Understand Versions and Conflicts
This guide explains how change is stored, and what you do when two edits collide. You work in batches. You can name and restore document versions. You choose a side when a save is rejected.
A published version of a whole mesh is a different idea. See Published Versions.
Prerequisites
- You can edit the mesh.
- You know that a title is identity. See Core Ideas.
- If you work with other people, they also have edit access to this mesh.
How a batch works
Every write is a batch. A save is a batch. A rename is a batch. A create is a batch. A media add is a batch.
The batch applies as a whole. If one part cannot apply, nothing in that batch is written. The mesh does not keep a half rename or a half save.
A rename also rewrites inbound wikilinks. Those rewrites sit in the same batch. Links and the new title land together.
Empty work is not a batch. If you save with no change, the mesh does not add a history row.
See document history
Open a document. Open version history.
History is a list of editing sessions, newest first, grouped by day. It is not a list of every keystroke. It is a reading of the change log.
You can name a version. A named version stays easy to find. Automatic sessions between named versions collapse so the names stay visible.
History needs the service. If you are offline, the list waits until you are connected.
Restore a version
Choose a version. Restore it.
Restore is not a delete. The restored content is written as a new change. Later history stays. You can restore the later state again if you need it.
If you want the old text but not a move of the current document, copy the version into a new document. The copy gets a new title. It does not take the old tags.
When a save collides
Two people can change the same document. You can also have a stale tab after the document moved elsewhere.
If your save is based on an old copy, the batch is rejected. Nothing is written. The workspace asks you to choose.
- Keep the copy that already landed. Your local edits for that document are dropped.
- Keep your local content. It is written on top of the copy that landed.
- Wait. Nothing is written. Your local copy stays until you choose.
You cannot resolve a conflict while you are offline. Waiting costs nothing.
If the document moves again before you finish, choose again. The last rejected batch is the one you replay.
Media name collisions
If you add a media file whose name already exists, that batch is rejected. Take the existing file. Then add yours again under a new name. An upload cannot replay the way a document save can.
Offline work
You can keep typing when the connection drops. The device holds your edits. Structural changes such as rename, delete, share, and publish wait for the service.
When the connection returns, pending writes go out as batches. A collision then follows the same choice as above.