Nov 4, 2026 | 4 min read
What Are Website Versions?
Versions are saved snapshots of your event website. Eventact separates your working draft from the live site, allowing you to build, update, or review content with colleagues before publishing. If needed, you can quickly revert to any previous version after publishing.
How Versioning Works in Eventact
Each modification to website pages or sections in Eventact is saved as a distinct version (v1, v2, v3, and so on). Changes remain in draft mode and are hidden from site visitors until you publish them, ensuring attendees see only approved content.
The green Live badge at the top of the Pages screen shows which version is currently visible to the public.
Core Mechanics and Capabilities
- Independent draft staging: Edits to content, layouts, and navigation remain private. Public visitors see the live release until an authorized user publishes changes.
- Pre-launch stakeholder review: Generate shareable preview links for clients, committees, or speakers. Reviewers see the exact layout without back-office credentials, even if the website is offline.
- Instant rollbacks and version recovery: Every version is archived permanently. If you need to revert a published update, you can restore and republish any previous version at any time.
- Audit trail: Each version records the save timestamp and the back-office user who made the changes.
- Version dropdown (v2 · 04/11/2026...): Select the draft or past version you want to view, inspect, or edit.
- Language dropdown (English): Switch between language versions of the page to edit localized content.
- Preview (Preview v2): Opens the currently selected draft in a new browser tab. You can copy this link and share it with reviewers without requiring them to log in.
- Save: Saves your recent edits as a new draft version without affecting what attendees see.
- Publish (Publish v2): Pushes this specific version live to production, making it immediately visible to regular site visitors.
- More options (⋮): Opens additional controls, including Lock preview links to revoke stakeholder access to unpublished drafts.
How to Use Versioning
1. Editing and Saving Drafts
Edit pages, blocks, and layout sections as usual. Each manual save creates a new draft version. Changes made during an active editing session are grouped into a single version entry.
2. Generating Preview Links for Stakeholders
Preview links let external stakeholders review staging versions before public release:
- Make your changes and click Save.
- Click Preview to open the draft view in a new browser tab.
- Copy the URL and share it with reviewers.
- Authentication: No login or Eventact account is needed to view preview links.
- Real-time updates: The link always points to the latest saved draft. Reviewers who refresh the page see updates immediately.
- Search engines: Draft preview pages are automatically blocked from search engine indexing.
3. Publishing to Production
When all modifications are approved:
- Click Publish.
- The staging version is published to production and becomes visible to public visitors within seconds.
4. Restoring or Branching from an Earlier Version
To view or reuse historical content:
- Open the version dropdown next to Editing and select the desired version.
- Direct rollback: To restore a historical version exactly as it was, click Publish.
- Selective branching: To use an older version as a baseline, make your edits and click Save. When prompted, confirm the operation. Eventact creates a new version based on the current state, updating only the modified sections from the older version and preserving all other elements from the latest draft.
5. Locking Preview Links
To revoke public or stakeholder access to unpublished preview links:
- Open the ⋮ options menu.
- Select Lock preview links.
While locked, any preview URL redirects to the active live website. You can unlock preview access at any time from the same menu.
Scope and Permissions Reference
| Component | Versioned in drafts? | Behavior on save |
|---|---|---|
| Standard pages and custom layout sections | Yes | Held in staging until Publish is clicked. |
| Dynamic content from other modules (Agenda, Speakers, Sponsors, Exhibitors) | No | Updates from source modules appear live on the website immediately without publishing. |
| Content lists (FAQ, News, Links, Gallery, Testimonials) | No | Changes update live immediately upon saving. |
| Global website settings and metadata | No | Changes update live immediately upon saving. |
| Newly created websites | - | Published immediately upon initial creation. |
Important operational distinction: Website versioning strictly manages the page architecture, blocks, text sections, and visual styling created in the website builder. Dynamic data feeds originating from other Eventact modules - such as session timing updates in the Agenda Builder, bio changes in the Speakers module, or tier edits in the Sponsors and Exhibitors registries - sync to the live website instantly upon save and are not held in website draft staging.
Role-Based Publishing Rights
- Publishing access: Only back-office users with Website Management permissions can publish drafts to the live site.
- Editor access: Users with standard page-editing permissions can modify sections, commit drafts, and generate preview links, but need a manager with publishing rights to publish changes.
For more on building pages and sections, see Building Your Event Website with Eventact.