A how-to guide on Post Revisions
Somewhere along the line we have all made a mistake in our posts or regretted a new layout idea we saved. It happens! An extremely handy feature of WordPress we will be highlighting today is the ability to revert your posts to a previous version(s). Let’s dive in.
What is a
revision?
Post revisions enable WordPress to automatically save versions of your posts, pages, or custom post types after every 60 seconds while a user is working on them. Revisions were added to WordPress for two very important reasons. One, to prevent the risk of lost data and two, to improve the editorial workflow. Revisions allow users to restore a previous version(s) of the post.
Where to start
To start with, we want to be at the back end of the post you wish to do a Post Revision on. To get there start at the dashboard of your website, click on Posts on the left-hand sidebar, and click Edit underneath the title of your intended post. On the right-hand side, in the Publish box, click on the Browse beside Revisions.
Review the Revisions
This is where the magic happens! The revision slider, located in the middle of the top part of the page, allows you to slide back and forth to different revisions throughout the history of the post. For example, you can slide a post back to a revision five minutes previous, or 5 months previous! It all depends on the history of the post. The white bar located just below the sliding bar will tell you on the left-hand side who made the current revision, and when they made the current revision. Changes between the previous version and the current version are highlighted, making it easy to see the differences between the versions.
Never fret!
Post oopsies, unsaved content, and technical glitches are all par for the course on a website. Luckily it is straightforward and convenient to revert your posts back!
Restore your Revision!
To restore a previous revision slide the revision slider back to the revision you wish to make, and click the Restore This Revision button on the right-hand side. This will restore the revision you choose and a message will pop up letting you know to what date and time the post was restored to. To check your changes update your post (or save your draft if it’s not ready to publish) and click Preview Changes. This will open your post in a new tab so you can preview your freshly restored post. If you don’t like it, you can restore it back to the original point!
Final
Thoughts
Reverting your post back to a previous version is a straightforward, and time-saving feature of WordPress. The WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). Technical oopsies happen all the time, rest assured you can always revert your posts back!
