WO2018234787A1

WO2018234787A1 - Collaboration and publishing system

Info

Publication number: WO2018234787A1
Application number: PCT/GB2018/051706
Authority: WO
Inventors: Niklas JARVSTRAT; Marianne Rugard JARVSTRAT
Original assignee: Mossytop Dreamharvest Ltd
Priority date: 2017-06-23
Filing date: 2018-06-19
Publication date: 2018-12-27
Also published as: GB201710102D0

Abstract

A digital collaborative publishing system and associated method of use, the system being configured to store one or more format-neutral text documents and a plurality of format templates, each format template comprising formatting information for formatting text documents. The format-neutral text documents are separate from the plurality of format templates. The system is configured to selectively apply a format template from the plurality of format templates to the at least one format-neutral text document in order to produce, save, store and/or display at least one formatted document.

Description

Collaboration and Publishing System

Field

The present invention relates to a digital collaborative publishing system and associated method, such as, but not limited to, a system for collaborating in the production of a document for publication, such as a book or e-book.

Background

There are several digital document or manuscript preparation tools available. In general, the document or manuscript prepared using these digital preparation tools comprises a sequence of text-blocks. Graphics and multimedia can be included at the same level, as picture-blocks or, in the case of ebooks, as multimedia attachments.

The author(s) of the manuscript prepare the initial manuscript and can invite other contributing parties such as mentors, editors and other members of a review team to review, comment and make suggestions on the manuscript, amongst other contributions. Being able to access, see and assess the full range of comments and other contributions in a manner that is efficient in both memory and processor utilisation is an important consideration.

Furthermore, an important and costly part of publishing is the setting, i.e. choosing and systematically implementing a consistent layout and formatting to the manuscript. This is generally done manually. An author will supply text in an author's intended style for the manuscript. A professional setter can import the author-supplied text into formatting software that strips any formatting and characters or fonts not supported by the formatting software from the manuscript supplied by the author. Then, looking at the author's intended formatting, and working in the formatting software, the setter will produce a format that follows the publisher style, is more or less true to the author intended layout, and is in a format that is suitable for importing into the printer software used by the printing company. It will be appreciated that this is a significantly labour intensive process.

The present invention seeks to overcome or mitigate at least one problem with the prior art.

Summary

According to a first aspect is a digital collaborative publishing system. The system may be configured to store one or more format-neutral documents, and may be configured to store a plurality of format templates, each format template comprising formatting commands or data for formatting documents. The system may be configured to selectively apply, e.g. automatically apply, a format template from the plurality of format templates to the at least one format-neutral document in order to produce and/or display at least one formatted document.

The format-neutral documents may be format-neutral or unformatted text or raw text documents. The format neutral-documents may comprise or be formed from one or more, e.g. a plurality or series of, textblocks. The textblock(s) may be or comprise a computer readable string of format-neutral text.

Text, e.g. all of the text, in the format-neutral document may be text that is stored in such a way that information about the exact or final visual appearance of the text is not included in the format-neutral document. For example, the text may be or comprise Ascii-text. However, the format-neutral document may comprise information to impart meaning and/or context to some or all of the text in the format-neutral document. Thus, context, meaning and/or other information, which can optionally be used in the formatting process, may be included in the format neutral document. The context, meaning and/or other information may be machine readable. The context, meaning and/or other information may be in the form of, or operable as, a command or control code to the system, e.g. to apply a particular type of formatting, the visual appearance of which may be defined in the formatting template. For example, the context, meaning and/or other information may be indicative of one or more of: emphasis, quotation, header, sub-heading, bullet-list, and/or the like. The visual representation of the text, particularly the visual representation of the text in the final document, such as type and size of font, line spacing, paragraph justification and alignment may not be comprised or specified in the format-neutral document, and may be applied from and/or using the format template, e.g. rather than by being embedded, comprised and/or specified in the format-neutral document. However, some formatting may be used by some users to impart a distinctive meaning, e.g. to indicate context, and may thus be included in the format-neutral text. For example, although an "emphasis" may be contextual, "bold" and "italics", for example, could be included in a format-neutral document as common language descriptors of emphasis types.

Optionally but not essentially, the format-neutral documents may comprise only a limited subset, or contain fewer, of the formatting commands, data for formatting documents and/or formatting types provided by the format templates. The format-neutral documents may comprise less formatting commands, data for formatting documents and/or formatting types than the formatting commands, data for formatting documents and/or formatting types provided by the format templates. The format-neutral documents may store any formatting data as textblock data and/or as control-markers. The formatted document may comprise textblocks stored as individual database entries and may comprise formatting controls, including those applied by the format templates. For example, in the format-neutral documents, textblocks may be separated by control-markers rather than stored as individual database entries. The format-neutral documents may comprise only simple formatting data, such as "heading", "linefeed", "bold" and "italics", which may be stored as textblock data, while the exact format of the text (such as font types, font sizes, line spacing, paragraph justification and alignment, e.g. times new roman 16 points, left justified 4pt space above and 3pt space below) may be contained in or provided by the format templates.

The format-neutral document may comprise only format-neutral text, which may be text that is stored in such a way that information about the exact visual appearance is not included. For example, the format-neutral text may be or comprise Ascii-text, though the format- neutral document may comprise the context, meaning and/or other information that may be used to indicate meaning and context. In an example, the text may be Ascii-text and may further comprise at least one indirect or context indicator (e.g. main text, heading and/or emphasis), which may be comprised in the context, meaning and/or other information. Thus, the format-neutral document may include only indirect indicators, such as "emphasis", quotation, header, bullet-list, and/or the like. The visual representation of the text, such as type and size of font, line spacing, paragraph justification and alignment may be applied through the format template rather than by being embedded in the text. Some formatting used for emphasis by some users may be perceived as carrying a distinctive meaning and may thus be provided in the format-neutral documents (or not). For example, although an "emphasis" format may be included, bold and italics could additionally or alternatively be included in the format-neutral documents.

For example, the format-neutral document may comprise the context, meaning and/or other information that indicates a type of formatting applied to some or all of the text or textblocks, and formatting data in the format template may specify or further specify how to display the text to which the formatting is applied. For example, the format-neutral document may comprise context information indicating "bold", which may be interpreted by the system as "emphasis of the type normally represented by bold text". The formatting data in the format template may specify the way in which the context information, e.g. "bold", is displayed, for example the increased linewidth of the bold formatted text, or a bold version of the font type and size specified in the formatting template or text coloured or highlighted in a certain colour, amongst others. In another example, if the format-neutral document comprises context information indicating "heading", the formatting data in the format template may specify the increased font size and/or linewidth of the text formatted associated with the heading context.

The format-neutral documents may be machine readable documents and may not be human readable without an interpretor and/or applying the at least one format template, or at least may not be in a human friendly format. The context, meaning or other information may stipulate the context indicators such as "bold", "italics", "heading", which may be provided as instructions, commands or control codes to the system. This may make the format-neutral document difficult to read by a human. However, the system may be configured to produce and/or display the at least one formatted document without including or displaying the context, method or other information. The text of the at least one formatted document may be formatted by applying the formatting stipulated by the formatting template, which may at least in part use or be controlled by the context, meaning or other information comprised in the format-neutral document. Thus, any formatted document may comprise the format- neutral text as interpreted using a specific formatting template, which may be guided or controlled by the context, meaning or other information.

Optionally but not essentially, the format-neutral documents may contain only unformatted text. The system may be configured to automatically select and apply a format template from the plurality of format templates that is associated with a user of the system or a type of user of the system.

The system may be configured to store the format-neutral document separately from the plurality of format templates. The format-neutral documents may be or may be comprised in separate files to the format templates and/or the formatted documents. The system may be configured to apply any additions or changes in the text to the format-neutral document. The system may be configured to display the formatted document. For example, the formatted document may be presented and/or provided to the user, e.g. by the user's computer or processing system but any changes or additions made to the text by the user may be made to the format-neutral document. The system may be configured to automatically update or regenerate the formatted document, e.g. periodically or responsive to changes in the format- neutral document.

The system may comprise a server system. The server system may comprise a processing system, a communications system and a data store. The server system may be configured to communicate with user devices, such as computers or processing systems, of users via the communications system. The communications system may be configured to communicate over a local area network, a closed network, a wide area network, an open network, the internet and/or via point-to-point communications. The communications network may be configured to provide secure communications, e.g. using encryption, a secure socket link, a virtual private network (VPN) and/or the like. The communications system may be configured to receive the one or more text documents or text for including in the format-neutral document or changes or amendments to the format-neutral document, e.g. from a user device of a user such as an author. The data store may be configured to store the one or more format-neutral documents, e.g. in a document database. The data store may be configured to store the plurality of format templates, which may be stored as separate or different files to the format-neutral documents. The server system may be configured to send or make available, e.g. automatically send or make available, the at least one format-neutral document and/or the at least one formatted document to one or more of the user devices. In this way, the server system may store a single "master copy" of the format-neutral documents in the data store on the server, e.g. as part of a document database, where it is accessible by user devices via the communications system. The format templates may also be stored on the server, e.g. in the data store and accessed via the communications system, and/or may be stored locally on the user devices. One or more of the format templates may then be applied to the format-neutral document at each user device in order to display, store or produce a formatted document, e.g. formatted for the user or user device. The changes to the text may be made directly to the format-neutral document (or the textblocks thereof) stored in the data store, e.g. in real time, or any changes are made on the user device may be synchronized with or otherwise used to update the format-neutral document (or the textblocks thereof) stored in the data store later, e.g. after making the changes. However, it will be appreciated that the format-neutral document may remain format-neutral. In contrast, in traditional systems, a document may have its formatting changed as it is passed between users or duplicate and/or live and dead documents or other copies may be produced.

The server may comprise an authentication or identification system. The authentication or identification system may be configured to authenticate and/or identify users. For example, the authentication or identification system may be configured to provide one or more identification or authentication processes, such as user name input, password input, biometric identification, provision of personal or other security questions, 3D security using other communications channels such as mobile phone authentication, and/or the like. The authentication or identification system may be configured to determine user permissions and/or user information based on the authentication or identification of the user. The system may be configured to selectively permit access to one or more of the format-neutral documents or to a group of the format-neutral documents only to users who have permission to access that format-neutral document or group of format-neutral documents. The user information may comprise a role, class or group of the user, e.g. author, review team or panel, editor, mentor, publisher, printer, setter, and/or the like. The user information may comprise user preferences. The user information may be received by the communications system, stored in the data store and/or provided by the user or publisher, e.g. using the user's or publisher's user device. The system may be configured to automatically select and/or apply a format template based on the user information, e.g. the user's role, class or group and/or the user's preferences. The system may be configured to automatically apply the selected format template to the at least one format-neutral document in order to produce the appropriate formatted document and may be configured to automatically present the appropriate formatted document to the user, e.g. on the appropriate user device.

In this way, the format-neutral document and the format templates that define or impose the formatting may be strictly separated throughout most or all of the publishing process. The system may automatically display or provide each user with the formatted document that has been formatted according to their role, class or group (e.g. author, reviewer, mentor, etc.) and/or according to the user's preferences. Different users may be automatically provided with the text from the format-neutral document in a different format, e.g. depending on the user information. For example, an author may be provided with the formatted document in a text review format specified by a text review format template. An editor may be provided the formatted document in a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) format specified by a WYSIWYG format template. A setter may be provided the formatted document in a formatting format specified by a formatting format template. A printer may be provided with the formatted text in a print ready manuscript format specified by a print format template, e.g. a format that when input into a printing system (e.g. digital printing system) causes the printing system to produce a printed manuscript, which may be formatted to an intended layout or standard, such as a company standard.

The system may be configured to apply format changes or updates to selected or all format templates. The system may be configured to apply changes or updates to selected formatted documents, groups of formatted documents, or all formatted documents by applying at least one format template that has been updated to replace a previous format template, or a new format template, e.g. that has been introduced for a new or modified application. The selected format templates may be those format templates for a given user's role, class or group. For example, if a publisher changes their "house" format, then the print format template may be simply updated to reflect the changes in format and all subsequent manuscripts printed may be printed according to the updated format. This may provide a much faster, more reliable and convenient format change process that may not require alteration of every text manuscript belonging to the publisher. Instead, only changes in a format template may be required.

The system may be configured to edit or change the at least one format-neutral document such that any edits or changes to the document, e.g. to the text, are automatically directly made in the at least one format-neutral document. In this way, any changes are made in the format-neutral document and are subsequently reflected in the formatted documents.

The format-neutral documents may contain text without any formatting, e.g. without formatting information. The format-neutral documents may contain only text, such as raw text, i.e. plain and/or unstructured text. The format-neutral document may be comprised in a .txt file. The format-neutral documents may contain data that represents only characters of human readable material but may not contain data that specifies the graphical representation of the characters nor other non-text objects. The formatting commands or information comprised in the format template may comprise data or information specifying one or more of: layout, font, font size, line spacing, page layout, text colour, page size, line breaks, text effects, wrapping, image handling, aligning, margins, inter-paragraph or section spacing, paragraph or section alignment, justification and/or the like.

The system may be configured to provide a user interface, which may be implemented on the user device(s). The user interface applies the formatting information associated with the format template, e.g. the format template for the user or for the user's role, class or group, to provide a formatted document for display to the user, but may concurrently maintain the format-neutral document. The user interface may be configured to display the formatted document, which may be derived from the format-neutral document but formatted with the format template associated with the user or the user's role, class or group. Any edits or amendments made by the user may be directly applied to the format-neutral document. Changes or edits to the format-neutral document may be automatically reflected in the formatted document derived therefrom.

The system may be configured to maintain the format-neutral document separately from any formatted document during at least some, most or all stages of editing of the document, at least until production of a final document, e.g. that is in a print software readable format, is for providing to printers and/or is for programming or controlling print apparatus and/or for digitally publishing or releasing as an e-book.

The system may comprise or be configured to implement a tracking or review system for tracking changes to documents and/or comments, e.g. to the format-neutral document, for example during editing. The tracking or review system may be configured to store any changes made by one or more or each user to the text of the format-neutral document and/or comments made by one or more or each user on the format-neutral document. The format-neutral document and the changes and/or comments may be stored together, e.g. in a document database and/or in the data store. The format-neutral document and the changes and/or comments may be comprised in different files but the different files may be stored together, e.g. in the document database and/or in the data store. The system may be configured to access and/or store information regarding the changes and/or comments, e.g. identifying the user who made the change, date and/or time of change, document version number that applies to the change, and/or the like. The changes and/or comments may be linked with a section of text or textblock to which the respective change applies.

The format-neutral document may be in sections or the system may be configured to section the format-neutral document. The sections may be divided by number of words, paragraphs, user selection, and/or the like. The sections may be or comprise textblocks, picture blocks, multimedia attachments, and/or the like. The system may be configured to associate changes and/or comments with an associated section and may be configured to store the changes and the associations of the changes to the relevant section.

The system may be configured to record or store versions or stages of the format-neutral document, e.g. when changes and/or comments are made and/or when sections are moved or changed or commented on. The system may be configured to store each version or stage, e.g. to store the text of each version or stage or the changes made during creation or editing of each version or stage. The system may be configured to start and/or finish stages or versions responsive to user input and/or automatically, e.g. in response to triggers such as changes in user, time lapsed since the last change or comment being made, based on time of use and so on. The tracking system may be configured to record or store the versions or stages and/or any changes and/or comments made during that stage. The comments associated with a version or stage may be stored with that version or stage, e.g. in the data store or document database. The tracking system may be configured to provide a roll-back or archive system, e.g. where the document may be reverted to previous versions or stages of the document, for example by using the stored versions or stages and/or changes and/or the comments associated with each version or stage. The roll-back or archive system may be configured to provide any or all previous versions or stages of the format-neutral document and the associated comments.

The roll-back or archive system may comprise or be configured to use the user interface. The roll-back or archive system may be configured to display two or more versions or stages of the document simultaneously, e.g. side by side. The roll-back or archive system may be configured to display two or more versions or stages of the document in different boxes or windows in the user interface. The user interface may comprise a version list or designator configured to allow the user to select versions or stages of the document for display by the user interface, e.g. in one or more of the boxes or windows.

By storing the text, any changes and comments for previous versions or stages together, e.g. in the document database and/or data store, it may be easier to access and identify all changes made to a document. In contrast, conventional "track changes", editing and commenting systems generally only allow access to most recent changes. As such, deleted, historical or accepted changes may not be accessible, unless multiple historical versions of the document are stored, which may be limiting or storage intensive, and depends on user discretion.

The document, e.g. the formatted or format-neutral document, may be or comprise a manuscript. The document may be divided into sections. The sections may comprise chapters. The sections may comprise one or more textblocks or sequences of textblocks. The sections may comprise one or more graphics or multimedia blocks or attachments. The graphics or multimedia blocks or attachments may be included at the same level as the textblocks. One or more or each of the textblocks may be stored as unformatted or format- neutral text.

The document may be or comprise a manuscript for book publishing, an ebook manuscript, a print ready manuscript and/or the like. At least one or some of the format templates may be use specific, e.g. online, ebook, physical book, magazine, and/or the like. The format templates may comprise one or more format templates for different intended uses of the document, e.g. the format templates may comprise an ebook template (which, for example, may have flowing text), or one or more physical publication or book templates (which, for example, may define the formatting information such as layout, page size, margins, fonts, font size, and/or the like) or one or more online use templates. The format templates may comprise a plurality of different physical publication or book templates, at least one or each of the different physical publication or book templates comprising at least one different piece of formatting information.

The system may be configured to store permissions for each user, wherein the permissions may specify one or more actions that the user is permitted to do, such as reading, editing, commenting writing, deleting, commenting, rating, flagging and/or the like. The permissions may be associated with, or applicable to, one or more individual documents or to classes or categories of documents or documents having an associated status or flag. The system may be configured to control the actions that a user can do according to the respective user's permissions. The permissions may be in accordance with a user's role, e.g. author, editor, mentor, publisher, printer, and/or the like. The system may be configured to allow one or more users, e.g. authors or publishers, to allocate or change permissions. The system may be configured to store details of permissions or changes in permission associated with all or part of the document, e.g. in a membership history. In this way, for example, a user such as an author can permit one or more selected other users, e.g. editors, publishers, or mentors, access or limited access to the documents authored by them. The permissions may relate to all or part of the document, e.g. at whole manuscript, chapter, textblock or other subsection level. The user responsible for historical access or changes may be identifiable using the membership history.

The system may be configured to apply a stage-gating or approvals process, which may comprise a plurality of stages such as creation, review, first edit, second edit, print or publish and/or the like. Each stage may be associated with certain user permissions, for example different users may have different permissions or no permissions for different stages. The system may be configured to transition between stages according to a stage gate trigger, such as a user input, comment or approval, rating and/or flagging. The user input or approval may need to be by a specified user type or role or group member or user that may have stage gating control permission for that stage.

The system may be configured to implement I PR or DRM management and/or protection, e.g. based on the user permissions,

The system may be configured to store flags associated with the document or manuscript and/or one or more or each subsection, e.g. textblock, picture or multimedia block or chapter and/or the like. The flags may indicate a status or readiness level, e.g. for approval, open, addressed, closed, approved and/or the like. The flags may indicate which user is responsible for an action and/or which actions are required. One or more flags may indicate at least one of: a status or readiness level, which user is responsible for an action, which actions are required, grammar issues or quality, spelling issues or quality, spell check required, plot, feel, suggestions, requests, contradictions, a rating or indication of clarity, a rating or scale, needing a reference, an indication of subplot, an indication or rating of plot relevance, an indication or rating of background, a sequence in the plot or sub-plot, relationships between characters, character descriptions, an indication or rating of quality, an indicator relating to sentence structure, a rating or indication of creativity of language, a rating or indication of suspense, a rating or indication of flow, a rating or indication of complexity, and/or vocabulary use, and/or the like. However, it will be appreciated that the above list of flags is not exhaustive and other flags would be readily apparent to a skilled person from the teaching of the present application. The flags may be set or changed by one or more users, e.g. users having appropriate permissions.

The system may be configured to implement a ranking or scoring system. The system may be configured to obtain and store scores or ranking values and/or comments or feedback from one or more users or from selected groups or types of user, e.g. from mentors, editors, publishers, test readers, and/or the like. The system may be configured to store the scores or ranking values and/or comments or feedback in the data store or in the document database. The system may be configured to obtain one or more classifications, labels or tags for the document, which may classify the document by one or more classifications such as genre, document or content type, interest group and/or the like. The classifications, labels or tags for the document may be specified or changed by one or more users. The system may be configured to store and/or provide the scores or ranking values and/or comments or other values derived therefrom such as average or aggregated score or ranking value. The system may be configured to store and/or provide the scores or ranking values and/or comments or other values derived therefrom with the associated document, e.g. in the data store or document database.

The system may be configured to implement a search system, for searching for documents. The search system may be configured to selectively identify documents, order or rank the display of documents or filter the documents, e.g. based on one or more criteria, such as by flag, score, ranking value, status, classification, label, tag and/or the like. The system may be configured to automatically assign permissions according to search criteria employed by a user with a specific permission. For example, the system may be configured to automatically assign one or more permissions, such as any or all of permission to access, view, review, comment and/or amend, only if a search includes a search-word or genre specified by the author or other person with permission to set such rights for a document.

The system may be configured to automatically provide documents for review, e.g. to selected or predetermined users, which may be based on the classification, label or tag for the document and/or the type, category or group membership of the user.

According to a second aspect is a digital collaborative publishing system for reviewing and/or preparing a document. The system may comprise, or be comprised in the system of the first aspect. The document may be or comprise the format-neutral text document of the first aspect.

The system may comprise or be configured to implement a tracking or review system for tracking changes to the document and/or for tracking comments, for example during editing. The tracking or review system may be configured to store any changes made by one or more or each user to the document and/or comments made by one or more or each user on the document. The document and the changes and/or comments may be stored together, e.g. in a document database or a data store. The document and the changes and/or comments may be comprised in different files but the different files may be stored together, e.g. in the document database or data store. The system may be configured to access and/or store information regarding the changes and/or comments, e.g. identifying the user who made the change, date and/or time of change, document version number that applies to the change, and the like. The changes and/or comments may be linked with a section of the document to which the respective change applies.

The system may be configured to segment the document into sections. The sections may be segmented by number of words, paragraphs, user selection, and/or the like. The sections may be or comprise textblocks, picture blocks, multimedia attachments, and/or the like. The system may be configured to associate changes and/or comments with an associated section and may be configured to store the changes and the associations of the changes to the relevant section. The system may be configured to record or log document versions or stages, e.g. when changes and/or comments are made and/or when sections are moved or changed or commented on. The system may be configured to start and/or finish stages or versions responsive to user input and/or automatically, e.g. in response to a trigger such as changes in user, time lapsed since the last change or comment being made, based on time of use and so on. The tracking system may be configured to record or store the versions or stages (e.g. the text of each version or stage) and/or any changes and/or comments made during that stage. The system may be configured to store any comments relating to a version or stage with the text they refer to, e.g. with the version or stage and/or with the associated textblock or section, for example, in the document database or data store.

The tracking system may be configured to provide a roll-back or archive system, e.g. where the document may be reverted to previous versions or stages of the document, for example by using the stored stages, comments and/or changes. The roll-back or archive system may be configured to provide any or all previous versions or stages of the format-neutral text document and/or any associated comments.

The roll-back or archive system may comprise or be configured to use a user interface. The roll-back or archive system may be configured to display two or more versions or stages of the document (and also optionally any comments associated with the versions or stages) simultaneously, e.g. side by side. The roll-back or archive system may be configured to display two or more versions or stages of the document in different boxes or windows in the user interface. The user interface may comprise a version list or designator configured to allow the user to select versions or stages of the document for display by the user interface, e.g. in the boxes or windows.

Only changes may be stored and they may be stored with the current text version, e.g. in the document database.

According to a third aspect of the present invention is a method of collaborating to produce a document, such as a print document or e-book. The method may comprise collaborating using the system of the first aspect. The method may comprise storing one or more format- neutral text documents using the system. The method may comprise selectively applying a format template from a plurality of format templates to the at least one format-neutral text document in order to produce and/or display at least one formatted document. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention is method of editing a document. The method may comprise editing the document using the system of the second aspect. The document may be or comprise the format-neutral text document.

The method may comprise implementing or providing a tracking or review system for tracking changes to the document and/or for tracking comments, for example during editing. The method may comprise storing any changes made by one or more or each user to the document and/or comments made by one or more or each user on the document. The method may comprise storing the document and the changes and/or comments together, e.g. in a common document database or data store. The method may comprise storing the document and the changes and/or comments in different files. The method may comprise storing the different files together, e.g. in the document database or data store. The method may comprise accessing and/or storing information regarding the changes and/or comments, e.g. identifying the user who made the change, date and/or time of change, document version number that applies to the change, and the like. The method may comprise linking the changes and/or comments with a section of the document to which the respective change applies.

The method may comprise associating changes and/or comments with one or more sections of the document. The method may comprise storing the changes and the associations of the changes to the one or more sections.

The method may comprise recording or storing document versions or stages, e.g. when changes and/or comments are made and/or when sections are moved or changed or commented on. The method may comprise starting and/or finishing stages or versions responsive to user input and/or automatically, e.g. in response to a trigger such as changes in user, time lapsed since the last change or comment being made, based on time of use and so on. The method may comprise recording or logging the versions or stages and/or any changes and/or comments made during that stage. The method may comprise using the roll-back or archive system of the first and/or second aspects. The method may comprise reverting the document to previous versions or stages of the document, for example by using the stored stages and/or changes.

The method may comprise displaying two or more versions or stages of the document (and optionally any comments associated with that version or stage) simultaneously, e.g. side by side. The method may comprise displaying two or more versions or stages of the document in different boxes or windows in the user interface. The method may comprise selecting versions or stages of the document for display by a user interface, e.g. in the boxes or windows. The method may comprise only storing changes in the document and the current or final document (e.g. rather than multiple versions of the entire document).

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a computer program product configured such that, when implemented or run on a processing apparatus or computer system or server, it causes the processing apparatus or computer system or server to implement the method of the third and/or fourth aspect.

The computer program product may be instantiated on a carrier medium, such as a transient or non-transient carrier medium. The carrier medium may be or comprise a physical carrier medium, such as an optical or magnetic disk, flash memory, SSD or other solid state storage.

It should be understood that the individual features and/or combinations of features defined above in accordance with any aspect of the present invention or below in relation to any specific embodiment of the invention may be utilised, either separately and individually, alone or in combination with any other defined feature, in any other aspect or embodiment of the invention.

Furthermore, the present invention is intended to cover apparatus configured to perform any feature described herein in relation to a method and/or a method of using or producing, using or manufacturing any apparatus feature described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

At least one embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic of a collaborative publishing system;

Figure 2 is a process flow for a publishing system;

Figure 3 is a process flow for the publishing system of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 is a view of a user interface of the system of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 5 is another view of a user interface of the system of Figure 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows an example of a publishing system 5 comprising server 7 that comprises a processor 10, a data store 15, and a communications system 20. User devices 25a-25e communicate with the server 7 to send and receive data. The server 7 may comprise a single server or a distributed array of servers. The data store may comprise local or remote data store components 15, 15, which may comprise any suitable form of data storage, such as optical or magnetic storage, solid state storage and/or the like. The communication system may be configured to communicate over wired communications channels such as an Ethernet network or over wireless channels such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and/or the like. In particular, the communication system may be configured to communicate over the internet such that the system 5 operates as a cloud based system. The user devices 25a-25e could comprise a personal computer, such as a desktop or laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, phablet or other suitable computing device. In the case where a user 30 is a printer 30e, then the user device 25e can be a controller for an electronic printing press. Although an example of the hardware arrangement of the publishing system 5 is shown in Figure 1 , it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to this arrangement and is also applicable to other suitable arrangements.

The hardware arrangement of Figure 1 is operable to implement the collaborative publishing system 5 in which various users 30a-30e can contribute to a manuscript document 35 (see Figure 3) via their associated user device 25a-25e with a view to producing a final published document 35' from the manuscript document 35 (see Figures 2 and 3). The users 30a-30e can include, for example, one or more authors 30a, one or more mentors 30b, one or more publishers or editors 30c, one or more setters 30d, one or more printers 30e, and/or the like.

The server 7 is configured to implement a user control system that controls access and permissions of the users 30a-30e. For example, each user logging on to access the server 7 is required to provide a user name or other identifier to allow the user 30a-30e to be identified and each user 30a-30e has to satisfy security and authentication requirements, such as provision of a password and/or other authentication requirements. In this way, each user 20a-30e can have defined access permissions that specify the documents 35 the user 30a-30e can access and also what actions the user is permitted to make, e.g. reading, editing, writing, commenting, rating, classifying, setting or changing flags, and the like. The author 30a or publisher 30c has full control of the document 35 but can, for example, invite mentors 30b and other review team members to comment and make suggestions. The user history and interactions with any given document 35 are stored by the serer 7 in the data store 15 for reference and also for protection against I PR-theft and other abuse. The server 7 is also configured to store one or more flags that indicate a document state (e.g. readiness level, approval state, open, addressed, closed). The server 7 implements a filter system that uses the flags to filter textblocks for attention or to filter comments for relevance.

An example of a publishing process flow is shown in Figure 2. In step 205 an author drafts the document 40 in the form of a manuscript. The manuscript document 40 is sent to a publishing company for review. The publishing company assigns an editor who will read the document 40 (step 210), and decide whether the document as a whole is acceptable for publication or not. If rejected, usually only a brief motivation is given. A conditional acceptance may be given, conditional on the author making or accepting changes prescribed by the editor. Thus, the document 40 can be passed several times between the author and the editor for comment and amendment until the editor accepts the manuscript document 40 (step 215).

The document 40 generally comprises a single document, wherein graphics and multimedia (if the manuscript is intended as an e-book) can be embedded. Often, the publisher will request pictures and multimedia content to (also) be supplied as separate files according to prescribed formats. The document 40 is formatted by the author using any formats and formatting listed as acceptable to the publisher in their instructions for authors.

Once the editor has accepted the manuscript document, the document 215 (which may be the original document 40 or an updated or edited version) is passed to a setter for reformatting. In particular, the setter imports the document 215 provided by the author or editor into formatting software running on the setter's user device, which strips the formatting applied by the author from the document 215 (step 220), in particular stripping any formatting and characters or fonts not supported by the formatting software, to extract raw text 225 from the document 215. The raw text original 225 extracted from the document 215 is then re-formatted (step 240) using the formatting software on the setter's user device based on a publisher's design manual 230 and a file specifying the printer's requirements for a print ready document 235, which are both stored on a user device or otherwise accessible by the setter, to produce a working copy 242 of the document. Importantly, the setter at this stage uses his working copy 242 to provide the author with final copy proofs 244 in a format which is suitable for the author to proof read (step 245) and make final corrections to the text, with enough space so that the setter can read those comments and apply final changes to his working copy 242 of the manuscript. After making any last-minute text changes as directed by the author, in step 250 the setter updates his working copy 242 to a print-ready manuscript. The now print ready document 35' is then sent to the printer's user device (e.g. a controller for a digital or electronic printing system) for controlling the printing system to print a book based on the document 35' (step 255). Alternatively, if the document 35' is intended to be an e-book, the printer requirements file 235 is substituted with an e-book requirements file and the final document 35' is sent to an e-book publication system.

The above process, whilst being adequate, can potentially suffer from certain drawbacks. For example, different users, such as authors, mentors and other review team members, publishers, setters and printers, amongst others, may have different roles to play in the creation of the published book. As such, the needs of each type or class of user can be different. However, systems in which users all work with a commonly formatted document may not provide optimal viewing of the document for most or all users. In view of the above, most systems involve working with a document that is not commonly formatted and in which text is moved between different platforms / software and formatting is removed and remade. This is a source of errors. The final author proofs have the important main function of allowing the author correct errors introduced in the setting. The authors may miss errors, and the author final proofs come with a very tight deadline, which may lead to errors being carried through to the final publication. Furthermore, if a publisher decides to change their formatting preferences, then changing the formatting of all of their books and other publications to reflect the new format may be overly onerous. In addition, choosing and systematically implementing a consistent layout and formatting to the manuscript can be a manually intensive and costly part of the publishing process, and a system with increased automation and lower cost may be preferable.

Figure 3 shows an alternative collaborative publishing process flow that is implemented by the collaborative publishing system 5 of Figure 1. In this arrangement, the document 35 is stored in the data store 15 as a format-neutral raw text document 35 throughout most or all of the publishing process.

In one example, the format-neutral text document comprises only a limited or reduced set of formatting instructions. For example, textblocks may be separated by control-markers rather than stored as individual database entries, and simple formatting information such as "heading", "linefeed", possibly "bold" and "italics" could be stored as textblock data, while the exact format of the text (e.g. times new roman 16 points, left justified 4pt space above and 3pt space below) would be contained in the format templates. In another example, the document 35 is formed of textblocks that are stored as unformatted text and without any formatting.

Regardless of which of the above forms of the format-neutral texts are used, a series of separate formatting templates 40a-40d are stored, e.g. in the data store 15 and/or on individual user devices 20a-20e or are otherwise accessible to the server 7 or user devices 20a-20e. For example, the format-neutral raw text document 35 and the formatting templates 40a-40d can be stored as different files. The formatting templates 40a-40d contain formatting instructions required to format format-neutral raw text documents into formatted documents. The respective formatting templates 40a-40d differ from each other and are associated with respective users or for respective classes or types of user. In this way, the formatting for the document 35 is stored separately from the content. The system is configured to separately maintain and store the raw format-neutral text file 35 and the formatting templates 40a-40d throughout most or all of the publishing process. The formatting templates 40a-40d for the relevant user or class of user are applied to the format- neutral document 35 in order to provide a formatted document 35' that is in the required format for viewing by the relevant user or class of user. However, any changes to the document are made to the underlying raw text document 35 and subsequently reflected in the formatted document 35". The appropriate formatting template 40a-40d for a given user 30a-30e (or type or class of user) can be selected by the user 30a-30e, stored on the user device 25a-25e associated with the user 30a-30e or advantageously can be automatically selected by the system 5 (e.g. by the server 7 or the user device 20a-20e) based on the identification and authentication of the user 30a-30e carried out by the server 7 or the user device 20a-20e.

The formatting templates 40a-40d can also include different templates for different types of publications. For example, the formatting templates 40a-40d may comprise different formatting templates 40a-40d for ebooks and printed books, wherein a different layout is applied to any given document 35, depending on its intended publication (e.g. as an ebook with flowing text, or as a printed books according to the standard page size and font size). The formatting templates may also contain formatting information for incorporating illustrations or other graphics or multimedia segments stored as picture-blocks. Specific formatting templates may be created, for example to give a collection of books a unique "feel". Optionally, users can be given limited control over the templates controlling how the text is presented on their screen, while keeping the final or Wysiwyg formatting according to publisher standard templates. In this case, the author 25a can access the server 7 via the author's user device 20a in order to create a new document 35. The new document 35 is stored as an format-neutral raw text document in the data store 15 of the server 7.

When users 30a-30e log in to the server 7 and identify themselves, then the server 7 can access a permission file that specifies which users 30a-30e have access to the document 35 and also the type or class of user. In this way, the server 7 can determine that the user 30a is an author and selectively apply a text review formatting template 40a that is associated with authors to the format-neutral raw text in the document 35. Thus, as far as the author 30a is concerned, when the document 35 is displayed on the author's user device 25a, the document 35 appears formatted according to the author specific text review formatting template 40a, e.g. that formats the text in such a way that it is easier to view and review for authors 30a but isn't in the publisher's preferred style or in a format for printing. However, the format-neutral document 35 is still stored separately as a raw text document and the changes or additions to the text made by the author 30a are made to the format-neutral raw text document 35.

As indicated at step 305, the author 30a can then write and edit the document 35 on their user device 25a, viewing the document 35 in a formatted form that has been formatted by the formatting template 40a associated with authors but is stored as an underlying master format-neutral document 35 in the data store 15.

The author 30a can invite members of a review team such as a mentor 30b or an editor 30c to review and comment on the document 35 and make suggestions. Again, each of the review team members 30b, 30c has to pass the server's identification and authentication procedures so that the identity and access rights of each team member 30b, 30c can be identified and the document secured against breaches of document IP rights. Only users 30a-30c with access and/or commenting permissions for the document 35 can access and/or comment on the document 35. Furthermore, the format that best allows the review team, including the mentors 30b and editors 30c to best review and assess the document 35 could be different to that which allows the authors 30a to best write and amend the document 35. As such, the system 5 applies a different formatting template 40b that applies different formatting to the display of the document 35 on the user devices 25b, 25c of the members of the review team 30b, 30c to the formatting template 40a that is applied to the display of the document 35 for the author 30a. Beneficially, the system 5 can be configured to automatically apply the different formatting templates 40a, 40b based on the type or class or type of user that can be determined as a result of the user identification and authentication process.

Documents 35 are ranked, e.g. by interest and quality, by the members of the review team 30b, 30c using their user devices 25b, 25c and the rankings stored in the data store 15. Thus, when a document 35 is ready for pre-publishing marketing review, it already has a tentative set of labels and genre-tags. Interested readers can then be invited to review the documents 35. In this way, launch decisions can be taken depending on the reviews and rankings received as well as the local and global interest in the type of book it is (as described by category tags). This could involve exposing the manuscript to a wider review audience and eventually publishing first as an e-book and later as a printed book. During the funnelling process, quality improvements may be requested if indicated by reviewer comments.

The document 35 can go through several iterations of review by the review team 30b, 30c and amendment by the author 30a. Each version of each textblock is stored in the data store 15. Each comment provided by a user 30a, 30b, 30c is also associated and stored with an appropriate document 35, textblock, and/or chapter. The operation of the version control is described in further detail below. Flags (e.g. readiness level and approval state) can be set by one or more of the users 30a-30e and are also stored in the data store 15. The flags are used to filter textblocks for attention. Other flags (e.g. open, addressed, closed) are used to filter comments for relevance and readiness.

Certain members of the review team, such as the mentor 30b or editor 30c have stage gate rights to approve documents 35 for passing certain stages of the progress. In this case, once the editor 30c considers that the document 35 is in a condition to proceed, in step 310, the editor 30c can approve the document 35 for setting and printing.

Once the document 35 has been approved for setting by the editor 30c, then an appropriate flag is set that provides access to the document 35 by the setter 30d using the setter's user device 25d. The document 35 is still maintained as an format-neutral document, but upon determining that the user 30d is a setter as part of the user identification and authentication process, the system 5 (e.g. the server 7 and/or the user device 25d) is configured to automatically apply a different formatting template 40c that comprises formatting that makes the document suitable for the setter to format, e.g. that is compatible with the setter's formatting software and is consistent with the publisher's requirements or house style. As the formatting is automatically applied by the system 5 based on the formatting template 40c, there may be little or no formatting required from the setter 30c. Any changes to the formatting made by the setter 30c (step 315) may be made by updating one or more of the formatting templates 40a-40c, for example.

After the setter 30d has made any final formatting changes, the document 35 is once again passed to the author 30a for proof reading. Again the system 5 automatically applies the text review formatting template 40a associated with the author 30a so that the document 35 is displayed formatted using the appropriate formatting template 40a in the author's user device 25a. In this way, the author 30a can more easily proof read and make any required final changes to the document 35 (step 320).

Once the author 30a is satisfied, the document 35 is passed once again to the editor 30b for a final go-ahead decision before printing or publishing (step 325), wherein the system 5 automatically displays the document 35 on the editor's user device 25c using the appropriate formatting template 40b, in this example a WYSIWYG format, that is particularly beneficial for the editor's review of the document 35.

After approval by the editor 30c, the document 35 is passed to the printer 30e. The document 35 is still stored as a format-neutral document. A print ready format 40d is applied to the document 35 before being provided to the printer 30e. The print ready format contains the formatting and printing commands required for the printer 30e to print the book, e.g. to be accepted by and/or program the controller of an electronic or digital printer to produce the final printed book in the required format. Alternatively, if the publication is to be an e-book, then the formatting template would be an e-book publishing formatting template containing instructions for an e-publishing system to create a suitably formatted e-book from the format- neutral document 35.

It will be appreciated that a key feature is that the format-neutral document 35 and the formatting information contained in the formatting templates 40a-40d is kept separate throughout the process. In this way, formatting changes can be more easily or globally applied by simply changing the relevant formatting templates 40a-40d rather than by having to change every document 35 affected by the change. In addition, the user device 25a-25e of each user 30a-30e automatically displays the document 35" formatted in a manner most suited to the tasks carried out by the associated user 30a-30e. Furthermore, the process may reduce or eliminate costly setting but allow the author 30a to develop their manuscript in an environment that supports the publisher's processes for getting the manuscript into a format suitable for print or for release as an e-book. Importantly, the system also reduces the risk of errors arising from converting a document between different formats.

As described above, the system beneficially provides for commenting and version control of amendments.

In many publications, a complete trail of comments and changes is highly beneficial. In currently available editing systems, commenting and track-changes facilities are often available. However only the latest changes are shown and deleted comments cannot be retrieved unless previous versions are saved as separate documents, which can be cumbersome and inefficient in terms of data storage.

As detailed above, when the document 35 is being edited, each version of each textblock or other section of the document is stored. In addition each comment is stored associated to the relevant textblock or other section. These are all stored together (but optionally in different files) in the data store 15. When a section is changed or moved within the document, a new document stage is started and all changes and comments recorded. In this way, data efficient and flexible rollback is possible, not only for any version of the document but also including comments, replies to comments and other editing notes.

Views of a user interface 50 that is displayed on each user device 25a-25e are shown in Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 shows a configuration of the interface 50 in which a series of menus and command buttons 55, a document window 60 showing the text of the document 35 formatted by the appropriate formatting template 40a-40d, and a comment window 65 showing any comments relevant to the section of text displayed in the document window 60.

A rollback feature can be selected from one of the menus or command buttons 55. This brings up the interface 50' shown in Figure 5. The interface 50' comprises a first version window 70 that displays the current version of the document 35 suitably formatted with the appropriate formatting template 40a-40d, a second version window 75 that displays a previous version of the document 35 and a rollback control 80, in the form of a slider in this example, that allows the user 30a-30e to choose the degree of roll-back, i.e. to choose between the various previously stored versions. As the previous versions of each textblock or the changes in each textblock and any associated comments are stored together, then it is possible to reconstruct, display and compare any previous versions of the document and the associated comments using the rollback feature. While the above describes one possible example of how the invention could be implemented, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the above example and that different implementations are possible.

While the above example describes a server or cloud based system, it will be appreciated that this need not be the case. The system could instead be implemented in a physically connected system or even on a single device, such as on a personal computer. Indeed, the system need not necessarily comprise a server, and one or more of the functions of the server described above may be carried out by one or more of the user devices, for example. Furthermore, although certain functions have been ascribed to the server 7 and some to user devices 20a-20e, it will be appreciated that the functions of the system 5 may be distributed differently, with one or more or each of the functions ascribed above to the server 7 being carried out by the user devices 20a-20e and vice versa.

The invention can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. Method steps can also be performed by special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or other customised circuitry. Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include CPUs and microprocessors, and any one or more processors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g. EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD- ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, the invention can be implemented on a user device having a screen, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), plasma, LED (light emitting diode) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and an input device, e.g., a keyboard, touch screen, a mouse, a trackball, and the like by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used, for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

Claims

1. A digital collaborative publishing system, the system being configured to store one or more format-neutral documents and a plurality of format templates, each format template comprising formatting information for formatting documents, wherein the format-neutral documents are separate from the plurality of format templates and the system is configured to selectively apply a format template from the plurality of format templates to the at least one format-neutral document in order to produce, save, store and/or display at least one formatted document.

2. The system of claim 1 configured to make any additions or changes in text to the format-neutral document but display the at least one formatted text document to the user using a user device.

3. The system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the format-neutral documents are unformatted text or raw text documents that contain only unformatted text.

4. The system of any preceding claim, configured to automatically select and apply a format template from the plurality of format templates that is associated with a user of the system or a type or class of user of the system.

5. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the server comprises an authentication or identification system configured to authenticate and/or identify users and the authentication or identification system is configured to determine user permissions and/or user information based on the authentication or identification of the user.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the authentication or identification system is configured to selectively permit access to the at least one format-neutral text documents only to users who have permission to access the at least one format- neutral text documents.

7. The system of claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the user information contains a class or type of the user and/or user preferences and the system is configured to automatically select and apply a format template based on the class or type of user and/or the user preferences contained in the user information.

8. The system according to any preceding claim configured to apply changes or updates to selected, groups of or all formatted documents by changing at least one associated format template.

9. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the system comprises or is configured to implement a tracking or review system for tracking changes to format-neutral text documents and/or comments relating to the format-neutral text document.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the system is configured to segment the format- neutral text document into sections and record or store document versions or stages and any associated comments associated with the text of the version or stage to which the comments refer.

1 1. The system of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the tracking system is configured to provide a roll-back or archive system that reverts the document to any previous versions or stages of the document using the stored stages and/or changes.

12. The system of claim 1 1 , wherein the roll-back or archive system comprises a user interface configured to display two or more versions or stages of the document and/or any associated comments simultaneously.

13. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the system is configured to store flags associated with the document or manuscript, comments, textblocks and/or one or more or each section, and optionally wherein the flags indicate one or more of: a status or readiness level, which user is responsible for an action, which actions are required, grammar issues or quality, spelling issues or quality, spell check required, plot, feel, suggestions, requests, contradictions, a rating or indication of clarity, a rating or scale, needing a reference, an indication of subplot, an indication or rating of plot relevance, an indication or rating of background, a sequence in the plot or subplot, relationships between characters, character descriptions, an indication or rating of quality, an indicator relating to sentence structure, a rating or indication of creativity of language, a rating or indication of suspense, a rating or indication of flow, a rating or indication of complexity, and/or vocabulary use.

14. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the system is configured to implement a ranking or scoring system that is configured to obtain and store scores or ranking values and/or comments or feedback and/or one or more classifications, labels or tags for the document from one or more users or from selected groups or types of user.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the system is configured to implement a search or filtering system for searching for documents or filtering document based on flag, score, ranking value, status, and/or readiness level.

16. A digital collaborative publishing system for reviewing and/or preparing a document, editing system comprising or being configured to implement a review system for tracking changes to the document and/or for tracking comments, the review system being configured to store any changes made by one or more or each user to the document and/or comments made by one or more or each user with the text of the document to which they refer in a data store.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the document is segmented into sections and the system is configured to associate the changes and/or comments with an associated section and to store the changes and/or comments and the associations of the changes and/or comments to the relevant section in the data store.

18. A method of collaborating to produce a document using the system of any of claims 1 to 17, the method comprising:

storing one or more format-neutral text documents using the system; and selectively applying a format template from a plurality of format templates to the at least one format-neutral text document in order to produce and display at least one formatted document.

19. A computer program product configured such that, when implemented or run on a processing apparatus or computer system or server, causes the processing apparatus or computer system or server to implement the method of claim 18.