Diagram versions and publishing new diagrams

Learn about diagram version logic and process releases

Ksawery Lisinski avatar
Written by Ksawery Lisinski
Updated over a week ago

You can drive Elements diagrams through the release lifecycle and store version history for each diagram.

TIP Authorization of diagrams is an optional step that is only available on Enterprise Spaces and needs to be enabled for the specific map.

Article outline

  • Prerequisites

  • Creating and managing releases

  • Diagram version management

  • Publishing releases and diagrams

  • Version history

  • Frequently asked questions

  • You might be also interested in

Prerequisites

  • Need to have Release Manager permission to create and manage releases

  • Editors and invited named users can access draft diagrams

  • To have access to versioning your space have to be in the "Enterprise" plan

TIP All invited users are able to view diagrams in a space in the "Free" plan
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Creating and managing releases

Users with release manager permission can create and manage releases. Go to the Main App and select "Releases" from the left-hand menu. Click on the button in the upper-right corner of the screen to create a new release.

You will have to name the release and set the target release date. You will also have to specify the type of release and its risk level.

Once you create a Release, it will be visible in the list.

Creating releases from the diagram editor

If you are the map owner or editor you can also create a new release from within the diagram editor. When making a diagram "Ready for Release" you can select "Create new release" from the dropdown, as shown here:
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This will then open the "Create new release" window:

Once created, your new release will be automatically selected as the Release version for your diagram, and you are ready to go.

Diagram version management

Elements diagrams have a standard versioning process:

  1. You create and change diagrams in the "Draft" state. Only editors and named viewers can access draft diagrams.

  2. When the diagram is ready, you can assign it to a release. Doing so puts in the "Ready for release" version, which is view-only.

  3. When the Release is published, that diagram is published. The previously published version is automatically archived as view-only.

In order to make a diagram "Ready for release", expand the toolbar in the diagram application (1), open the right panel for the diagram by clicking on the "Versions" tag (2), then select the "Version" tab (3) and click "Make ready for release" (4).

You will have to choose the target release for the diagram (or you can leave it blank and assign it later) and provide your Elements password to finalize the operation. If you plan on using the release-training functionality, then also provide quick feedback explaining what was changed in the scope of this version.

Publishing releases and diagrams

When you are ready to publish the release (and all diagrams assigned to it) open the versions tab for the diagram and click on the name of the release next to the "Ready for release" tag. This will take you straight into the release app.

You can also go to the release app from the main application by clicking on the name of the release in the release list.

Once there, review if all the diagrams that you want to publish are marked with a βœ“. You also have the ability to add diagrams to the release that were made "Ready to publish" but not assigned to any release yet.

Click the "Publish" button in the upper-right corner of the screen to publish the release and assigned diagrams.

Version history

If you have edit rights or stakeholder access you can expand the toolbar (1), open the right panel for the diagram by clicking on the version tag (2), and select the "Versions" tab (3) to view the version history. You can click through the horizontal timeline of the diagram to load the previous versions of the diagram and understand how it changed over time.

Click on "View version history" to pop up a modal window with more details about each version (like who created the version, when and what comment was left by the user).

You might be also interested in

  • Diagram versions and publishing new diagrams - you can drive Elements diagrams through the release lifecycle and store version history for each diagram

  • Versioning diagram hierarchies - in order to ensure your diagrams are versioned correctly, you need to understand the diagram version architecture

  • Process governance - Elements has the auditable functionality to drive changes to your business processes in a way that is compliant with regulations and standards

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