%% date:: [[2024-01-29]] parent:: %% # [[Collaborating with others on notes]] What if you want to write notes with one or more other people? There are a few options to solve this, but the best one for you will depend on whether or not synchronous collaboration is important to you. ## Third-party file sharing/syncing services Any of the syncing tools covered in [[Syncing in Obsidian]] can be used to get copies of the same notes in front of others you might want to collaborate with. They can then make changes, and those changes can be synced to your device. These services can typically be used in synchronously *and* asynchronously. For example, I do this with [[Dropbox]] for one of my tabletop roleplaying games (Pathfinder 2e). I share the entire Obsidian vault with my players through Dropbox, and we can all modify it at the same time. However, it does come with disadvantages: - You can't set detailed permissions for who can change what. - The people you share it with must be familiar with the syncing tool *and* with Obsidian *and* have both apps installed. - There's no (easy) way to visually distinguish who wrote or changed what. ## Synchronous collaboration Synchronous collaboration is real-time (or close to it): it means that you and your collaborators are online at the same time, editing the same note. This approach is better for brainstorming or meeting notes. One question to ask about synchronous collaboration is how important it is to have a persistent copy that both parties can access outside of the real-time communication. ### [[Obsidian Sync]] Obsidian Sync does have a collaboration option, but it's not as fully-fledged as other solutions (like [[Notion]]'s) are. In my experience, there is a delay in using Sync that sometimes makes it behave in unexpected ways. Sometimes it's only a few seconds, but other times the delay is noticeable, resulting in data loss when two people are trying to work on the same document. Another disadvantage is that an Obsidian Sync subscription is required for all collaborators. ### Community plugins Obsidian [[An overview of Obsidian#What Obsidian isn't good at|is not great]] for real-time collaboration, but there *are* some [[Community plugins]] for Obsidian that provide this functionality. #### [[Peerdraft]] Peerdraft is composed of two parts: a community plugin, to be installed within your Obsidian vault, and a web app. The plugin is open source, but the web app is not. Peerdraft lets you start a session within Obsidian, which will generate a link. You can then send that link to your collaborator(s), who can use it to view and edit your note in real-time. It doesn't have many features and doesn't have commenting/suggestion support, but the interface is great, it's a quick setup, and never faltered on the syncing front. Peerdraft has a free version and a paid version, with the free version being limited by the duration of sessions per month. ### [[Obsidian Etherpad Lite]] Etherpad Lite works similarly to Peerdraft in that there is a plugin, Etherpad Lite, and a web app, [[Etherpad]], but they're not maintained by the same person. An advantage of Etherpad is that it can be self-hosted, so it's potentially more economical. It also has more formatting features. However, the experience within Obsidian isn't great. While the collaboration on the browser is real-time, the Obsidian note doesn't refresh itself. Instead, you have to manually pull the information from the server and onto the note. ## Asynchronous collaboration [[Asynchronicity|Asynchronous]] collaboration means that you and your collaborators may or may not be working on the same note at the same time, and you may not even be online at the same time. Perhaps you're even working on different notes within the same vault. This approach works better for larger projects/teams. One concern about this approach would be how the solution handles conflicts, such as when two or more people attempt to modify the same text, but have differing opinions as to how. Which one takes precedence? Some of the synchronous collaboration options (such as the file sharing/syncing services) can be used asynchronously, but I'm highlighting here the ones that are explicitly asynchronous. ## GitHub [GitHub](https://github.com) is a Microsoft-owned service that uses something called Git as a version control system. GitHub lets you create remote repositories and sync your local repositories to them. GitHub documentation is often in [[obsidian-playbook/Using Obsidian/02 Making Notes in Obsidian/Markdown|Markdown]], so Git repositories can also be opened as vaults in Obsidian. Here are some advantgaes of this approach: - If you're already using GitHub for all your documentation, there's little to no setup necessary-- you can just open repositories in Obsidian as vaults. - You can use GitHub's conflict resolution features with your Obsidian notes. - You get full versioning for your notes. - Your notes get backed up on GitHub's servers. However, it does come with disadvantages as well: - GitHub can be daunting to learn if you're not already using it, especially if this is your only use case for it. ## Related - [Getting started with GitHub](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/hello-world)