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All changes must be agreed to by the group. Until they are adopted by the group, they must be enclosed within tags. These examples show how it is done:

• Addition

<!addition>This is a new sentence. This is another new sentence.</!addition>

The addition tags shall enclose new sentences or sections. Instead of the full word addition you may just use the letter a, as in <!a> and </!a>.

• Modification

<!modification>This is the best PAD group ever! <!old>This PAD group is quite ok.</!old></!modification>

The modification tags shall enclose sentences or sections that are modified from a previous state. Please leave the original text, enclosed within 'old' tags. Instead of the full word modification you may just use the first letters, as in <!m> and <!o>

Modification tags are not required for correcting typographical errors (i.e. adress -> address) because such changes do not affect the meaning of the text. Grammatical and punctuation errors may also be corrected directly - unless this has a potential of affecting the meaning of the text, in which case modification tags are recommended. If in doubt, contact the other members for clarification.

• Nested tags

Tags should be nested for legibility, and to preserve details about the age and relationship of changes during the round. The old tags should be enclosed by the modification tags they correspond to. For example:

This is <!m ZZ>extremely fresh and new<!o>old and stale</!o></!m>.

As the document progresses, it is likely changes will be made to changes. Authors are advised to use common sense with modifications and not create messy structuring. Try to avoid changing anything within someone else's Modification tags. Creating a fresh copy of the sentence with changes, placing the old version in Old tags is strongly recommended:

This <!m YY>extremely dull sentence has been magically reworked. <!o>is <!m ZZ>extremely fresh and new<!o>old and stale</!o> </!m>.</!o></!m YY>

Note author 'YY' has signed the end tags of their changes, and used whitespace for legibility. Signing end tags is not a requirement, but can be useful in certain situations - use when appropriate!

• Removal

<!removal>I give up, it's no use. Hey people, haven't you heard the news? KOSH is dead! Yes, really... </!removal>

The removal tags enclose sentences or sections that you would like to have removed entirely. Instead of the full word removal you may just use the letter r, as in <!r> and </!r>.

• Moving

<!moved#ID>...</!moved> or <!mv#ID>...</!mv> designate a chunk of text moved from elsewhere in the document. The original location of this text is signalled by a <!cut#ID> or <!c#ID> tag. It is strongly recommended that you comment the cut tag with a brief description of the moved text. For example:

Before:
  This line used to have two sentences. But now it has two.
  This line used to have one.

After:
  This line used to have two sentences. <!cut#1>
  This line used to have one. <!mv#1>But now it has two.</!mv>

The ID is a numerical '1' in the above example but while we recommend you continuously number your IDs, it can be any short, unique identifier. If you decide not to use numerical IDs, please try to ensure IDs are meaningful and not similar to initials of PAD group members or tag names.

<!mv#1>, <!mv#001>, <!mv#Summary>, <!mv#Warning> are probably good choices.

<!mv#a>, <!mv#mv>, <!mv#JC>, <!mv#foobaryakkadidah>, <!mv#~@#&> are probably not good choices.

• Initials

In order to know when the document has passed a whole round, please sign the tags with your initials. You don't need to put your initials in the end tag, though in some cases, especially with nested tags, it may be easier to read if you do.

<!addition XX>This is a new fantastic sentence written by me, Xerxes Xylophone.</!addition>

If you agree with an existing suggestion, just add your own initials. You may also enclose an old addition which you don't agree with. If you disagree with a selection, add your initials prefixed by a lowercase x i.e. <!m xYY>

<!modification YY>The PAD group has written many good sentences. This is one of them. <!old><!addition XX>This is a new fantastic sentence written by me, Xerxes Xylophone.</!addition></!old> </!modification YY>

If you agree with part of the modification, approve the section and then modify it as normal.

<!modification YY, ZZ>The PAD group has written <!modification ZZ>a few decent <!old>many good</!old> </!modification ZZ> sentences. This is one of them. <!old><!addition XX>This is a new fantastic sentence written by me, Xerxes Xylophone.</!addition></!old> </!modification YY, ZZ>

• When and how to make a suggestion permanent

As soon as a majority of the group has agreed with a suggestion, its tags can be removed. In the case of modifications, the old text should be removed as well. For example, if the group has three members you may remove any tag surrounding a suggestion you agree with, unless it was your suggestion of course. If your group has an even number of members and becomes deadlocked over a change, try and resolve it by discussion. Where no consensus can be reached, the PAD representative holds the casting vote.

• When and how to remove a suggestion

If a majority seems to oppose a suggestion, you must first make sure that this really is the case, by mailing the other groups members to ask them. Also try to discuss the suggestion to find out why they dismissed it. Someone might change their mind during this discussion, but if this doesn't happen then the suggestion should be removed. This means that the text must be restored to its former state. If the suggestion is a modification or removal then the old text must be kept, and a text that has been moved must be moved back.

• Comments

Sometimes it can be useful to include a comment about the modification or addition you just made. These comments are for internal use only, which means they may be removed at any point.

They may look like this:

<!a XX; this is an expression, not a typo> A beer is a beer is a beer.</!a>

<!a XX, YY; an expression, got it :-) > A beer is a beer is a beer.</!a>

<! XX; You may also include separate comments like this one. These should not have an end tag.>

• Finally

A lot of changes and moving text leads to lots of tags, and ultimately lots of confusion. Use tags wisely.

If you want to make lots of little changes to a sentence or paragraph, don't be afraid to copy the whole block to the Old part of a Modification tag and rewrite the sentence again with modifications - labelling clearly the start and end of the changes if they are large (hint initial all the tags <m! XX>...<!o XX>...<!o XX></!m XX>).

You may, at your option, circulate a preliminary version within the group to test the water before spending too much time on a new version.

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