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How to deal with new product version?

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:38 am
by sopuli
Dear Support Team,

As my project (webhelp output for our software product) is progressing and actually publishable, I have been asked how I will deal with our next software version.
At the moment, I upload my webhelp output folder to our web server, and that's it.

How will this work with 2 (or more) different versions?

My understanding so far:
1 - I would only need to create another ditamap for the new version that contains all unchanged topics plus either the amended topics (with versioning elements) and the new version's own topics.
2 - I would publish 2 ditamaps and end up with 2 webhelp output folders.
3 - In my transformations for both ditamaps, I would need to add a "version switch" for the website header.
4 - On our web server, I would need an additional target folder for the new version.

Are these assumptions correct?
Could you point me in the right direction for more information about version information in topics and version selectors for the webhelp output, please (tutorial, help files)?

Thank you so much in advance!
Best wishes
Herdis

Re: How to deal with new product version?

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2025 11:20 am
by Costin
Hi Herdis,

Use a version control system (VCS) to manage your documentation's versions. This allows you to track changes and revert to previous states, ensuring a clear history of your work.
The most common VCS is Git, which is used by popular platforms like GitHub and GitLab. You can use Git to host and manage your documentation, or any other VCS you prefer.
Also, for each version of your documentation, save the final output files in a dedicated folder, so you would have multiple versions in their own separate folders.

Best Regards,
Costin

Re: How to deal with new product version?

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:00 pm
by sopuli
Hi Costin,

I have never used Github before and was under the impression that I can manage the user documentation for our software's versions via oXygen. Some topics may never change, some will have slight amendments over time.
So the process I described above is not working at all?

Best wishes
Herdis