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- | Store records of changes to documents, so that unsuitable changes can be reverted. | + | Store records of changes to documents, so that unsuitable changes can be reverted. |
=== What Problem This Solves === | === What Problem This Solves === | ||
- | Content that is in-production may become corrupt, lost or changed for the worse, with no ability to revert to a previous version. | + | 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 === | ||
- | 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. | + | 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. |
- | Use this pattern if your organization produces content - in any part of the lifecycle - in offline documents or files without version control. | + | 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. | ||
- | *[http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/ Sharepoint] offers a sophisticated version control system for Word documents, but may be too expensive for smaller operations. | + | *[http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/ Sharepoint] offers a sophisticated version control system for Word documents, but may be too expensive for smaller operations. |
- | *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. | + | *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 === | ||
- | Any negative changes to a document can be reverted to a previous version | + | 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. |
- | 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. | + | 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> |
- | === | + | === Examples Gallery === |
- | + | [[Image:Dropbox-revision-control.png|thumb|left|Automatic revision control with Dropbox]]<br> | |
- | === | + | === Categories === |
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- | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Lifecycle]] |
Page last modified 17 January 2011 by . Created by: Admin