Release Process

The release process for topics and publications is part of the Version Management in Paligo. For more information about workflow in connection to assignments, see Assignments.

Each time content is released (both major and minor), an exact copy of that version (with all its topics and other resources), called snapshot, is saved and archived. The snapshot can be downloaded or restored in the Resource View Paligo.

A snapshot can also be created by a contributor during an assignment or manually created at any time via Resource View.

The version number is shown to the left of the archived version.

1.0.0 - The first number is stepped up for a major release. A major release consists of new features and / or large architectural changes.
1.1.0 - The second number is stepped up for a minor release. A minor release makes significant improvements to the existing functions and smaller adjustments.
1.1.1 - The third number is stepped up for a review or translation stage.

The workflow in Paligo consists of 5 stages connected to the Release Management, which steps up the version number for each stage. You change the workflow stage in the Resource View for the item:

Work in progress - The initial stage of any topic or new version, for authoring and editing content.
In review - For review and proofreading. When the document is in review, it is not locked, but marked as In review.
In translation - For translating multilingual content. While the text is under translation, the topic is locked for editing.
In translation review - For proofreading or post-editing translations in the translation editor.
Release - The final version of the topic is locked for further editing and archived. To create a new version, it has to be set to Work in progress again. The archived version will remain intact just as it was at that stage.

Release Content

Each time content is released (both major and minor), an exact copy of that version (with all its topics and other resources), called snapshot, is saved and archived.

Tip

Learn more about the Release Process.

Select the folder containing the content in Content Manager.

If the content is not in a folder, select the top-level folder Documents.

This will open the Resource View.
Change the status to Released for the content.

Note

The box Change status for all included components is by default checked. If cleared, only the publication will be set to status released.
Leave a release comment that explains to other users what it includes.

The comment will be visible in Review View under the tab Versions.
For a minor release, check the box Make this a minor release.
Select OK.

A snapshot is created and archived for this release.

Restore a Previous Version

When the state of a publication or topic is set to Released in Paligo, an archived version of the content at that particular point in time called snapshot, is automatically created. It is possible to add a comment that provides more context about the snapshot for other users. A snapshot can also be created during a review assignment.

A snapshot is useful when you compare different revisions or need to restore an old version of a publication or a topic.

The snapshot is a ZIP file consisting of several XML files (the topic, translations and variables) and images. When a version is restored, that file is imported back into Paligo and treated like new content, which results in topics and fragments getting new IDs. The restored version is independent in regards of the original content. Because the restored release may have had completely different variables and the like, such resources will be separate and possibly partially duplicated. You may therefore want to clean such resources up after republishing your old version.

There is no limit to how many versions Paligo stores. Restoring an old version does not affect other archived versions and does not remove earlier versions. Archived releases (whether restored or not) use up your storage space. If you know that you do not need old versions, you should remove them.

Important

Restoring releases is not something recommended on a regular basis, but only for exceptions when you need to republish an old version.

If you need to keep multiple release versions in parallel in your system, with reuse between them, you should instead look into doing so with the help of Reuse Forks and Filtering / Profiling, possibly combined with Branching.

Select the folder containing the content in Content Manager.

If the content is not in a folder, select the top-level folder Documents.

This will open the Resource View.
Select the blue arrow to the left of the the topic or publication.
Select the Versions tab.
Select the blue action button to the right of the version and choose Restore version.
Select in which folder to restore the released version.
If necessary, make changes. Changes made to the topics in a restored release do not affect any of the topics in your current version in Paligo. It is a completely separate copy.
Republish to any format you like.

Create a New Version

Once a topic or publication is released, an archived version of it called a snapshot is saved. To be able to edit a released topic or publication, you need to create a new version, by changing the status back to Work in progress. This will not affect the archived version.

When you open a topic used in a released publication, it will be in status Released. You can make a new version of it by changing the status in Resource View, but you do not have to, when you open it in the editor, you get the option to change the status back to Work in progress.

Should the publication (or other components where the topic is reused) not already be in Work in progress, Paligo will allow you to change the status of them as well.

The topics that do not require change in the new version can (and will by default) remain in Released status.

Create Snapshot in Resource View

A snapshot is an archived version of the content at a particular point in time. During a release, a snapshot is always created, but can also be created by a contributor during an assignment in Contributor Editor or manually created at any time in Resource View. To be able to create a snapshot in Resource View, you have to be an author or administrator, see User Types.

The snapshots are useful when comparing the content between different versions or for restoring lost content. Comparing a snapshot from before and after an assignment makes it easy to visualize the changes made to the documentation. To learn more, see Timeline.

Tip

When importing content, Paligo will not automatically create a snapshot of the imported content. Paligo recommends that you always create a snapshot of imported content, to have an archived version to compare with the changes you make.

Select the folder containing the content in Content Manager.

If the content is not in a folder, select the top-level folder Documents.

This will open the Resource View.
Select the blue arrow to the left of the the topic.
Select the Versions tab to see existing archived versions.
Select the Dotted menu (...) to the right of the topic.
Select Create snapshot.
Add a comment that explains to other users what it includes.
Select OK.

A new archived version is added to the versions tab.

View Snapshot Information

Administrators, authors and contributors can create content snapshots. A snapshot is an archived version of the content at a particular point in time and is useful when you compare different versions.

When a snapshot is created, you can add information about why the snapshot was created (for example feature changes, feedback comments or contributions). This information is visible in Resource View.

Select the folder containing the content in Content Manager.

If the content is not in a folder, select the top-level folder Documents.

This will open the Resource View.
Navigate down the folder structure until you find the topic of interest. Then expand a topic to reveal its information and select the Versions tab.

The snapshot comments are shown in the comments column.

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