Edit interface in an online document system

A method of managing edits within a document in an online document system, comprising:

• generating, by the online document system, a first edit interface for display to a first user, the first edit interface displaying contents of a document;
• receiving, by the online document system, an edit to a portion of a document via the first edit interface, the portion being of a plurality of portions of the document, each portion of the plurality of portions having separate permissions, the separate permissions comprising at least edit and approval permissions;
• determining, based on one or more permission definitions associated with the document, that the online document system requires explicit approval of the received edit by a second user indicated by the separate permissions before the received edit is committed to the portion of the document;
• generating, by the online document system, a second edit interface for display to the second user, the second edit interface displaying the contents of the document and displaying an indication of the received edit to the portion of the document;
• generating, by the online document system, a second interface element for display within the second edit interface, the second interface element requesting explicit approval of the received edit by the second user;
• and
• in response to and only after receiving an interaction with the second interface element by the second entity indicating explicit approval of the received edit, modifying, by the online document system, the portion of the document based on the received edit.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

• generating, by the online document system, a first edit interface for display to a first user, the first edit interface displaying contents of a document;
• receiving, by the online document system, an edit to a portion of a document via the first edit interface, the portion being of a plurality of portions of the document, each portion of the plurality of portions having separate permissions, the separate permissions comprising at least edit and approval permissions;
• determining, based on one or more permission definitions associated with the document, that the online document system requires explicit approval of the received edit by a second user indicated by the separate permissions before the received edit is committed to the portion of the document;
• generating, by the online document system, a second edit interface for display to the second user, the second edit interface displaying the contents of the document and displaying an indication of the received edit to the portion of the document;
• generating, by the online document system, a second interface element for display within the second edit interface, the second interface element requesting explicit approval of the received edit by the second user;
• and
• in response to and only after receiving an interaction with the second interface element by the second entity indicating explicit approval of the received edit, modifying, by the online document system, the portion of the document based on the received edit.