In this article:
Email Versions History in Shaman explained
Have you ever wanted to check if any changes have been made to your email content in Shaman?
Have you ever created an email, made some changes, but wanted to revert back to the original version of the email?
Email Versions History is here to help!
With Email Versions History in Shaman, you see the full story of all versions previously created for a specific email template or fragment at a glance. You have complete visibility on what is happening with your email content and can effortlessly keep track or revert back to any previously saved versions, giving you further freedom (and peace of mind!) in the content creation process.
Each time an email template or fragment is edited and saved by you or a member of your team, in the HTML editor by clicking “Done”, Shaman will save a new version of the email.
Good to know!
These versions only exist internally in Shaman, they do not have any impact on versions in Veeva Vault. As ever, any changes made to email content will only be communicated to Veeva Vault after a sync is completed from Shaman (and as a result a change in Veeva Status will take place).
Viewing the Email Versions History in Shaman
You can find all previous versions of an email template or fragment by selecting the "History" section from the overview menu on the left hand side.
The following information is available to view:
User: the user name of the person who last edited and saved the email content in Shaman. Eg. Anna Smith
Shaman version number: a numerical value automatically assigned to the saved version by Shaman. The number will increase from 1, 2, 3, and so on as more versions of the email content are saved.
Veeva Status: After content is synced from Shaman to Veeva Vault, the Veeva status for email content will be retrieved from Veeva Vault. The Veeva status of email content can be any of the following:
Approved: Available in production/ live environment
Staged: Ready to be pushed to the test environment/ available in the test environment.
Draft: Awaiting approval in Veeva Vault
Non existing: Not yet synced from Shaman to Veeva Vault.
Change date: The time and date that the last version of email content was saved in Shaman
Reverting back to a previous Email Version in Shaman
First let´s take a look at how you can view a previous version of an email template or fragment.
Good to know!
If you have only saved your email content once, you will not yet be able to view or revert back to previous versions, as only one version (the current version) of the email content exists.
Once you have multiple versions of an email template or fragment in Shaman, you will see multiple options available in the Design change history list.
To preview a version, click “view and revert” in the corresponding row of the version you wish to view.
You will then be presented with the current version of your email content on the left, and the previous version you are choosing to view on the right. From here, you have three options:
X to leave compare design versions: You will leave the compare design versions window without any changes being saved or recorded.
Keep the current version: The current saved version of the selected email content will remain.
Revert to this version: The previous version being viewed will become the current version.
When you select this option, a small message will appear to confirm that you wish to revert to an older version. If you are sure, click yes. If you are not sure, click no.
If you have clicked yes, you will notice a small message confirming that your email content has been updated to the previous version selected. You will also notice when checking the design change history, that a new Shaman version has been created, with a note to reference the version selected.
Good to know!
If you have reverted to a previous version in Shaman, a new sync from Shaman to Veeva Vault must be completed for this update to reflect in Veeva Vault.
And that's it! Time to enjoy the new freedom and security of working with Email Versions History in Shaman.
F.A.Q´s
Q: When is a new version created?
Whenever a change is made to an email fragment or template in the HTML editor of Shaman, a new version is created and added to the list of versions in the Design Change History table.
Q: When does the version history of an email template or fragment begin?
From the point when the Email Versions History feature has been enabled in your account, all updates to your email documents will be saved as new versions.
Q: What happens when you duplicate an email template or fragment?
When you duplicate an email template or fragment, you copy the contents of the email and create a new document. This means that the new document will be version 1.
Q: Can I go back to the last approved version?
Yes, you can see the Veeva Status of each version and use the revert function to go back to the last approved version.
Q: Can I revert a version from somebody else?
Yes, you can revert to any version of the document, this in turn will create a new version, so the previous version will not be lost.
Q: If I revert, can I later change my mind?
Yes, reverting creates a new version of the document without overwriting the previous one, so you can easily revert back to a different version at a later date.
Q: Can I revert the changes of someone else?
Yes, you can revert to any version of the document. Reverting will always create a new version, so nothing will be removed.
Q: Can I revert every email template or email fragment?
You can revert any email content that has previously existing versions.
Good to know!
Email versions history are not available for template fragments.
Q: If I have made multiple changes to an email, can I revert just some of the changes I have made?
This feature only allows you to revert the complete list of changes. You could however revert the version, and then adapt that specific version to your needs.
Q: Can I protect my version from being reverted?
You can not lock the version, but any changes made by your colleagues will show in the Design History table.
Q: How can I identify the email template or fragment versions exported to Veeva Vault? The versions exported to Veeva Vault will have in the Veeva status column other values than “Non Existing” (e.g. Staged; Approved).
Good to know!
Every Veeva Vault configuration is slightly different, so the logic of your approval process and MLR documents may differ from the answer presented here. Get in touch with us if you have any doubts at all!
Q: For shared accounts, are there any differences in how the versions history is recorded for: a. Global materials; b. Local materials duplicated from the Global Gallery?
Every document will have its own version history. A duplicated version will generate a new document that will have its own (new) history.
Q: How do I know what has been changed between a current and previous versions?
When you click "View and revert", you will be presented with the current and previous version side by side, so a visual comparison can be made between the two.
Q: Can I check several versions at a time?
You can currently only compare 2 versions at a time.