Usefulness of Wiki history

Backlog Tips & Tricks
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Hi Backloggers,

Previously we talked about the benefits of Backlog Wiki, and today I will share about the usefulness of wiki history and versioning.

As you know, Wiki allows every project member to share information and the pages can be edited by any member. But how do you track changes made on a wiki page? 

By using wiki history! It records the history of edits made to a wiki page.

How to use Wiki history

Firstly, on your Wiki page, (1) click on the 3-dots menu and (2) select “Histories” to view the history of edits.

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You will see each version of the wiki page that has been edited and saved previously. In this example (Titan Project wiki page), there are 6 versions.

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The history will also show which member has edited and saved a version.

By clicking the link, we can compare the difference between each version and previous version. As seen below, the latest version (ver. 6) is on the right, while the previous version (ver. 5) is on the left.

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Any part of the wiki page that has been edited will be shown. Pink color refers to deleted parts; green for added parts, and blue for changed parts. This lets us know which parts of the page have been edited. Note: If it’s a longer wiki page, the unedited parts will not be shown.

To view a version as a wiki page, you can click on the green link, e.g. Version 5 or Version 6 (above pic).

If for any reason, you want to restore the previous version, you can click on the ‘Restore this version’ button.

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This will restore the version and autosave it as a new/latest version number. 

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Isn’t this great? You can easily retrieve and restore previously deleted or changed information.

Also, the bottom of every wiki page will show this info: (1) Who registered or created the wiki page at which date/time; (2) Who last updated the wiki page.

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Tip: The default Space settings is that every member (including Guest role) can view and edit wiki pages (‘no restriction’). But if you set a member’s restriction to ‘Add issue only’ or ‘View only’, they can only view but not edit the wiki pages. See our post on restricting user permission to learn more.

To summarize, Wiki History is very useful. It allows us to:

  • Track changes — made by which team member at which date/time.

  • Easily see which parts of the page have been edited.

  • Rest assured that we can restore important information.

Let us know your thoughts on using Backlog Wiki, or share how you and your teams are using Wiki for your projects. 

Happy collaborating!