> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.seilers.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# SOP Version History: Compare, Restore, and Label Versions
> Seilers automatically tracks every published change to your SOPs. Learn how to view history, compare versions, restore a past version, and add labels.
Processes change — regulations update, tools get replaced, and teams refine their workflows over time. Seilers versioning ensures that every change to an SOP is recorded, attributable, and reversible. Whether you need to demonstrate to an auditor that a compliant procedure was in place on a specific date, roll back an accidental edit, or simply see what changed between two reviews, version history gives you complete visibility into the life of every SOP.
## How Versioning Works
Seilers uses a two-tier approach to saving SOP content: auto-save and published versions.
**Auto-save** captures your work continuously as you edit. These drafts are private to you and your co-editors — they don't appear to the rest of your team and don't create a formal version record. Auto-save protects you from losing unsaved work, but it's separate from your SOP's official history.
**Published versions** are created every time you click **Publish**. Publishing is the action that makes your changes visible to the team and simultaneously creates a permanent, timestamped version snapshot. Each published version records:
* The exact content of the SOP at the moment of publishing
* The date and time of publication
* The name of the team member who published the change
* Any version label you've applied (see [Version Labels](#version-labels))
Your team always sees the most recently published version. Previous published versions are preserved in full and accessible through the version history panel.
## Viewing Version History
Navigate to the SOP whose history you want to review. You can access any SOP from the **SOPs** section in the left sidebar or by searching for it by name.
In the SOP editor toolbar, click the **History** icon (clock with a counterclockwise arrow). The version history panel slides open on the right side of the screen.
The panel lists every published version in reverse chronological order — newest at the top. Each entry shows the publication timestamp, the name of the editor who published it, and any version label applied to that version. Click any entry to preview that version's content in the main editor area.
## Comparing Versions
Seilers includes a side-by-side diff view that makes it easy to see exactly what changed between any two published versions.
To compare two versions:
1. Open the version history panel.
2. Click the **Compare** button on any version entry.
3. Use the **Compare with** dropdown to select the second version — either the current published version or any other version in the history.
The diff view opens with the two versions displayed side by side. Changes are highlighted clearly:
* **Green highlights** mark content that was added in the newer version.
* **Red highlights** mark content that was removed or replaced.
* **Unchanged content** is displayed normally so you have full context.
You can compare any two versions, not just adjacent ones — making it straightforward to understand the cumulative effect of several changes made over a review cycle.
## Restoring a Previous Version
If an update introduced an error or a change needs to be reversed, you can restore any previous published version in a few clicks.
Open the version history panel and browse or compare versions until you identify the one you want to restore. Click it to preview its content and confirm it's the right version.
With the target version selected in the preview, click the **Restore this version** button at the top of the history panel.
Seilers prompts you to confirm the action. Review the confirmation dialog and click **Confirm Restore**. Seilers does not overwrite or delete any existing version — instead, it creates a brand-new published version whose content matches the version you selected. Your full version history remains intact, including all the intermediate versions between then and now.
Restoring a version always adds to your history — it never removes from it. After a restore, the history panel shows the original versions plus the new restored version at the top, so there's always a complete audit trail of every change ever made to the SOP.
## Version Labels
Version labels let you attach a human-readable tag to any published version, making it easy to identify significant milestones in an SOP's history at a glance — without having to read through the content or remember which timestamp corresponds to which review cycle.
**Adding a label to a version:**
1. Open the version history panel.
2. Hover over the version you want to label and click the **Label** icon (tag).
3. Type your label and press `Enter` to save it.
Labels appear directly in the version list alongside the timestamp and editor name. Common label conventions include:
* **Version numbers** — `v1.0`, `v1.1`, `v2.0` — for teams that follow semantic versioning for their procedures.
* **Review cycle markers** — `Q1 2025 Review`, `Annual Review — March 2025` — to mark versions produced at scheduled review intervals.
* **Compliance milestones** — `SOC 2 Audit Snapshot`, `ISO 9001 Approved` — to flag versions that were reviewed and approved for a specific compliance purpose.
You can add or edit a label on any version at any time, including versions published in the past.
Version history is retained **indefinitely** on all paid Seilers plans, so you can always access the complete history of an SOP no matter how far back it goes. Free plan workspaces retain the **last 10 published versions** per SOP. If your team relies on SOPs for compliance or audit purposes, a paid plan ensures you never lose historical records.