Saving Versions

At our last meeting, we talked about saving versions. I am wondering about adding to my story. Should I write the new stuff in a color until I am sure that I want to keep it?
Should I highlight the portion and save the whole document renaming it?
Should I just save the portion I changed and insert a symbal that tells me to look for a version and save only the paragraph or text added? I am not sure what to do. I don't want to mess the whole thing up and later wish I had not added all this extra stuff. Can anyone give me some guidence?
Also this format is wierd. the writing box is at the bottom of the page and I have to write over the boxes that say preview and send and options. It isn't up where it should be? and suggestions?

I fixed it, there was this little broken box at the top of my browser that said it goes back to an older version and that the new version may have things out of line....looks good now. My computer must not like change....or is that me?

I guess it depends on what the purpose is. Some people keep the stuff that has already been reviewed and revised in one color and the new stuff in another color.

If you're thinking about taking the story in a different direction because you want to try something new, then you might make a copy of the document and give the new copy a version number, which is what I had been doing until I started using the fancy tool. The benefit with saving number versions of the file, is that you can go back to a previous version and compare.

Does that answer you're question?

Okay,
now some hard details, should I write the new stuff in a color and save that version? (Not a new direction, but maybe add some filler, backstory, stuff we talked about that is new and maybe not the right thing.) I just don't want to write a bunch of stuff and find it isn't the right stuff and then have to take it all out. So saving it to a new version and adding the new stuff in color would be easy to just delete what doesn't make the cut.

I suggest that you start by naming your files something meaningful to separate older versions from newer ones.

As for content that is changing inside a new version of an existing work, as long as you make it clear to the reader what parts you want reviewed, it should not make a difference how you present it.

For the 'jethrocite' work, I put new stuff on the back end (as I am writing to complete it), making all new text black and changing all previously distributed text blue. But that is just my convention. You can apply any one you want.

I tend not to save versions of chapters. I save versions of the rewrite. I currently have three save manuscripts (MSE1, MSE 2, MSE3 - the current one). MSE1 is the one you first read. MSE 2 is the re-write that the group has been reading. MSE3 is the one I'm on now and haven't posted yet. I pretty much throw out anything that's been re-written or deleted, unless I think it is particulary good and can't send it into oblivion, or I think it helps me, but doesn't necessarily belong in the body of work at this time. I have a separate file called "reworkings" saved accoring to date and the chapter/version it was pulled from. My suggestion is to save the original work in its entirety and then save the next version in and change as you go. I don't know if that makes sense, but it has worked well for me.

Yes that makes sense. I think that will work. Thanks for the input.