Making collaborative writing simple for third and public sectors

The Challenge

Third and Public sector organisations regularly need to work on documents together – scoping sessions, funding bids, project plans, meeting notes. Yet many find themselves unable to work share functions or trapped in endless email chains, with multiple versions of the same document bouncing between inboxes. Commercial collaborative writing tools often require accounts, logins, subscriptions, or technical knowledge, which create barriers for smaller organisations. We wanted to find a simpler way.

Our Approach

We created ProMoPapur, our own instance of the open-source Etherpad platform, as a free collaborative writing tool for cross-sector collaboration. The name combines our organisation’s name with ‘papur’ – the Welsh word for paper.

ProMoPapur allows multiple people to work on a document simultaneously, with changes appearing instantly. Each contributor is assigned a colour, making it easy to see who made which edits. The clean, distraction-free interface keeps the focus on content rather than complex features.

There’s no need to create accounts or install software. Users simply share a link and start working together. When finished, documents can be exported in various formats including PDF, Word, HTML, or plain text.

How It Works

Creating a new document is simple. Click the ‘New Pad’ button and you immediately have a fresh collaborative space. To invite others, share the URL from your browser’s address bar via email or messaging.

The integrated chat panel allows contributors to discuss the document without leaving ProMoPapur. Every change is automatically saved, and the Time Slider feature lets users see how a document evolved over time or recover content if needed.

Impact

Scott Tandy, Digital Inclusion Officer at Newydd Housing Association, used ProMoPapur to lead a scoping meeting with staff from ten different partner organisations in Wales.

“As soon as I shared the link to the live notepad, the group started sharing key contacts and knowledge users to call upon, added content ideas to the agreed course topics, and also identified new topics we hadn’t considered before. I was amazed by how good it was.”

Try ProMoPapur

ProMoPapur is available now at www.promopapur.cymru. We’d love to hear how you’re using it and welcome feedback on how we might develop the tool further.

ProMoPapur has been made possible through generous funding from the players of The National Lottery Community Fund. Their support enables us to create digital tools that help communities collaborate, connect and create positive change across Wales.

If you have a digital challenge and want to build ethical solutions, get in touch with andrew@promo.cymru