Core Ideas
NUU Docs is built from a small set of nouns. Learn these nouns first. The rest of the product is how they connect.
Document
A document is one source in your library. It has a name, a source type, and a parse state.
The source can be a file, a URL, or pasted text. A PDF is the common file source. A video URL, a public article URL, and pasted transcript text are the other types.
The document is the unit you open, tag, collect, share, reparse, and delete. Deleting a document removes it and all versions.
Version
A version is one snapshot of parsed content for a document. The first successful parse creates version 1. A later reparse creates a new version. If you edit the parsed content and save, that save also creates a new version.
Old versions stay on the document. You can open an earlier version in the parsed pane. The latest version is the default.
Parsed content
Parsed content is the structured result of a parse. It lives on the version. You read it in the parsed pane.
It is not the source. The source stays on the left. The parsed copy sits on the right after parse succeeds. A parse can also leave a warning. A warning is not a failure. A video can parse with an empty transcript.
Source pane and parsed pane
When you open a document, you see two reading areas. The source pane shows the original. The parsed pane shows the structured content for the version you selected.
For a PDF with page markers, the two panes can stay in step as you scroll. You can turn that lock off. Older parses without page markers scroll on their own.
See About Source and Parsed Panes.
Tag
A tag is a label you attach to a document or a collection. Tags are yours. They form a path with slashes, so a tag can sit under another tag.
You use tags to filter the library. A document can have many tags.
Collection
A collection is a group of documents you own. A document can sit in more than one collection. Adding a document does not copy it.
A collection has a kind. A playlist is the usual kind: you name it and add documents. A book is another kind: it holds a source file and, after a split, one document per chapter. Chapters can be front matter, body chapters, or appendix items, in order.
Deleting a playlist does not delete the documents inside it. Deleting a book does delete its chapters.
See About Tags and Collections.
Share
A share gives another person read access to a document you own. You name the person by email. Access is read only. The person cannot parse, reparse, share, or delete your document.
If that person has not signed in yet, the share stays pending until they do. Sharing also gives them access to the Surf output for that document.
Public link
A public link is a read-only link that opens the document in NUU Surf. The visitor does not need a NUU account. That view has no chat, notes, or highlights.
This is different from making a document public inside NUU Docs. Public inside NUU Docs means any signed-in NUU user can open the document in the library. You can also put a password on the public link.
See About Sharing.
Reparse
A reparse runs parse again on the same document. The current version stays. A new version appears when the run finishes.
You reparse when the text is wrong, incomplete, or out of date. If reparse is not enough, you can report a problem on a parsed run.
How the nouns relate
You add a source. That source becomes a document. Parse writes parsed content onto a version. You read the source pane next to the parsed pane. Tags and collections organise documents. Shares and public links let other people read. Reparse adds versions without replacing the document.