Editing a text file and restoring a previous version

You edit a text file (.txt or .md) in Documents directly in 4planning, even with several people at once. If text was removed or overwritten by accident, restore an earlier version through Previous versions.

Step 1: Open the text file

1. Go to Documents in the left-hand menu and open the folder.
2. Click the text file, or choose Open in the three-dot menu (⋮).

The editor opens and saves your changes automatically; at the top you see Automatically saved. If someone else is working in the same file at the same time, their changes appear on your screen by themselves. To create a new text file, use the New text file button at the top of the folder.

You can edit if you are allowed to add files in that folder (Who can add files and folders? under Settings › Access & privacy › Documents). Without that right, the file is downloaded instead.

Step 2: Open the previous versions

Choose Previous versions in the text file's menu, or click Previous versions at the top right of the editor. You see a list with the date and time, who last edited the text and how large it was. A label shows what kind of version it is:

• Current content – the same as what is in the file now.
• Interim save – a snapshot taken while editing.
• Before restoring – what was there before someone restored a version.

Step 3: Restore a version

1. Click a version to view its text.
2. Click Restore this version, or Back to the list to pick another one.

Whatever is in the file at that moment first becomes a version itself. So you undo a restore by restoring that version again. Anyone who has the file open sees the restored text appear by itself.

When is a version created?

• Every time someone opens the file to edit it: the text as it was at that moment.
• During a long editing session, an interim save at most once every half hour.
• Just before someone restores a version.

If the text has not changed since the previous version, no new one is added. The latest 20 versions per file are kept. Versions older than 90 days disappear, but the three most recent always stay.

Frequently asked questions

I don't see Previous versions in the menu. That option only exists for .txt and .md files, and only if you are allowed to add files in that folder. 4planning does not keep versions of a PDF or Word file.

The list of versions is empty. Versions only appear once someone opens the file again to edit it. A file that has not been opened again yet has none.

Can I get a deleted text file back? No. The previous versions disappear together with the file.