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Version control

One copy. Locked while you edit. Every version on the record.

In Content Central you check a document out before you change it, and check it back in when you are done. Nobody saves over anyone, and the document's history shows every version, who made it, when, and why.

Book a free demoStill emailing attachments?
Drawn after the Version History panel on a Content Central document. Names, dates and notes are examples. The arrow marks a version you can download.

How two people stop overwriting each other.

  1. 01

    Check Out

    Locked to you

    The document is yours to change. Everyone else can still open and read it, but nobody can save over your work.

  2. 02

    Edit

    In Word or Excel

    Content Director opens the file in its own program. Or download it, or use the Content Central ribbon in Office.

  3. 03

    Check In

    New version

    Your file becomes the next major version, with your note on what changed. The lock comes off.

  4. 04

    Stuck?

    Undo or force

    Changed your mind? Undo Check Out. Someone left for vacation with it locked? An admin can force it back in.

Check out and check in, in the help libraryEditing in place with Content Director

Version 2.0 is a new file. Version 2.1 is something that happened to it.

Content Central numbers versions in two parts, so the history tells you at a glance whether the content changed or only its record did.

x.0

A major version: the file changed

  • Checking in a changed file
  • Uploading a revision, in any file type
  • Replacing or adding pages
  • A new submission of a fillable form

Earlier major versions stay downloadable from the history.

x.1, x.2

A minor version: something happened to it

  • Editing an index field
  • Checking out
  • An approval step
  • A move between work queues
  • Annotations
  • Signatures

Each one names the person and the time, and any note they left.

Reading a document's history, in the help library

Working together

The agreement that went out as "final_v3_JO_edits (2).docx".

Every reply with an attachment makes another copy. Two people edit two copies, someone merges them by hand, and the version that goes out is the one nobody approved. Here is the same review with one copy.

  1. 1

    Send a link, not a file.

    Colleagues open the one copy in the library. With link sharing switched on for that document type, a link does the job an attachment used to.

  2. 2

    Edit in turn.

    Whoever is changing it checks it out. Everyone else can still read the current version, but nobody can save over the edit in progress.

  3. 3

    Review as an approval.

    Route it to the reviewers in order. Each sees it when it is their turn, approves or sends it back, and their notes carry forward to the next person.

  4. 4

    Sign it, outsiders included.

    Request signatures from coworkers or anyone with an email address. The signed PDF is saved as a new version of the same document.

Good to know before you buy

  • Going back is two steps, not one click. Download the earlier major version from the history, then upload it as a revision. It becomes the newest version, and the history shows that it happened.
  • One person edits at a time. Check-out is a lock, not live co-editing. For the documents you keep under control, that is usually the point.

Related

Bring the document your team keeps emailing around.

In a free demo we file it in Content Central, check it out and in, and show you its history.

Book a free demo