Etherpad FAQs

Etherpad is a highly customizable open source online editor providing collaborative editing in really real-time. Show the editor and how fast you can collaborate with other people online.

Collaborating in really real-time No more sending your stuff back and forth via email, just set up a pad, share the link and start collaborating! Etherpad allows you to edit documents collaboratively in real-time, much like a live multi-player editor that runs in your browser. Write articles, press releases, to-do lists, etc. together with your friends, fellow students or colleagues, all working on the same document at the same time.

All instances provide access to all data through a well-documented API and support import/export to many major data exchange formats. And if the built-in feature set isn't enough for you, there's tons of plugins that allow you to customize your instance to suit your needs.

You don't need to set up a server and install Etherpad in order to use it. Just pick one of the publicly available instances that friendly people from everywhere around the world have set up. Alternatively, you can set up your own instance by following our installation guide.

Add Functionalities Etherpad is very customizable through plugins. Instructions can be found in the plugin wiki article Linus Torvalds and Edward Snowden winking into the camera from a collaborate Etherpad. The document reads 'So many plugins can be added to the original instance

Customize Appearance A video showing the possibility to customize the appearance of Etherpad. You can switch between dark, light, super light and super dark. Download Version 2.2.5 Also, see our installation instructions.

Linux/MacWindows Looking for older releases? Contribute Etherpad is an open source project. Lots of passionate, helpful individuals have joined and voluntarily contributed every single bit throughout this project: From this website through the documentation to the very core of the application. So, if you like Etherpad and would like to give back some love, we'd like to see your contributions! It doesn't matter how familiar you are with real-time applications, or whether you know how to write programs for Node.js. There are plenty of ways to be helpful!

One of the first things you should do is actually use Etherpad, and get to know it - read about it, evangelise it, and engage with the wider community. You can also translate the user interface to your mother tongue or learn how to write plugins. Be creative!

If you'd like to help, get in touch! Also, the wiki is always a valuable resource.

Development workflow The main development happens on GitHub. To contribute, fork the main repo, branch off a feature branch from develop, make your changes and commit them, push to your fork and submit a pull request for ether/develop.

Once in a while we merge develop into master, which results in a new release. This means you will always find the latest stable version in the master branch.

Links BlogGitHub repositoryList of public instancesIssue trackerWikiDocumentation v2.2.5

Thanks Many individuals, companies and organizations have contributed to Etherpad. We'd like to thank them all!

Additionally, our thanks go out to the tens of thousands of developers and organizations who have created all the modules we depend on or contributed in some way to our ability to provide Etherpad as open source.

We'd also like to thank you. You, who've been making Etherpad what it is, if you've been developing awesome features or plugins, whether you're running an instance or you're just one of our diligent users.

Thank you!