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Enable and configure versioning (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)

Applies To: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

 

Topic Last Modified: 2008-07-17

Versioning is not controlled at the server-farm level. It must be enabled and configured separately by the site owner on each library or list. When you track versions of files or list items, each version is numbered and saved as part of a version history. People in your organization can view the version history and recover earlier versions if needed. In a particular list or library, you can specify the following settings:

  • **No versioning   **
    Previous document versions and the history (such as comments) associated with each version are not retrievable. This is the default setting.

  • Create major versions
    Each iteration becomes a full copy of the document with the versions numbered sequentially (1, 2, 3, and so on). All users with permissions to the document library are able to view every updated version. Use this option if you do not need to differentiate between draft versions and published versions. To control the effect on storage space, you can specify how many previous versions to retain based on the current version.

  • Create major and minor versions
    Versions ending with a zero extension (.0) are major versions and versions ending with a non-zero extensions are minor versions. Only major versions can be published. Additional permission levels can be configured for working with minor versions. In most scenarios, users who can edit major versions are also allowed to edit minor versions, but read-only users can only view major versions. As with the previous option, you can specify how many previous versions to keep based on the current version. You can also specify how many minor versions are kept per major version.

Enable and configure versioning

Use the following procedure to enable versioning in a list. After completing this procedure, people in your organization will be able to view version history and recover earlier versions of the list if needed.

Important

To enable and configure versioning, you must have the Full Control permission level on the list or library.

Enable and configure versioning for a list

  1. Open the list for which you want to enable versioning.

  2. On the Settings menu, click List Settings.

  3. On the <List name> Settings page, in the General Settings section, click Versioning settings.

  4. On the List Versioning Settings page, in the Content Approval section, select the content approval option you want to apply to any list changes.
    For more information about requiring content approval for submitted items, see Require approval of items or files in a list or library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104971&clcid=0x409).

  5. In the Item Version History section, click Yes to enable the creation of a new version each time the list is edited.

  6. To specify how many versions of items or files to keep. select the Keep the following number of versions check box, and then type the number of versions that you want to keep.

  7. If you chose to require content approval for submitted items, you can specify how many approved versions are kept by selecting the Keep drafts for the following number of approved versions check box, and then type the number of versions that you want to keep.

  8. In the Draft Item Security section, if you chose to require content approval for submitted items, you must choose who should see draft items in this document library. Choose one of the following:

  9. Click OK.

Use the following procedure to enable versioning in a library. After completing this procedure, people in your organization will be able to view version history and recover earlier versions of library documents if needed.

Important

To enable and configure versioning, you must have the Full Control permission level on the list or library.

Enable and configure versioning for a library

  1. Open the library for which you want to enable versioning.

  2. On the Settings menu, click Document Library Settings.

  3. On the Customize <Library name> page, in the General Settings section, click Versioning settings.

  4. On the Document Library Versioning Settings page, in the Content Approval section, select the content approval option you want to apply to any list changes.
    For more information about requiring content approval for submitted items, see Require approval of items or files in a list or library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104971&clcid=0x409).

  5. In the Document Version History section, select a versioning option:

    • To specify that only one type of version is tracked, click Create major versions.

    • To specify that both major and minor versions are tracked, click Create major and minor (draft) versions.

  6. To specify how many major versions of items or files to keep, select the Keep the following number of major versions check box, and then type the number of versions that you want to keep.

  7. If you chose to create both major and minor versions, you can specify how many minor (draft) versions are kept by selecting the Keep drafts for the following number of major versions check box, and then type the number of versions that you want to keep.

  8. In the Draft Item Security section, if you chose to require content approval for submitted items, you must choose who should see draft items in this document library. Choose one of the following:

    • Any user who can read items

    • Only users who can edit items

    • Only users who can approve items (and the author of the item)

    For more information about specifying who can view and edit drafts, see Specify who can view drafts (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104975&clcid=0x409).

  9. In the Require Check Out section, select the check-out option you want to apply to library edits.
    For more information about requiring check-out, see Require check-out for files in a library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104974&clcid=0x409).

  10. Click OK.

See Also

Concepts

Protect and restore content by using Recycle Bins and versioning (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Manage versioning by using quotas (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Configure and manage the Recycle Bin (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)