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Quick summary
  • Document versioning lets you approve a new version of a document or log a minor change, and view, download or restore earlier versions.
  • Approving a new version of a document moves every place that uses it to that version, unless you untick the place in Republish options.
  • People who’ve confirmed a document on a checklist needn’t confirm a new version, unless you tick Require recompletion.

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Draft and approved

The document’s status and version show next to its title. After approval:
  • On a document that isn’t controlled, you keep editing, and the last approved version stays in use until you approve the next.
  • A controlled document is locked, so click Return to draft first.
By convention, approved versions get a new major number (2.0) and logged changes a new minor one (2.1), but this isn’t enforced.

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Approve a new version

1

Open Approve version

On a document that isn’t controlled, click Approve → Approve version. To have others look at the document first, you can use Request Review.
2

Summarise what changed

The version number and title are filled in for you, so change either if needed. Then write a Summary of changes, or click Generate AI Summary to draft one from the differences.
3

Choose where to republish

Under Republish options, choose which places move to the new version.Then click Save Approved Version to save the version as a PDF.
The Approve version dialog with a summary of changes, Republish options showing the Employees checklist resource, and Save Approved Version

Approve version on Risk Management Policy, with Republish options expanded. 1 is Summary of changes. 2 is a place the document is used, here the Review our policies resource on the Employees checklist. 3 is Require recompletion, which asks people to complete that item again. 4 is Save Approved Version.

Approving a version also lets you publish the document on your Trust Centre, and adds a row to any version history table.
A document editor showing the Document version approvals and Document revision history sections, both built from live table placeholders and currently empty

Two live tables in a draft: Document version approvals above, which lists the reviewers and approvers once this version is approved, and Document revision history below, built from the Document Version History placeholder. Both are empty here, since this draft has no approved version yet.

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Log a minor change

On a document that isn’t controlled, Approve → Log changes to draft saves a PDF snapshot to the version history, with you as the author. It has no republish options, so the last approved version stays in use everywhere.
The Log changes to draft dialog with Version Number, Title and Summary fields

Log changes to draft. 1 is Version Number, suggested as the next minor version. 2 is Title. 3 is Summary, where you describe the minor change.

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Republish options

Republish options covers the places a document can be used. Each points at one approved version, a fixed PDF, so editing the draft changes nothing people see there. When you approve a new version, Republish options shows Update references to past versions, grouped by place. Expand a group to see its resources, all ticked:
  • Move or keep: leave a resource ticked to move it to the new version, or untick it to keep the old one.
  • Recompletion: a checklist item also has Require recompletion, unticked by default. Leave it off and people who’ve already confirmed the item stay complete until it refreshes; tick it to ask them to confirm the new version.
  • Label and description: republishing swaps the file but keeps both.
  • Controlled documents: you choose in Send for review and approval, and resources move once it’s approved.

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Approved versions

Open View → Version History → Approved Versions, or use a document’s ⋯ menu → Versions on the Documents tab. From a version’s ⋯ menu: Hide Changes turns that highlighting off. The menu also has Edit, Remove and Select.
Risk Management Policy (Original) v0.0 open as a PDF, labelled Superseded version and watermarked SUPERSEDED across its Purpose, Scope and Definitions sections

The original version of Risk Management Policy, 0.0, opened with View File after version 1.0 replaced it. 1 marks it as a Superseded version, and the PDF itself is watermarked SUPERSEDED. 2 is Download, which saves that version's PDF.

In Approved Versions, the original uploaded file is kept as version 0.0, labelled (Original). A replaced version is watermarked SUPERSEDED, so an out-of-date PDF in someone’s inbox is easy to spot. Each approved PDF keeps the values its placeholders had at approval. See Live content and approved versions.
What we recommendWrite a summary of changes even for a small change. In 6 months, “updated section 4” will tell nobody anything.

Controlled documents

The formal review and approval cycle, with required reviewers and approvers.

Notify stakeholders of updates

Republish a new version on your Trust Centre and tell the people who hold it.