How do I compare two versions of a project?

Question

To compare the versions of a project in which there were changes:

1. Click in the window of the project to make it the active window.
2. From the Tools menu, select Compare Texts....
   By default, the Current Version of the text is displayed in the left pane and its Baseline in the right pane.
3. Optional: If you want the Current Version to appear in the right pane and its Baseline in the left pane, from the View menu, select Swap Panes.
4. Optional: From the View menu, select Show Verse Text Only if you wish to compare only the text in the two panes.

Tips:

• If you hover over the date of a version in the drop-down list of either pane, the time when the earlier version was created is displayed in 24-hour notation with a Greenwich Mean Time offset.
• A Compare Texts window displays the differences (added/deleted text) in the same display style (for example, green highlight or red highlight) and number of panes as you select for the Verse History window.
• In Paratext 8.0 (and later), you can search either version of the text (from the Edit menu, select the corresponding "Find in" command).

Further Tasks

For specific instructions on what you might want to do next, expand the section below which describes your goal.

Compare the current version with an earlier version, or view changes since an earlier project progress stage

With the Current Version in one pane (the pane which displays the current version will have a black border):

• Select an earlier version from the other pane, or
• Select the entry for the desired project stage from the other pane, e.g. Stage 1 or Stage 2.

See what changes were made by a particular user

1. With Baseline in one pane, select a version from the other pane in which the user has made changes to the text of a book.
   In the version description in the drop-down list:
   • The name of the user is to the right of the date.
   • A book abbreviation appears where the text of the book has been changed.
2. Do one of the following on the toolbar to see the changes made by that user:
   • Click the left arrow to go to the previous change (if there is one).
   • Click the right arrow to go to the next change (if there is one).
   • Click the hide unchanged paragraphs icon to show only paragraphs where there are differences between a version and its baseline.

See changes to a chapter from one stage to another, or compare two older versions of the same project:

1. From one drop-down list:
   • Select the button for the earlier stage (the column label displays the date when the chapter in the Compare Texts pane was marked as completed for that stage), or
   • Select a version from the drop-down list above the left pane.
2. From the other drop-down list:
   • Select the button for the later stage, or
   • Select a different version from the drop-down list above the right pane.
3. Do one of the following on the toolbar to see the changes made between the stages:
   • Click the left arrow to go to the previous change (if there is one).
   • Click the right arrow to go to the next change (if there is one).
   • Click the hide unchanged paragraphs icon to show only paragraphs where there are differences between the two stages.

To compare the differences between two similar, but different texts (e.g. the American and British versions of an English resource text), select the text you want to change from the drop-down list above the left pane and select the other text from the drop-down list above the right pane.
Reverting text in either pane will result in a change to the text that was originally selected in the left pane.

See also:

• [What does the color and formatting in a window which compares texts mean?](http://support.paratext.org/t/what-does-the-color-and-formatting-in-a-window-which-compares-texts-mean/635)
• [How do I revert text from an earlier version of a project?](http://support.paratext.org/t/how-do-i-revert-text-from-an-earlier-version-of-a-project/541)

* [How do I compare a word or phrase in different projects?](http://support.paratext.org/t/how-do-i-compare-a-word-or-phrase-in-different-projects/19)