How do you track dependencies for your co-authors?

Question

I and one or more co-authors, sometimes geographically distributed, are working on a set of related documents. Sometimes I will make a change in my part that affects someone else's part; this could be anything from changing a name to adding a new concept (that later parts should then use or reference) to changing the scenario for a running example. For large changes one hopes we'd all be talking about it first, but sometimes smaller changes come up that it's not worth calling a meeting about. How do you track those dependencies so you don't lose track of them?Things we have tried include:- Send email. Easy but can get lost.- Have a central place to leave notes (shared document, wiki page, etc). This works pretty well if you can sort it by who/what is affected, so each person has just one place to look, but it can be kind of unwieldy if dependencies are vague or numerous.- Use a bug-tracking system: works if everybody is using the same tools and the folks overseeing the bug database don't mind, but that's not always the case.What are better ways to manage inter-connected work with co-authors?Clarification: I'm talking about cases where I make a change and others will then have to make updates to their work, not about cases where I make all the relevant changes myself.

Answer 1

Although I am not aware of the process and respective responsibilities of the writers in your group, the following should prove helpful . . .

A simple Google search for "collaborative paper writing" should provide several directions to take, but Scrivener and Google Docs are popular for collaborative writing environments.There is also a good article on Mashable entitled "How to collaborate like a pro with google docs." Check it out. . . you might be surprised how feature-rich it is. Good luck!