Versioning
Several features of Aurora use versioning to help you manage various iterations of a piece of content. These versions can then be viewed, edited, scheduled and even compared side by side.
This article gets you started.
Overview
Aurora gives you the ability to create and manage versions of the same piece of content. This allows you to create several iterations of a piece of content, that can then be used for many purposes:
- Store previous versions of content, that can then be viewed at a later date.
- Restore previous versions, if you would like to revert to an older version.
- Edit previous versions, making the desired changes and saving as a new version.
- Schedule one or more versions to automatically publish themselves at a date and time of your choosing.
- Compare any two versions, side by side, to view differences that have been made over time.
For example, one typical use of the versioning feature may be over the Christmas period, where you may want to change the content being displayed from Black Friday through Christmas to New Year. The versioning feature allows you to create a different version for each time period, and then Scheduling these to appear at the desired time using the scheduler.
Working with Versions
The latest version of an item can be viewed and edited, with any changes either overwriting the latest version (and therefore keeping the same version number) or being saved as a new version (and therefore a new version number).
However, previous versions, other than the latest, can no longer be edited - they can still be viewed and changes made, but these changes must then be saved as a new version.
| Version | View | Edit | Delete | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latest Version | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Previous Versions | Yes | No | Yes | Whilst previous versions can not be edited or overwritten, changes can be saved as a new version. |
Assuming a piece of content is published, if there is more than one version for that piece of content, the current version will be displayed. The scheduler can be used to set which version is current at a specified time in the future. Only one version can be set as the current version at any time.
Any version can be viewed (and if it is the latest version, edited) by finding it in the versions tab and clicking the edit icon.
Creating Versions
During a design transition, there are two interfaces for creating new versions, however they both behave in the same way. Please see these below.
Both options labelled "...as new version" will create a new version of your document based on your edits without making them public.
The other will update the currently published document(s) and then record a new version in the version history for your reference.
Managing Versions
Version Limits
Please note that limits apply to content versions. By default, you will not be able to create more than 100 version of a content page. If you have reached this limit and wish to save new versions you will need to delete old versions before saving the new one.
Versioning is supported by several features in Aurora, including Snippets and Content Pages. If versioning is supported, a Versions tab will be shown when editing the piece of content:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Currently Viewed | The version of content that is currently being viewed is highlighted in yellow. So for the above example, the Demo Snippet Boxing Day Sale snippet is being viewed. |
| Version | Indicates the number of each version. This automatically increments each time a new version is saved, and can be used to identify a particular version when scheduling or comparing various version. |
Current   | This indicates which version will be displayed if the item is published. The current version does not necessarily need to be the latest version. In the above example, the Demo Snippet Boxing Day Sale version is currently being displayed (assuming the snippet is published). |
| Description | A unique internal description can be specified for each version of an item. This can be used, in addition to the version number, to differentiate between versions when scheduling and comparing content. |
| Author | Displays the name of the author who saved the version. |
| Updated Date | Indicates the date and time that the version was last saved. |
Edit | Edits the respective version. Changes can be made directly to the current version. To preserve existing versions, changes to older versions can only be saved as a new version. |
Delete | Deletes the respective version. The current version can not be deleted, as it is in use. To delete a current version, you would first have to set an alternative version as current. |
Updated over 1 year ago