Conflicted Entries

Once in a while, when Ember Plus syncs, a journal entry, story, or interaction ends up with a second version. When that happens, Ember keeps both and shows them to you, so you can pick the one to keep or move pieces between them.

Why conflicts happen

Most of the time, Ember merges edits from different devices on its own, even when they land at the same moment. A conflict only appears when two devices changed the same lines of the same entry before either could sync. It usually goes like this:

You edit an entry on a Mac that's offline, like a laptop on a flight.
Meanwhile, you edit the same paragraph of that entry on another device that's online.
The laptop reconnects and syncs. Two different versions of the same lines now exist.

Ember could quietly pick one and throw the other away. It doesn't, because it can't know which words you meant to keep, and your writing is the one thing that must never be lost. Sync is still hard, so we'd rather ask.

To avoid conflicts, try not to edit the same entry on two devices while one of them is offline. Once both are online and the sidebar says Backed up, edit wherever you like.

How to spot a conflict

A conflicted copy is marked with a branch icon (a line splitting in two). Hover over it for a short explanation. Where it appears depends on what diverged:

Journal: the copy sits indented directly under the original entry in the list. If the original isn't in the current list (for example, it's been filtered out), the copy moves to a Conflicts section at the very top of the Journal, above Pinned.
Stories: copies are listed, with a warning triangle, in a Conflicts section above your chapters: "Review and keep the truest version."
Interactions: the copy is shown indented under the original interaction on that person's page.

An untitled copy is labeled Conflicted copy. Conflicted copies sync like any other entry, so you'll see the same conflict on all your devices, and resolving it once resolves it everywhere.

Screenshot: a conflicted copy nested under its original in the Journal

The copy stays right next to the version it split from.

Resolving a conflict

Click the conflicted copy to open it, and compare it with the original.
If the copy has anything you want to keep, copy it across into the original (or the other way round).
Delete the version you no longer need. In the Journal and on a person's page, right-click the copy and choose Delete Diverged Copy. In Stories, click the trash button on the copy's row.

That's it: once the copy is gone, the conflict is resolved on every device. A deleted copy goes to the Trash like any other entry, so you can still restore it if you change your mind.

A copy is only kept when its text actually differs. If both devices ended up with the same words, there's nothing to resolve and no copy appears.

What about other changes?

Visible conflicted copies are created when you had the entry open in the editor while another device's change arrived. For everything else, like a person's details, or an entry that wasn't open on either device, the most recent edit wins. The older version isn't lost: it's kept for 30 days under Settings → Backup & Sync → Recently overwritten, where you can restore it with one click.

Still missing something? See Sync Troubleshooting.

Still stuck? Ask on the feedback board → Sync Troubleshooting