Working with Page Versions

Versioning creates a “snapshot” of a page at a specific point in time. With versioning, you can perform the following actions:

• Create a version of a page.
• Restore a page to a previous version so you can undo a change that you made to a page.
• Compare the current version of a page with a previous version with differences in the text and images highlighted.

Creating a Version

To create a version of a page:

1. In your browser, open the page for which you want to create a version.

2. In the Sidekick, select the Versioning tab, then the Create Version subtab.

   

3. Enter a Comment (optional).

4. To set a label to the version (optional), click the More >> button and set the Label to name the version. If the label is not set, the version is an automatically incremented number.

5. Click Create Version. A grayed message is displayed on the page; for example:
   Version 1.2 created for: Shirts.

Restoring a Page Version from Sidekick

To restore the page to a previous version:

1. Open the page for which you want to restore a previous version.

2. In the sidekick, select the Versioning tab, then the Restore Version subtab.

   

3. Select the version that you want to restore and select Restore.

Restoring a Page Version from the Console

This method can be used to restore a page version. It can also be used to restore pages that have been previously deleted:

1. In the Websites console, navigate to the page you want to restore and select it.

2. From the top menu, select Tools, then Restore:

   

3. Selecting Restore Version… lists versions of documents in the current folder. Even if a page has been deleted, the last version is listed:

   

4. Select the version that you want to restore and click Restore. AEM restores the versions (or trees) that you select.

Restoring a Tree from the Console

This method can be used to restore a page version. It can also be used to restore pages that have been previously deleted:

1. In the Websites console, navigate to the folder you want to restore and select it.

2. From the top menu, select Tools, then Restore.

3. Selecting Restore Tree… opens the dialog box so you can select the tree that you want to restore:

   

4. Click Restore. AEM restores the tree that you have selected.

Comparing with a Previous Version

To compare the current version of the page with a previous version:

1. In your browser, open the page for which you want to compare with a previous version.

2. In the Sidekick, select the Versioning tab, then the Restore Version subtab.

   

3. Select the version that you want to compare and click the Diff button.

4. The differences between the current version and the selected version are displayed as follows:

   • Text that has been deleted is red and struck through.
   • Text that has been added is green and highlighted.
   • Images that have been added or deleted are green-framed.

   

5. In the Sidekick, select the Restore Version subtab and click the <<Back button to display the current version.

Timewarp

Timewarp is a feature designed to simulate the published state of a page at specific times in the past.

The purpose is to let you track the published website at the selected point in time. This uses the page activations to determine the state of the publish environment.

To do this:

• The system looks for the page version that was active at the selected time.
• This means the version shown was created/activated before the point in time selected in Timewarp.
• When navigating to a page that has been deleted this is also rendered - as long as the old versions of the page are still available in the repository.
• If no published version is found, then Timewarp reverts to the current state of the page on the author environment (this is to prevent an error/404 page, which would mean that you cannot browse anymore).

Using the Timewarp Calendar

Timewarp is available from the sidekick.

The calendar version is used if you have a specific day to be viewed:

1. Open the Versioning tab and then click Timewarp (near the bottom of the sidekick). The following dialog box is shown:

   

2. Using the date and time selectors specify the date/time you want and click Go.

   Timewarp displays the page as it was in its published state before/on the date you have chosen.

   NOTE

   Timewarp only works fully if you have previously published the page. If not, Timewarp shows the current page on the author environment.

   NOTE

   If you navigate to a page that has been removed or deleted from the repository, it is rendered properly if old versions of the page are still available in the repository.

   NOTE

   You cannot edit the old version of the page. It is only available for viewing. If you want to restore the older version, you can do that manually using restore.

3. When you have finished viewing the page, click:

   • Exit Timewarp to exit and return to the current author page.
   • Show Timeline so you can view the timeline.

   

Using the Timewarp Timeline

The timeline version is used if you want to see an overview of the publishing activities on the page.

If you want to view the timeline of the document:

1. To show the Timeline, do one of the following:

   1. Open the Versioning tab, and then click Timewarp (near the bottom of the sidekick).

   2. Use the sidekick dialog box shown after using the Timewarp Calendar.

2. Click Show Timeline - the document’s timeline appears; for example:

   

3. Select and move (hold and drag) the timeline to move through the document’s timeline.

   • All lines indicate published versions.
     When a page is activated, a new line starts. Every time the document is edited a new color appears.
     In the example below, the red line indicates that the page was edited during the timeframe of the initial green version. The yellow line indicates that the page was edited sometime during the red version and so on.

   

4. Click:

   1. Go to show the content of the published page at the selected time.
   2. When showing that content, use Exit Timewarp to exit and return to the current author page.

Timewarp Limitations

Timewarp makes a best effort to reproduce a page at a selected point in time. However because of the complexities of the continuous authoring of content in AEM, this is not always possible. These limitations should be kept in mind as you use Timewarp.

• Timewarp works based on published pages - Timewarp only works fully if you have previously published the page. If not, Timewarp shows the current page on the author environment.

• Timewarp uses page versions - If you navigate to a page that has been removed/deleted from the repository it is rendered properly if old versions of the page are still available in the repository.

• Removed versions affect Timewarp - If versions are removed from the repository then Timewarp cannot show the correct view.

• Timewarp is read-only - You cannot edit the old version of the page. It is only available for viewing. If you want to restore the older version, you can do that manually using restore.

• Timewarp is only based on page content - If elements–such as code, css, and image assets–for rendering the website have changed, the view differs from what it was originally. The reason is because those items are not versioned in the repository.

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