Versioning (Plone v3.3+)

Creating a new version

Plone 3 includes a versioning feature. By default, the following content types have versioning enabled:

• Pages
• News Items
• Events
• Links

Note that all other content types do track workflow history

Content items can be configured to have versioning enabled/disabled through the Site Setup -> Plone Configuration panel under "Types".

When editing an item, you may use the change note field at the bottom; the change note will be stored in the item's version history. If the change note is left blank, Plone includes a default note: "Initial Revision".

A new version is created every time the item is saved. Versioning keeps track of all kinds of edits: content, metadata, settings, etc.

Viewing the version history

Once an item as been saved, you can use the History viewlet found at the bottom of the page. Simply click History to expand the viewlet:

The most recent version is listed first. The History viewlet provides the following information:

• The type of edit (content or workflow)
• Which user made the edit
• What date and time the edit occurred
  
  

Comparing versions

From the History viewlet you can compare any previous version with the current version or any other version with the version just before it.

To compare any previous version with the one just before it, use the COMPARE button located between two adjacent versions in the History viewlet.

By clicking this button, you'll see a screen like this one where you can see the differences between the two versions:

In this example, text in red is text which has been deleted and text in green is text which has been added to the newer version. An empty paragraph tag is also shown to have been deleted in this example. You can toggle between inline or as code views of the differences between versions.

You may also compare any previous version to the current version by clicking the arrow icon in the History viewlet (left icon). These icons are found to the far right of each version listed in the viewlet.

Viewing and reverting to previous versions  

You can preview any previous version of a document by clicking the eyeball icon to the right of any version listed in the History viewlet (center icon).

To revert back to a previous version, click the clock-face icon to the right of any version listed in the History viewlet (right icon).