Version history: viewing, restoring, and auditing changes

🕘 Version History: Viewing, Restoring, and Auditing Changes

BlueDocs automatically maintains a complete version history for every document in your workspace. This includes detailed records of content edits, user actions, and workflow decisions — ensuring transparency, traceability, and compliance at every step.

In this guide, you'll learn how to view previous versions, restore content, and audit who changed what, when, and why.

🔄 How Version Control Works in BlueDocs

Every time a document is updated, BlueDocs creates a new version behind the scenes. This versioning system supports not only content changes but also metadata updates, user actions, and workflow transitions.

Here’s what gets tracked:

• Content Edits: Any change to the body of a document creates a new version.
• Status Changes: Transitions like Draft → Published → Archived are logged.
• Metadata Updates: Changes to the title, category, or tags are recorded.
• User Actions: Every version records who made the change and when.
• Policy Acceptances: For policy documents, user acknowledgments are included in the history.

Each version is given a number (e.g., v1.0, v2.0, etc.) and a unique content hash for integrity verification. This ensures that every document edit is traceable and tamper-resistant.

📜 Viewing Document Version History

For Policy Documents

Policy documents offer enhanced version tracking, including acceptance history and change summaries.

To view:

1. Go to the Policies section.
2. Open a specific policy document.
3. Locate the version badge (e.g., “v2.0”) near the title.
4. Click to view detailed history including timestamps, author, and optional change summaries.

For All Other Document Types

All documents in BlueDocs maintain basic version metadata:

• Version Number
• Created By (original author)
• Last Updated By
• Last Modified Timestamp

These details are visible within the document’s metadata section and help identify edit history and contributors.

🧾 Activity Logs and Audit Trails

In addition to version history, BlueDocs maintains detailed activity logs that capture every key user interaction.

To view activity logs:

• Navigate to Analytics → User Activity Report
• Filter by date, user, or document type
• Explore an interactive timeline showing:

• Activity Type (e.g., created, updated, viewed)
• User who performed the action
• Document affected
• Timestamp and metadata

These logs form a vital audit trail for compliance, performance tracking, and usage insights.

🔐 Document Approval Tracking

For documents requiring approval, BlueDocs records:

• When approval was requested
• Who approved or rejected it
• Decision timestamp and comments
• Automatic status updates upon approval

This ensures a full chain of accountability for published content.

✅ Policy-Specific Version Features

Policies include advanced version controls:

• Acceptance Tracking: Know who has accepted which version.
• Reacceptance Requirements: Flag updated policies that require users to re-acknowledge.
• Version Comparison: Compare content changes between versions (coming soon).
• Change Summaries: Authors can add optional summaries to describe what changed.

🔍 Best Practices for Managing Versions

For Document Authors

• Avoid unnecessary edits; focus on meaningful updates
• Use consistent, descriptive document titles
• Always update the status as a document progresses (e.g., from Draft to Published)
• Include change summaries when updating critical documents like policies

For Admins & Managers

• Regularly review User Activity Reports
• Archive obsolete versions or content no longer in use
• Educate your team on how versioning impacts compliance and tracking
• Use version history as a backup strategy — especially before major changes

For Compliance & Security Teams

• Audit policy acceptance rates regularly
• Ensure change logs are reviewed during compliance checks
• Verify that approval decisions are properly recorded and traceable
• Use access logs to understand who has interacted with sensitive documents

🧠 Understanding Activity Types

BlueDocs tracks several system-level actions:

• document_created – A new document was created
• document_updated – Content or metadata was changed
• document_viewed – A user accessed a document
• document_approved – Approval was granted
• policy_accepted – A user accepted a policy
• training_completed – A training module was completed

These types appear in activity logs and analytics, helping admins analyze platform use.

🛠 Troubleshooting Version History

🧩 Advanced Features for Larger Organizations

• Extended Audit Retention: Long-term storage of version logs for compliance purposes
• Cross-Document Tracking: See how changes in one doc relate to others (e.g., training + policy)
• Bulk Version Operations: Monitor changes made during mass updates
• Integration Auditing: Track document updates made via API integrations

🆘 Need Help?

• Users: If you're missing version history or audit logs, check your permissions or contact your admin.
• Admins: Review version control settings in Settings → Permissions to manage visibility.
• Support: For assistance with restoring older versions or setting up custom audit workflows, contact BlueDocs support.

🔐 Security Note:
Version history and audit logs may contain sensitive access and activity data. These tools should only be accessible to authorized personnel with appropriate permissions.

By understanding and using version history and audit trails in BlueDocs, your team can maintain content quality, uphold compliance standards, and ensure a trustworthy record of all key document activity.

Updated on: 27/05/2025