Collaboration
Page History
Page History
Every publish is kept. Nothing overwrites the record.
When a version is recorded
A version is written when the page is saved through the API, which in practice means:
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| Page created | Version 1 |
| Publish in the editor | New version, numbered one higher |
| Page duplicated | The copy starts again at version 1 |
| A version restored | New version holding the restored content, after a version holding any unpublished draft it replaced |
| Discard of a draft | New version holding the discarded draft, so it can be restored, unless the draft was the same as the published page |
| An agent publishes over somebody’s unpublished draft | A minor version holding the draft it replaced (left out when the draft was the same as the published page or the new body), then the publish’s own version |
| Publish over a body the history does not have yet (an imported page, or one a sync changed) | A version holding the body as it stood, then the publish’s own |
Live typing does not create versions. Your keystrokes sync to other editors continuously (see Editing Together), but the history only advances when you publish. Publish twice in a minute and you get two versions.
Each version stores the title and the full body as they stood at that moment, and credits the user who published it.
Viewing history
Click the clock button in the right rail: Version history. The panel lists every version, newest first.
Each row shows the version number as v3, the page title at the time, and how long ago it was saved. The newest row is tagged Current. The footer counts what you have: “12 versions saved”.
Previewing
Click any row to select it. Older rows expand with two buttons.
Show Preview opens a read-only summary of that version: its title, plus the first 500 characters of its text. It is a sanity check, not a rendered page.
Restoring
Restore on a selected version puts its title and content back on the page. You are asked to confirm first.
Restoring is additive. The old version is copied forward as a new version on top of the history, so nothing is lost and you can restore your way back again if you change your mind. The restore itself is credited to you, not to the original author.
Three things to know:
- Restoring needs edit permission on the page. Read-only viewers can browse history but cannot restore.
- Restoring replaces the live document. An unpublished draft on that page is kept in the history as a version of its own, and the next editing session starts from the restored content.
- While somebody else has the page open in the editor, Restore is refused and the message names them. Restoring while you are editing the page takes you out of edit mode first.
What you cannot do
Versions cannot be deleted, renamed, or pruned from the interface, and they carry no commit message. History simply grows for the life of the page.
Next: Labels.