How to view and restore previous versions of a page

In short. Every time you save a content change to a published page, SGEN keeps a snapshot called a revision — up to ten at a time. To restore previous versions: open the page editor, click View History, find the revision you want, click Open snapshot to preview it in a new tab, then click Restore this version and confirm. The live page updates immediately. Only body content is restored — SEO title, slug, featured image, and other settings are untouched. That's it — read on for the full walkthrough.

On this page: What this is for · What it won't do · Before you start · Steps · Troubleshooting · Tips

How to view and restore previous versions of a page

Every time you save a content change to a published page, your site keeps a snapshot of the old version — called a revision. Revisions stack up over time (oldest at the top), and the most recent ten are kept; anything older is automatically removed when a new save comes in.

This guide shows you how to find that list, preview any revision in a separate tab, and restore an old version when something has gone wrong. You will use the page-history screen, which is one click away from the page editor.

What is this for?

The page-history screen is a safety net under every published page. It does not prevent mistakes, but it makes them recoverable — scroll back through every saved snapshot and put any one of them back live with a single confirmation click. Nothing changes on your public site until you confirm a restore, so you can browse and preview freely.

When to use this

What NOT to use this for

• Not a side-by-side diff viewer. Open the snapshot in one tab and the live page in another — the system does not highlight changes line-by-line. For strict comparison, paste both into a diff tool.

• Not for pages in Trash. Page history only operates on a page that still exists. To recover a deleted page, use the Trash list in your Pages section. Full detail: Restore a trashed page.

• Not for settings changes. Page history only restores body content. SEO Title, SEO Description, slug, featured image, custom fields, and scripts are untouched by a restore.

• Not available on draft pages. Drafts show no history screen at all. Publish the page at least once before history is available. Flipping a published page back to draft hides the history button until you publish again.

• Not a bottomless archive. The cap is ten revisions. Once a revision is pushed out by newer saves, it is gone permanently — no hidden backup exists.

• Not a full-site backup. This is per-page, body-content-only. For site-level disaster recovery, use the backup snapshots in SG-Dashboard.

How this connects to other features

• The page editor — the View History button sits at the top of the editor. It only appears after the page has been saved at least twice with body-content changes (first save = live row; second save = first revision).

• Saving a page — only saves that change the body create a new revision row. Settings-only saves (SEO, slug, featured image) do not. That is why your revision count and save count may not match.

• Drafts and publishing — page history is only available on published pages. Flipping a page to draft hides the history button; flip back to published and it returns.

• The 10-revision cap — the most recent ten revisions are kept; older ones are deleted automatically as new saves come in. If a particular old version matters, restore it before it falls off the list.

• Trash and restore — history is inaccessible while a page is in Trash. Restore it to published first, then access history.

• Autosave — autosave drafts within a single edit session do not create permanent revisions. Only an explicit Save click creates a revision row.

Before you start

• Page must be published (not in draft, not in Trash).
• At least two body-content saves — the first save creates the live row, the second creates the first revision.
• Must be logged in as admin. The same session must be active in any tab where you click Open snapshot — otherwise the preview renders the live page, not the snapshot.
• Restore is immediate. There is no soft-launch step. Visitors see the restored content on their next request. Avoid restoring during a peak-traffic window unless the recovery is urgent.

Where to go

Dashboard → Pages → (click the page) → View History button at the top of the editor.

If the View History button is missing, the page has no saved revisions yet — save it once with a body-content change, then refresh the editor and the button will appear.

Steps — Compare and restore a revision

1. Open the page from your Pages list

Open Dashboard, click Pages in the sidebar, and click the page title to open the editor. Confirm the status shows Published in the header — if it shows Draft, the View History button will not be available; if it shows Trash, restore the page from your Trash list first.

Use the search box or the status filter pills at the top of the Pages list to narrow down if you have many pages.

2. Click View History at the top of the editor

The View History button sits near Save changes at the top of the editor. It is only visible when the page has at least one saved revision. Click it and the page-history screen opens with a table of every saved snapshot.

Note the ordering: oldest snapshot at the top, most recent at the bottom — the opposite of most other lists in the admin.

3. Find the revision you want to compare against

Read the Saved at timestamps and the Author emails. Pick the revision that looks right based on when the content was last good. If you are not sure, preview several in turn — that is the safe way to choose.

If you spot a save by someone you did not expect, that is worth a quick conversation with your team before you restore over it.

4. Click Open snapshot to preview it on the public site

Click Open snapshot on the row you want to inspect. A new browser tab opens at your page's public URL, rendered with the body content of that revision — your live page is unchanged, and visitors keep seeing whatever is currently published.

Open multiple rows in tabs to compare them. Preview tabs render snapshot body content; everything else (header, footer, navigation, theme) is the current live version. You must be logged in as admin in the same browser — if not, the public URL renders the live page and ignores the snapshot parameter.

5. Click Restore this version on the row you decided on

Return to the page-history screen. Click Restore this version on the chosen row. A confirmation pop-up appears with the timestamp — read it carefully and click Yes only when you are sure.

The screen reloads to the page editor. The live page now shows the restored content. A green Saved banner appears at the top of the editor. If you change your mind, click View History again — the previous live version is still in the list, and restoring does not consume any snapshots.

What success looks like

After you confirm, the screen reloads to the page editor. The body is now the content from the snapshot you picked, and your public site updates within a few seconds. A green Saved banner appears at the top. Click View History again — the same revisions list is still there, unchanged.

A successful restore is quiet: confirmation pop-up → screen reload → banner. No email, no log to check, no manual cache flush. The system handles it.

What to do if it does not work

• View History button is missing. The page has no saved revisions yet. Edit the body once and save, then edit and save again — now you have one revision and the button appears.

• View History opens a not-found page. The page is likely in Draft or Trash. Flip it to Published, save, then try again.

• Restore button does nothing after clicking Yes. Your session may have expired. Open a new tab, confirm you are still logged in, then retry. If the problem persists after re-login, contact your admin to check the server logs.

• Page looks the same after restore. You may have restored the most-recent revision, which already matched the live content. Open history again and pick an older row — read the timestamps carefully.

• A revision from a few weeks ago is gone. Your site keeps the ten most recent revisions only. Older snapshots are deleted automatically and cannot be recovered.

• Preview shows the live page, not the snapshot. You must be logged in as admin in the same browser. Public visitors who land on a preview URL always see the live page.

Example 1: Undoing a content rewrite that broke the flow

Amelia opens the About Us page and finds her teammate Jordan rewrote the company-history paragraph the previous evening — the new copy mentions an unannounced partnership and the tone is off. She clicks View History, finds Jordan's save at the bottom and her own earlier save just above it, opens a preview to confirm, then clicks Restore this version on her row. The confirmation pop-up shows Apr 22 2026 11:08 and she clicks Yes. Within five seconds the live page is back to her version.

Example 2: Restoring a deleted section after a bad paste

Sam accidentally pasted over the entire middle section of a press-release page and saved before noticing. He opens View History, finds his last-good save from two days earlier just above the bad save, opens a snapshot to confirm the missing section is there, then restores it. The deleted section is back on the live page within seconds.

Example 3: Comparing two revisions side-by-side

Jordan wants to compare last week's home page to the current live version. Jordan opens View History, clicks Open snapshot on the week-old row, then opens the live home page in a third tab. Two tabs side by side — scroll through both visually. Jordan does not click Restore; this is a research session, not a change session.

Example 4: Recovering from an accidental save during a launch

It is launch morning and Amelia accidentally types into the wrong block and saves — the live page now has a stray paragraph. She opens View History, finds the bad save at the bottom and the correct version from twenty minutes earlier just above it, clicks Restore this version, confirms, and the live page is back to correct copy within seconds.

Tips

• Restoring does not consume the snapshot. The version you restored stays in the list, and so does the version you replaced. You can flip back and forth if you change your mind.

• Open multiple snapshots in separate tabs to compare them — that is the closest the system gets to a side-by-side diff view.

• Watch your revision count. At ten revisions, every new save deletes the oldest one. If a particular old version matters, restore it before it falls off the list.

• Use the Author column to coordinate with teammates if you spot a save you did not expect.

• Timestamps use your site's timezone. If your team is distributed, agree on a common timezone reference when reading them.

• Save explicitly when you reach a content state worth preserving — a save creates a revision; closing the editor without saving does not.

• Coordinate before restoring on a high-traffic page. A restore is immediate — visitors see the change on their next request.

Next steps

• Edit an existing page — full controls in the page editor that hosts the View History button.
• Save changes to a page — how revisions are created in the first place.
• Manage your pages list — finding and organizing pages across your site.
• Restore a trashed page — recovering pages deleted entirely, beyond what page history covers.