[Framers] Fwd: Managing Versions of documentation simultaneously

[Fred Wersan]

Well, you could think of it like what is done with version control. When 
Release 3 of Application A comes out, they create a branch for Release 3 
and the trunk continues forward to Release 3.1 or 4 or whatever. 
Sometimes fixes for Release 3 are that release only. Sometimes they also 
go into the trunk. You can always build that Release 3 again from the 
branch.

When your manual is frozen for Release 3, make a copy of it. Keep your 
main source for moving forward for the next release. If you need to 
change something in the release 3 doc, you just change it there. If it 
also applies to next release, put it in your source.

Will you end up with several branches over time? Yes. The question is - 
how active are these older branches. Probably not as active as the 
trunk. You don't have to worry about different versions polluting each 
other.

At some point each of the approaches has a certain amount of overhead - 
maintaining somewhat similar duplicate files, maintaining sensible 
conditions, structured or unstructured, etc. So pick the method that 
best fits your tool set and your overall doc management flow.

Fred

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*Fred Wersan* | Principal Technical Writer
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