Two people editing the same file used to mean one of them losing work. Sitepins shows you who’s there and what they’re doing, live.
Live Cursors
When more than one person has the same file open in the rich text editor, you see each other’s cursors in real time — a colored caret with a name label attached.
- Each person gets a distinct color for the session
- The label shows their display name
- Selections are visible too, so you can see what someone is about to change
This is the same document, synchronized. You’re not looking at a stale copy that refreshes on save.
Presence Avatars
The editor header shows avatars for everyone currently in the file.
- Up to three faces, then a +N counter with the rest on hover
- A green dot marks each person as active
- Hovering shows their name and email
- Each person keeps a consistent color
Presence works in both the content editor and the code editor.
Commit Notifications
If someone commits the file while you have it open, Sitepins tells you straight away — so you find out before you save on top of a version you never saw.
You can then reload to pick up their change, or keep your version and reconcile deliberately.
Saved Draft Conflicts
There’s a related case with a dedicated flow. If you have an uncommitted saved draft and someone commits to that file, reopening it shows a conflict dialog with a line-by-line diff and a choice:
- Use your draft
- Use the Git version
Nothing merges automatically and nothing is overwritten without you picking one.
What Isn’t Synchronized
Being precise about the boundaries:
- The rich text editor synchronizes live between people in the same file.
- Frontmatter fields, the Markdown view, and the code editor show presence but don’t merge keystrokes. Two people typing in the same frontmatter field will produce a last-save-wins result.
- Saving is not shared. Each person saves their own version. Presence tells you someone else is there; it doesn’t stop you both committing.
For changes that genuinely need coordination, use a branch and a pull request instead of relying on real-time awareness.
Working Well Together
- Look at the avatars before you start a large edit
- For substantial rewrites, tell the other person or work on a branch
- Publish in smaller commits — conflicts are cheaper to resolve when they’re small
- Use saved drafts for work in progress so half-finished work doesn’t land in the repository
Requirements
Real-time features need a live connection to Sitepins. On a flaky network, cursors and avatars may drop out and reconnect — editing keeps working, and your content is never at risk. If presence stays empty when you know someone else is in the file, a strict corporate proxy or firewall blocking WebSocket connections is the usual cause.