CalmCompliance
Documents

Document Versioning

Why Document Versioning

Versioning keeps a complete history of every change to your documents. When you update a procedure, fix a typo, or revise a policy, CalmCompliance creates a new version while preserving the old one—so you can see what changed, when, and by whom. That matters for compliance auditing and institutional knowledge. Users always see the current published version by default, but you can access the full history whenever needed. Risk assessments use a separate versioning workflow with drafts and optional effective and expiry dates. See Working with risk assessment versions for details.

Understanding Version Numbers

  • Minor versions (e.g. 1.0 → 1.1): Small changes—typos, clarifications—that don't fundamentally change the document. Does not trigger automatic redistribution.

  • Major versions (e.g. 1.0 → 2.0): Significant updates, policy changes, or rewrites. Triggers redistribution if configured.

Note: PDF documents support major versions only—each new upload increments the major version. Editor documents let you choose minor or major when publishing.

How to Add a New Version (PDF)

  1. Open the document you want to update

  2. Click Upload New Version (in the document actions menu)

  3. Click Choose File and select your updated PDF

  4. Add a Change Description: Explain what changed so others understand the update

  5. Click Upload

The new version becomes the current major version immediately. The previous version stays in the document's history. PDF documents do not have draft states—each upload publishes as a new version.

How to Add a New Version (Editor Document)

  1. Open the published document

  2. Click Create Draft Version or Edit

  3. Make your changes in the editor

  4. Click Publish Draft when ready

  5. Choose Minor Version (small changes) or Major Version (significant changes)

  6. Add a Change Description and click Publish

If an approval workflow is assigned, publishing triggers that process. Otherwise the new version goes live immediately.

How to View Version History

  1. Open any document

  2. Open the Versions tab or Version History section

  3. You'll see all published versions with version number, date, who uploaded it, and change description

Click any version to view that revision. Useful for understanding how a document evolved or retrieving previous policy language.

Compare document versions

Open an editor document and go to the Versions tab to review what changed between any two versions. The comparison highlights additions, deletions, and modifications in a read-only diff with a colour key so you can verify updates before publishing or approving.

  1. Open an editor document and go to the Versions tab

  2. Select a published version that has a previous version

  3. Toggle on Compare Changes

  4. Review the highlighted differences in the viewer:

    • Added — new content

    • Removed — deleted content

    • Changed — modified content

  5. Toggle Compare Changes off to return to the normal version view

The Compare Changes toggle only appears when the selected version has a previous version to diff against. Compare mode is not available for PDF documents.

See Approving Content for how reviewers can compare a draft against the published version before approving.

Add a Version History Block

Use the Version History block to display all published versions of an editor document in a table directly inside the document. Readers can see the version trail without leaving the page.

  1. Open the editor document where you want to show the history

  2. Insert the Version History block from the block menu

  3. Choose the sort order:

    • Oldest first — lists versions from earliest to latest

    • Newest first — lists versions from latest to earliest

The block shows the version number, date, and description for each published version. If no versions have been published yet, the block shows No published versions yet.

The Version History block also appears in PDF exports and in public document views, so external readers see the same history table.

Before You Start

You need the Manager role for the Documents module. If you don't see Upload New Version or Create Draft Version, ask your site administrator to update your permissions in Settings > User Management > Edit Access.

Common Questions

What happens to the old version when I add a new one? Nothing is deleted. The old version remains in history. Users see the new version by default, but you can always access previous versions.

Should I choose minor or major for most updates? Use minor for corrections and small updates. Use major when changes are significant enough that users should be aware—e.g. a new safety requirement or updated procedure.

Can I delete a version? No. Version history is permanent for audit trails. If you uploaded the wrong file, upload another version immediately with the correct file.

Can I have more than one draft? No. You can only have one draft at a time. Publish or discard the existing draft before creating a new one.

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