Configuring and using document versioning

The versioning functionality in workflows automatically stores document versions as documents are edited. Versioning allows users to:

  • View and compare document versions
  • Roll documents back to previous versions

Document versioning is closely tied to the Workflows application. To use versioning on documents, you need to apply a workflow on them. If you don’t want documents to go through any workflow process and use versioning at the same time, refer to Configuring content versioning without workflow.

Content versioning is about automatically creating numbered versions of documents. If you are looking for versioning of objects (CSS stylesheets, e-mail templates, web part containers, etc.), refer to the Working with object versioning chapter.

Version numbering

Every document version is identified by a version number. By default, the system assigns numbers to versions automatically according to the following rules:

  • When you create a document, it gets version number 0.1.
  • When you save a document, a minor version is created and the number after the period increases. Example: 0.2, 0.3, etc.
  • When you publish a document, the latest minor version gets promoted to a major version. The number before the period increases and the number after the period resets to zero. Example: 1.0, 2.0, etc.

If you use content locking, you can disable the automatic numbering in Settings -> Content -> Content management, by turning off the Use automatic version numbering setting.

Viewing and comparing document versions

  1. Navigate to the document whose versions you want to view.

  2. Switch to Properties -> Versions.

  3. Click View next to the version you want to view.

    • The Document version window opens.
  4. Select a version for comparison using the Compare to drop-down list.

    • When comparing document versions, the older version appears on the left.

Rolling back versions

  1. Navigate to the document that you want to roll back to a previous version.

  2. Switch to Properties -> Versions.

  3. Click Roll back next to a version.

    • The system creates a copy of the given version and marks the copy as the document’s latest version.