7 ms·

Real Time LaTeX Collaboration Online

58 points by ryanatallah 14y ago

heyfouad 14y ago
When I saw the domain name, I was kinda hoping for it to be a social condom sharing application.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
daurnimator 14y ago
I do like the site, but I've seen it on the front page multiple times... e.g. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3549802 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3549802 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925367 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925367
imroot 14y ago
I use ShareLatex often. They did just roll out syntax completion for some of the common items (begin, subsection, subsubsection), and their new 'split screen' feature is rather nice. I do see it on HN often as well....
SagelyGuru 14y ago
I would be interested to know the advantages of this compared to working on a file in a shared git or svn depository?
- aw3c2 14y ago
  You don't need to learn git/svn and you do not need to setup a repository.
  - sondh 14y ago
    I think the most important thing is you don't have to setup the compiler yourself. It may get out of hand pretty quickly if your partners and you don't have compatible environments (Windows vs. Linux, etc.).
    - aw3c2 14y ago
      Oh, I forgot about that! Of course!
- jpallen 14y ago
  I'm one of the co-founders of ShareLaTeX, and there are two main reasons that we've found that people really like ShareLaTeX. The first has been mentioned - you don't need to set up a LaTeX repository yourself. Even more than that, you can work on LaTeX documents from anywhere. It tends to be hard to find LaTeX installed on a computer if you're on the move and not using your own machine. The other advantage is the ease of collaboration. While there are plenty of people in the LaTeX world who know git, there are plenty that don't as well. ShareLaTeX gives everyone a point and click way to make sure they are in sync with their collaborators. That said, we're getting quite close to offering git access to the projects for people who want it. Also, my apologies that we keep appearing on the front page (along with a few other similar sites). We're flattered that people keep submitting us though.
beck5 14y ago
Hey creator of ShareLaTeX here, we didn't post on here (again) but we have been releasing a lot of new stuff since the last time the site was on the home page about 1 year ago to the day. Split view, command auto complete, multiple compilers and history are all done. Spell check, git integration and dropbox sync are just around the corner. The main thing that has happend is merging with http://www.scribtex.com http://www.scribtex.com with both of us now working on ShareLaTeX full time. Thank you for all the support and feedback we have been receiving, its been wonderful, please keep letting us know what you think!
- cultureulterior 14y ago
  I've used sharelatex in the past, and it is really useful.
fekberg 14y ago
Can you track changes? If you can this would be Very helpful for authors like myself that use LaTeX to write books. Could just invite the proofers.
- jpallen 14y ago
  Yes, we have a feature called 'History' which you can access from the editor. It lets you see the changes that have been made to your project over time. It's a bit of minimum-viable-feature at the moment, but it's still quite useful, and we're always open to feedback on how to improve it for your needs.
  - funsi 14y ago
    You should think of including support for latexdiff (http://www.ctan.org/pkg/latexdiff http://www.ctan.org/pkg/latexdiff). People will love that I believe.
    - jpallen 14y ago
      Yes, we'd love to do that. I coded up a prototype a while ago and found that latexdiff can quite easily get confused and produce LaTeX code that won't compile. I definitely plan to revisit this though and try to get something working.
worldsayshi 14y ago
Google docs has had a labs project for latex for a while: http://docs.latexlab.org/ http://docs.latexlab.org/

58 points by ryanatallah 14y ago

heyfouad 14y ago

When I saw the domain name, I was kinda hoping for it to be a social condom sharing application.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

daurnimator 14y ago

I do like the site, but I've seen it on the front page multiple times... e.g. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3549802 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3549802 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925367 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925367

imroot 14y ago

I use ShareLatex often. They did just roll out syntax completion for some of the common items (begin, subsection, subsubsection), and their new 'split screen' feature is rather nice. I do see it on HN often as well....

SagelyGuru 14y ago

I would be interested to know the advantages of this compared to working on a file in a shared git or svn depository?

aw3c2 14y ago
You don't need to learn git/svn and you do not need to setup a repository.
- sondh 14y ago
  I think the most important thing is you don't have to setup the compiler yourself. It may get out of hand pretty quickly if your partners and you don't have compatible environments (Windows vs. Linux, etc.).
  - aw3c2 14y ago
    Oh, I forgot about that! Of course!
jpallen 14y ago
I'm one of the co-founders of ShareLaTeX, and there are two main reasons that we've found that people really like ShareLaTeX. The first has been mentioned - you don't need to set up a LaTeX repository yourself. Even more than that, you can work on LaTeX documents from anywhere. It tends to be hard to find LaTeX installed on a computer if you're on the move and not using your own machine. The other advantage is the ease of collaboration. While there are plenty of people in the LaTeX world who know git, there are plenty that don't as well. ShareLaTeX gives everyone a point and click way to make sure they are in sync with their collaborators. That said, we're getting quite close to offering git access to the projects for people who want it. Also, my apologies that we keep appearing on the front page (along with a few other similar sites). We're flattered that people keep submitting us though.

beck5 14y ago

Hey creator of ShareLaTeX here, we didn't post on here (again) but we have been releasing a lot of new stuff since the last time the site was on the home page about 1 year ago to the day. Split view, command auto complete, multiple compilers and history are all done. Spell check, git integration and dropbox sync are just around the corner. The main thing that has happend is merging with http://www.scribtex.com http://www.scribtex.com with both of us now working on ShareLaTeX full time. Thank you for all the support and feedback we have been receiving, its been wonderful, please keep letting us know what you think!

cultureulterior 14y ago
I've used sharelatex in the past, and it is really useful.

fekberg 14y ago

Can you track changes? If you can this would be Very helpful for authors like myself that use LaTeX to write books. Could just invite the proofers.

jpallen 14y ago
Yes, we have a feature called 'History' which you can access from the editor. It lets you see the changes that have been made to your project over time. It's a bit of minimum-viable-feature at the moment, but it's still quite useful, and we're always open to feedback on how to improve it for your needs.
- funsi 14y ago
  You should think of including support for latexdiff (http://www.ctan.org/pkg/latexdiff http://www.ctan.org/pkg/latexdiff). People will love that I believe.
  - jpallen 14y ago
    Yes, we'd love to do that. I coded up a prototype a while ago and found that latexdiff can quite easily get confused and produce LaTeX code that won't compile. I definitely plan to revisit this though and try to get something working.

worldsayshi 14y ago

Google docs has had a labs project for latex for a while: http://docs.latexlab.org/ http://docs.latexlab.org/