What is: Revisions?

In the earliest days of computers, there was always only one version of a file or website: the current one. With WordPress, however, it became apparent that sometimes you may want to save older versions of your files in case the current one has a mistake or isn’t to your liking.

Every time you work on a post or page, WordPress will make a copy of it every 60 seconds. If you lose your connect to the internet, close your browser before saving, or want to revert back to an older version of a post or page, WordPress will allow you to go back to an earlier version. This functionality is called “revisions.”

Even if you don’t want to modify the content of a post or page, this autosave feature of WordPress is very handy because you will never have to worry about saving or recording your work. As long as you have been working on a page or post for more than 60 seconds, WordPress will have made a saved version that you can later access whenever you wish.

At any time, whether it’s when you are first working on the post or page or later after it has been published, you will see a list of all of the previous revisions on the right-hand part of your screen. Keep in mind that visitors to your website can not see this information – they will only see the latest version (if the post or page has been published).

Revisions are always displayed in chronological order, i.e. the oldest revision first. These are displayed by minutes/hours “ago” or the date of their creation so that you can quickly find an older version.

Note: You can change how often WordPress saves a new revision by modifying your wp-config.php file, including turning off revisions. Keep in mind that turning off revisions will not improve your site’s performance.