[tracyhenry]

This is a novel idea. Congrats on the launch!

When I hear collaborative writing, however, I think of OverLeaf, which tons of researchers I met use for writing LaTex collaboratively. Does Curvenote support Latex editing out of the box? How can you make them transition to your platform if their workflow isn't data heavy?

Btw - I personally am not very happy about OverLeaf. Its UX can be improved in various ways but seems lacking enough development support.

[jdleesmiller]

(Overleaf co-founder here.) Thanks for the feedback --- I'd be happy to hear more about what you would like to see improved, either here or via email (in my profile).

And to the curvenote team: Congrats on launching here! Happy to chat about collaborative scientific writing any time :)

[tracyhenry]

Thanks John - I did not expect this comment :)

The biggest complaint I have is: I couldn't navigate between different files using some keyboard shortcuts. The only way is to use mouse clicks, which can be quite slow and prone to errors. In modern IDEs you usually can bring up a file search box with hotkeys. The same goes for switching between PDF and tex.

Another thing bothering me is that the hot-key CMD+Enter for compiling doesn't always work. I couldn't figure out when it works and when it doesn't. When it doesn't, I again need to click on the compile button which is inefficient. I also sometimes use CMD+S, but that saves the entire webpage when the editor isn't in focus.

One other classic UI issue - the only way you can expand a folder in the left side bar is to click on the tiny little arrow. This is too inefficient. A much better way would be allowing folder expansion when I click on anywhere in the row containing that folder.

Despite these issues, I want to say a huge thanks for creating OverLeaf - without it it'd be much harder for me to get my degree. :)

[jdleesmiller]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Strong agree on better file switching --- also high on my list. I've passed this feedback on to the team.

[rowanc1]

Thanks! I would love to chat about collaborative scientific writing! I will send you an email following up. :)

[stevejpurves]

In Curvenote's editor you collaborate on the content as you would in something like google docs, without needing to write Latex -- but with the features you'd reach to Latex for; equations, figures, citations, cross referencing etc...

Documents can then be exported as a PDF which uses Latex for typesetting, currently that's with a default template, but we're working on user defined templates right now.

When people's workflow is not data heavy, we think there are other features making Curvenote an attractive place to work; the WYSIWYG style of writing, real-time comments and easy sharing on one hand but also how Curvenote helps you easily reuse, update and build on your existing content.