In my opinion, versioning in SharePoint is one of its strongest features. It allows for tracking the activity of any item (document, event, task, etc.) and following the audit trail. In this post, I would like to highlight the most important features of versioning and how it can assist you, the end user, with your daily routine. Let’s first look at what versioning is and how it works.
Any time you change a document in a document library or edit any list item (in a custom list, calendar, task list, etc.) – a new version is created. Any change is recorded, whether it is a physical change to the document or just a metadata change. If you just view an item or a document by clicking on it – the new version is not created, it is only created when you actually change something.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR BENEFITS OF VERSIONING?
1. Ability to audit the history of an item
Version history allows you to retrace the history of an item or a document, since the date and time it was first created till present. If it is a document you are checking, you can see all the changes taking place (physical changes to the document or metadata). If it is an item, like a task or calendar event, you can see the metadata changes made, who made them and when.
2. Ability to track metadata changes
Any metadata changes are perfectly visible in the version history log from above. Say, you have enabled versioning on an Issue Tracking to track help desk tickets. With version history, you can easily see what has happened to the ticket from the time it was submitted to present.
3. Ability to track content changes
If you enable versioning on a document library, you can access any previous versions of the document just by clicking on a previous version link.
4. Ability to restore previous versions
You can also restore older versions if need be. Say you created an important document and then you boss decided to edit and made changes that make no sense. No problem at all. Just click on a drop-down next to the version you would like to restore and click Restore. It will take this version and create a new one for you, making it the latest and greatest.
