# Version history and staging

Every publish is kept; bring one back. Stage a version privately for a client to approve.

For: Everyone publishing a website

## Version history

Every time a website is published, the version it replaces is kept. Version history lists them with the date, the person who published, any note written in the Publish dialog, and their state: the one that is live, and any that sit on a staging address.

Preview opens any version exactly as visitors saw it, which is the honest way to answer "what did it look like before?" and the quickest way to copy a sentence from the old wording.

Walkthrough: Reading the version history (Version history)

1. **A shelf of versions**: Every publish keeps the version it replaced, with the date and the person who published.
2. **A row per version**: Time, publisher and state. The live one is marked.
3. **What is live now**: The badge answers "what are visitors seeing?" without opening the site.

1. Open Version history from the website menu.
2. Preview a few older versions.
3. Note the one to restore, if any.

## Bringing a version back

Each older version has Make live and Restore. Make live puts that version in front of visitors straight away: its pages, design and settings. The products stay as they are now, because products are published on their own, and anything changed in the editor since stays in the draft for later. The version it replaces is kept, so it can be undone the same way.

Restore copies the version into the editor instead, products included, replacing the current draft. Nothing changes for visitors until you publish, which makes it the careful choice when the old version is a starting point rather than the answer.

Walkthrough: Bringing a version back (Version history)

1. **Preview first**: See the version exactly as it went out before committing to it.
2. **Make live**: That version is live straight away, and the one it replaced is kept in turn. The products stay as they are.
3. **Restore**: Copies the version into the editor instead. Visitors see nothing new until you publish.

Warning: Make live returns every page as it was in that version, including pages removed since and without pages added since. Anything published after it is kept in its own history entry, but visitors will see the older version.

## Staging for approval

With Pro, a website can also have staging addresses: private copies, each with a name and a password, for showing the next version to a client before it is public. Send to staging puts the current draft there, behind the password, and the client sees the real site rather than screenshots.

When the client says yes, Make it live promotes exactly the version they approved, products included, which removes the last gap between what they saw and what goes public.

Walkthrough: Staging for client approval (Version history)

1. **Private copies**: Staging addresses carry a password, for showing the next version without it being public.
2. **Send to staging**: The client sees the real site, not screenshots. Approving it means promoting exactly what was seen.

- [ ] The staging password shared only with the people giving feedback
- [ ] Feedback on the staged version, not the live one
- [ ] The approved version the one that gets promoted

## How long are versions kept?

They are kept as long as the website exists, so a restore is possible months later. Deleting the website deletes its history.

## Does an old version bring back old products?

Make live keeps the products visitors see now. Restore puts the old version's products back into the draft, to publish when you choose.

## Does staging cost extra?

Staging is part of Pro. It does not need its own licence: it belongs to the website and its licence.

## Related guides

- [Publish and unpublish](/help/publishing-and-domains/publish-and-unpublish)
- [Fix an earlier version](/help/troubleshooting/find-an-earlier-version)
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