Strapi V5: Easing content revisions in production

A Content Management System (CMS) is a software platform that enables users to create, manage, and publish digital content, typically for websites, without needing deep technical expertise. CMS platforms provide tools to organize and edit content, streamline workflows, and ensure consistency across web pages.

Importance of content revisioning in a CMS

• Version Control: Tracks changes to content, allowing for easy rollback to previous versions.
• Collaboration: Facilitates team collaboration by keeping a history of who made changes and when.
• Error Recovery: Helps in recovering from mistakes by reverting to a known good state.
• Approval Workflow: Ensures content undergoes necessary reviews before being published.

Content-Versioning handled with Strapi V4

When I was working on a project were need a way to handle my content version or manage my content flow with a log of history changes, that time content-versioning not introduced officially in strapi v4 but somehow I found a plugin where I can make the things possible for me to handle the versioning feature.

You can find the plugin installation and other guides to use the feature from here . The plugin is not working properly for me as I expected. So, I discard the use of the plugin and will be waiting for a better approach to handle the content.

You can see below what are the features plugin provided and the glitch which I was facing during that time .

As you can see above, the save functionality is not working properly as expected. Also the version history showing in the list only contains a single content version which is not possible for me to handle the versioning of the content as well as the draft and published states too.

Manual ways to manage content-versioning

1. Custom implementation

• Draft/Publish System: Strapi v4 offers a basic draft and publish system. It allows for a simple workflow where content can be saved as a draft before publishing it. However, this does not provide true versioning, where you can track changes or revert to previous versions.
• Custom History Models: One way to achieve content versioning is by creating a custom content type that stores the versions of an entity. Every time content is updated, you can store a new entry in this model to represent the state of the content at that point in time.

2. Using plugins

• Community Plugins: Some community plugins have been developed to provide versioning capabilities. These plugins allow you to track content changes, save multiple versions, and revert to previous versions. However, such plugins may require further testing and adjustments to fit specific use cases.

3. Limitations in Strapi v4

• While Strapi v4 provides the infrastructure for creating custom content workflows (e.g., lifecycle hooks to track changes), it lacks a native, built-in solution for full content versioning like those found in other CMS platforms.
• Changes made in Strapi v4 often require manual approaches or custom database models to track previous content states.

Revolutionize your workflow with Content-Versioning with Strapi V5  

• Strapi v5 officially introduces a built-in versioning system, allowing you to track changes made to content over time. You can create, view, and manage different versions of the same content entry.
• You can view the entire history of changes made to content, including the ability to compare versions and see who made changes. This feature is essential for auditing and understanding content evolution.
• Strapi v5 enables you to revert content to any previous version with a single click. This is a significant improvement over v4, where such functionality would require custom development.
• Multiple collaborators can now work on content more seamlessly with the versioning system, as Strapi v5 offers better change tracking and visibility into the workflow. This helps content teams coordinate updates without losing track of edits.
• Users can manage multiple versions of content, label or tag them for easier identification, and ensure that the right version goes live. This can be particularly helpful for long-term content planning or iterative updates.
• Content moderation is enhanced with improved workflows that allow moderators to review and approve specific versions of content, making it easier to handle content revisions before publishing.

Unfortunately this feature is accessible for the Strapi Customers having Enterprise License. We cannot test it personally yet, but we can see the material provided by strapi .

Challenges of content revisioning in production deployment

1. Performance Overhead: Maintaining version histories can slow down production environments due to increased database size and complex queries.
2. Complex Workflows: Revisioning introduces approval and moderation workflows, which can delay publishing and complicate content pipelines.
3. Data Integrity: Rolling back versions can risk data inconsistency, especially when linked to other dynamic content or APIs.
4. Concurrency Issues: Multiple users editing or approving content simultaneously can lead to conflicts or overwrites.
5. Deployment Complexity: Handling different content versions alongside code updates complicates the CI/CD pipeline.

How Strapi V5 addresses it

1. Optimized Content Revisioning: Strapi V5 introduces an enhanced content versioning system with better database performance, ensuring smoother production environments.
2. Workflow Enhancements: It includes improved moderation and approval workflows, reducing complexity and delays.
3. Enhanced API Handling: Strapi V5 ensures better API management when working with multiple content versions, maintaining data consistency.
4. Modular Architecture: The new version is designed with scalability in mind, allowing users to handle content revisions without overloading the system or deployment processes.

Conclusion

Strapi V5 brings much-needed improvements for managing content revisions in production. By introducing content versioning, content history, and enhanced API performance, it offers users a smoother and more reliable workflow for drafting, publishing, and rolling back content.

These features, along with a revamped interface, make Strapi V5 an efficient tool for content managers, improving both user experience and content control.

If you want to explore more checkout the official Strapi v5 documentation.That’s all about Strapi content-versioning features we have covered. See you next time, and if you found this guide helpful, please share. Happy coding!