final document.

Working with Changes

Viewing Changes

The editor shows changes inline:

  • Additions: Green background
  • Deletions: Red strikethrough
  • Comments: Yellow indicator

Toggle change visibility with View > Show Changes.

Accepting Changes

To accept a change:

  1. Click on the change
  2. Click Accept (checkmark) or press Cmd/Ctrl + Enter

To accept all changes:

  1. Go to Edit > Track Changes > Accept All

Rejecting Changes

To reject a change:

  1. Click on the change
  2. Click Reject (X) or press Cmd/Ctrl + Backspace

To reject all changes:

  1. Go to Edit > Track Changes > Reject All
  • Next change: Cmd/Ctrl + ]
  • Previous change: Cmd/Ctrl + [
  • Or use the Changes panel in the sidebar

Commenting

Adding Comments

  1. Select text
  2. Click Comment in the toolbar (or press Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + C)
  3. Type your comment
  4. Press Enter or click Add

Replying to Comments

  1. Click on a comment
  2. Type in the reply field
  3. Press Enter

Resolving Comments

Click Resolve when a comment has been addressed. Resolved comments are hidden but not deleted.

Viewing All Comments

Open the Comments panel in the sidebar to see all comments in order.

Collaborating with Reviewers

Sharing for Review

  1. Click Share
  2. Enter the reviewer's email
  3. Set permission to Suggester (track changes only) or Editor (full edit)
  4. Click Invite

Reviewer Workflow

Reviewers with Suggester access:

  • Can only make suggestions (tracked changes)
  • Can add comments
  • Cannot accept/reject changes

This protects your document while allowing feedback.

Seeing Who Made Changes

Each change shows who made it. Hover over a change to see:

  • Author name
  • Timestamp
  • Original and new text

Exporting with Track Changes

To Word

Track changes export cleanly to Word's native format:

  1. Click Export > Word (.docx)
  2. Enable Include tracked changes
  3. Download the file

Open in Word and you'll see standard Word track changes.

To PDF

For PDF, choose how to handle changes:

  • Final: Accept all, show clean document
  • Original: Reject all, show original document
  • Markup: Show changes as in the editor

To HTML

Changes render with appropriate highlighting, suitable for web review.

Best Practices

Use Track Changes For

  • Advisor/supervisor feedback
  • Journal revision rounds
  • Co-author collaboration
  • Self-editing (to see what you changed)

Keep Changes Focused

  • Make small, specific changes
  • Don't rewrite entire paragraphs in one change
  • Use comments for explanations

Process Changes Regularly

  • Don't let changes pile up
  • Address feedback while it's fresh
  • Accept/reject before starting new sections

Clear History When Done

After a revision round is complete:

  1. Accept all remaining changes
  2. The document returns to clean state
  3. Start fresh for the next round

Troubleshooting

Changes Not Showing

  • Check that View > Show Changes is enabled
  • Verify track changes mode is active

Can't Edit Normally

  • You may be in suggestion-only mode
  • Check your permission level on the document
  • Turn off track changes to edit directly

Export Missing Changes

  • Ensure Include tracked changes is checked
  • Some formats have limited change support

Next Steps