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Versions and watchers: keeping the wiki current

How the automatic version control secures every saved state and how watchers are informed about changes to a wiki page.

A wiki is only a reliable source of knowledge if two things are secured: nobody loses a change, and nobody overlooks one. teamspace solves this with two mechanisms that run in the background – version control and the watcher list. This article explains how both work and when to use them deliberately.

Version control: every state is preserved

Every save of a wiki page automatically creates a new version. You do not need to “archive” or “back up” anything – it happens on every Save. The original version is stored, and the new state becomes the current version.

You find the history in the detail-manager tab Versions. There you see each version as a row with reference name, short description and change date, so you can trace when what changed.

The detail manager, Versions tab with the history of the saved states of a wiki page
The detail manager, "Versions" tab – the history of all saved states of a wiki page.

Reactivating an earlier version

If a mistake has crept in or an old state should come back, you reactivate the version you want: you select it in the table, and it becomes the current version again. The previous state is not lost in the process – it remains as an older version. This means you can undo any rollback again, without losing content.

Mental model: The version list is not a one-way street. “Current version” is just a pointer that you can set on a different state at any time. You move freely back and forth without ever destroying anything.

Watchers: nobody overlooks a change

Knowledge goes stale when changes go unnoticed. To prevent that, every wiki page has a watcher list. Whoever is on it gets a notification as soon as someone changes the page.

Two ways lead onto the list:

  • Automatically: anyone who creates or edits a page is added to the watcher list automatically.
  • Manually: in the detail-manager tab Watchers, in the Add watcher area, you add further colleagues via the mandatory Employee field and the Add button. The table below shows all current watchers.

So you always know who is informed – and the knowledge stays current, because every change is reported.

Working together day to day

Versions and watchers complement each other: the watcher list reports that something has changed; the version list shows what changed and undoes it if needed.

Process glossary. Anna Müller maintains a Campaign workflow wiki page. After every retrospective she adds an insight and saves – a new version is created. Her team is on the watcher list and gets the notification. If an addition turns out to be wrong, Anna reactivates the previous version. Nobody has to guess what currently applies.

Notes

  • You do not need to copy or duplicate anything before experimenting – every saved state is reachable again via Versions.
  • For important pages, deliberately add the right watchers instead of relying on automatic inclusion – that way change notifications also reach people who only read the page.
  • Version control is no substitute for a permissions concept: who may change a page is controlled via Wiki permissions.