In this article I will talk about WordPress revisions and how to use them.
What are revisions?
Every time you save a post or a page WordPress saves a copy of it as a revision with the date and time it was made. These revisions or past versions of your post/page are stored in case you want to revert to that particular version.
Viewing the revisions
On your post/page sidebar there will be a link that says X Revisions. If you have not changed the post or page it won’t show up. Click on that link. It will take you to the revisions page. Make sure you are on the “Page” tab not on the “Block” otherwise you won’t find it.
This page might be a little confusing because what you will see is the HTML code of your page. If you are using the block editor you will see a lot of comments (marked like this <!– wp:paragraph –>) to signify where a block starts and where it ends .
If you see areas with a red/pink background, these are things you have deleted. Pale green background means you have added that content.
Move the slider towards the left to navigate to earlier versions of your post/page.
How to restore an earlier revision?
Once you have found the revision you want all you need to do is click on the blue “Restore This Revision” button and your revision will become the current post/page.
Comparing revisions
You can easily compare two revisions by clicking on the checkbox that says “Compare any two revisions”. This will put the two versions you have chosen side by side so you can compare their content.
The Autosave
Sometimes an Autosave will show in the revisions timeline. It will be in a red font. WordPress only makes one autosave every 60 seconds so your work will be protected.
Controlling your revisions
There are several plugins in the WordPress repository that help you manage your revisions such as:
- WP Revisions Control: Manage how many revisions to have per post type (posts, pages)
- Simple Revisions Delete: Lets you delete revisions individually or all at once
Resources
https://wordpress.org/support/article/revisions/
Plugins for managing revisions
WP Revisions Control – https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-revisions-control/
Simple Revisions Delete – https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-revisions-delete/
Thank you for reading.