Version Control Documents

 
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Store records of changes to documents, so that unsuitable changes can be reverted.
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Store records of changes to documents, so that unsuitable changes can be reverted.  
=== What Problem This Solves  ===
=== What Problem This Solves  ===
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Content that is in-production may become corrupt, lost or changed for the worse, with no ability to revert to a previous version.
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Content that is in-production may become corrupt, lost or changed for the worse, with no ability to revert to a previous version.  
=== When to Use This Pattern  ===
=== When to Use This Pattern  ===
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Although most web content management platforms offer revision/version-control for web content, a great deal of content is still written and edited - especially before publication - in Microsoft Word documents, or other files that exist outside of version control.
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Although most web content management platforms offer revision/version-control for web content, a great deal of content is still written and edited - especially before publication - in Microsoft Word documents, or other files that exist outside of version control.  
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Use this pattern if your organization produces content - in any part of the lifecycle - in offline documents or files without version control.
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Use this pattern if your organization produces content - in any part of the lifecycle - in offline documents or files without version control.  
=== What's The Solution?  ===
=== What's The Solution?  ===
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Implement a revision control system for in-production content.  
Implement a revision control system for in-production content.  
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*[http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/ Sharepoint] offers a sophisticated version control system for Word documents, but may be too expensive for smaller operations.
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*[http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/ Sharepoint] offers a sophisticated version control system for Word documents, but may be too expensive for smaller operations.  
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*More technical version control software such as [http://subversion.tigris.org/ Subversion] can be used for Word documents; although this can be made easier for users with software like [http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ TortoiseSVN], it can still be difficult and complex for non-technical users.
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*More technical version control software such as [http://subversion.tigris.org/ Subversion] can be used for Word documents; although this can be made easier for users with software like [http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ TortoiseSVN], it can still be difficult and complex for non-technical users.  
*An easy, lightweight solution is to use [http://www.dropbox.com/features Dropbox], and place your Word documents into your local Dropbox folder. This service automatically records backups every time it detects a change (assuming you are online); the free account stores up to 30 days history, paid accounts can store unlimited changes.
*An easy, lightweight solution is to use [http://www.dropbox.com/features Dropbox], and place your Word documents into your local Dropbox folder. This service automatically records backups every time it detects a change (assuming you are online); the free account stores up to 30 days history, paid accounts can store unlimited changes.
=== Why Use This Pattern  ===
=== Why Use This Pattern  ===
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Edit this. Describe the user and business benefits for this pattern, with links to evidence or additional research data if available.  
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Any negative changes to a document can be reverted to a previous version. Additionally, a full history of revisions can be made available, which can be useful if multiple authors or editors are working on the same document.  
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=== References  ===
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Version control systems that store file revisions on remote/secondary servers (which most do) also provide a useful backup, if the primary computer with the document stored on it is lost, stolen or unavailable.<br>
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#A list of interesting external links, if applicable
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=== Examples Gallery  ===
=== Examples Gallery  ===
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Edit this. Upload images of this pattern in use, if available. Otherwise, delete this section (and heading).  
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[[Image:Dropbox-revision-control.png|thumb|left|Automatic revision control with Dropbox]]<br>
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=== Categories ===
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=== Categories<br> ===
 
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[[Category:Content Lifecycle]]
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[[Category:Lifecycle]]

Latest revision as of 04:26, 17 January 2011