In Paligo, you can create branches of your publications and topics. Each branch is a copy, but can also be merged back into earlier branches.
This is useful for creating different versions of content for similar products, working without affecting the live version, and also for having concurrent versions of your documentation. For more examples of use cases for branching, see Branching.
With branching, you can create a copy of a publication that you can use independently or merge back into the original at a later date. This can be useful if you want to work on updating a publication while still having the original publication available.
When you create a publication branch, the original version has a gray branch symbol and any branches have a blue branch symbol with a number. The number represents the version. For consecutive branching (set in the System Settings), the numbering will also show the origin branch number in parentheses.
Left image, the publication labeled Version 2.1 has a blue branch symbol numbered 1. This means that it is the first branch of the original Getting Started publication.
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Right image, the branch labeled UPDATE is numbered 2 (1). This shows it is the second branch from the original publication, but is generated from the first branch. The first branch now has a gray branch symbol due to this.
To create a branch of a publication:
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Locate the publication in the Content Manager.
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Select its the dotted menu ( ... ) and choose Branching and New Branch.
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To enter a Label name is optional. Leave it blank If you do not want to use it.
Paligo displays the Create Branch dialog
If you add a branch label it is shown next to the name of the publication. Labels make it easier to differentiate between the branches.
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Choose whether to create subpublication branches.
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Clear the Publications box to not branch the subpublications. Changes will affect the originals.
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Some of the subpublications need to be updated, but you want to branch those separately instead of branching all of the them, see
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Reused publications (sub-publications) need no update.
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Does not contain reused publications (sub-publications).
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Check the Publications box to create subpublication branches.
To use new branches as a "work in progress" versions. Any changes made in the branches will not affect the originals unless they are merged back.
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Choose whether to create topic branches.
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Clear the Topics box to not branch the topics. Changes will affect the originals.
If there are topics you do need to change, you can branch those topics separately, see Create a Topic Branch.
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Check the Topics box to create topic branches.
To use new branches as a "work in progress" versions. Any changes made in the branches will not affect the originals unless they are merged back.
Important
Auto-branching of topics is designed for particular scenarios, and in most cases, we recommend that you leave it disabled (clear checkbox). This is because auto-branching can result in unnecessary branches of topics where reused topics would be more appropriate.
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Select Create.
Paligo creates a branched version of your publication. It is shown next to the original version of the publication in the Content Manager. You can now work on the content in your branched version.
Note
If your branched publication has:
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The same topics as the original, then the changes you make will affect those topics wherever they are used.
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Branched topics will be independent of the originals. You can make changes to the branched topics without affecting the original version or other branches. But note that if a topic reuses a text fragment, that fragment is always reused, even in branched versions of the topic.
To find out more, see What Happens When You Create a Branch?.
If you branch a fork, this branch will use the same fork ID as the origin fork. This is important for resolving cross-references and when mapping to external systems such as Zendesk, SalesForce and ServiceNow.
The publication is updated automatically and references the branched fork instead of the original fork. Paligo stores the branched topic in the same folder that contains the original version of the topic.
For branched topics, you can change the content in the branched version without affecting the original version or other branches. But note that if a topic Reuse Text Fragments, that fragment is always reused, even in branched versions of the topic.
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To the left - The publication is updated with the branched fork. To the right - The branch is stored in the same folder as the original topic.
Note
There are alternative ways to create a branch of a topic. You can get Paligo to create a branch for every topic in a publication automatically, and this will keep the same fork IDs too, Create a Publication Branch.
You can also create a topic branch directly from the topic. This is completely independent of any publications, see Create a Topic Branch.
To create a topic branch from inside a publication:
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Find the publication in the Content Manager and expand it to see the included topics.
The topics you see are links from the publication to the topics that it references called forks.
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Select the dotted menu ( ... ) for the topic choose Branching > New branch.
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Adding a branch label is optional.
Tip
You can add branch labels afterwards as well, see Add or Edit Branch Labels
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To start working, select the checkbox Open new branch in editor.
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Select Create.
Paligo creates a branch of the selected fork.
Tip
To find out more, see What Happens When You Create a Branch?.
When creating a branch directly from a topic in the Content Manager, it becomes a "stand-alone" branch not used in any publications. The result is that the publication will continue to use the original version of the topic and the branched version will exist in the Content Manager.
This makes it possible to work on it, even if the publication is to be published during the update. Once you have made the required changes, you merge it with the main branch and it will replace the old version in the publication.
For branched topics, you can change the content in the branched version without affecting the original version or other branches. But note that if a topic Reuse Text Fragments, that fragment is always reused, even in branched versions of the topic.
Tip
To find out more, see What Happens When You Create a Branch?.
To create a stand-alone branch of a topic:
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Locate the topic in the Content Manager.
Important
Not the publication fork. Learn the difference, see Topic or Fork.
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Select its the dotted menu ( ... ) and choose Branching and New Branch.
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Adding a branch label is optional.
Tip
You can add branch labels afterwards as well, see Add or Edit Branch Labels
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To start working, select the checkbox Open new branch in editor.
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Select Create.
Branches make it possible to update without affecting the original content. They are handled almost the same way for topics, publications, informal topics and admonitions.
However, Forks from informal topics cannot be branched from inside a publication or topic because they are only a collection of reusable elements inside a topic. They are not standalone components like regular topics.
Therefore, you have to branch the informal topic in the Content Manager. Then manually replace the inserted informal topic with the branch in affected topics, see Replace an Informal Topic Branch.
Tip
If an informal topic serves as a reusable component in a publication, you can filter the content in your informal topic instead of branching it, see Filtering / Profiling and Publish Multiple Versions of Content.
To create a branch of your informal topic:
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Select the dotted menu (...) to the right of the
informal topicin the Content Manager. -
Select Branching and choose New branch.
The branch will appear below the file it originates from.
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Adding a branch label is optional.
Tip
You can add branch labels afterwards as well, see Add or Edit Branch Labels
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To start working, select the checkbox Open new branch in editor.
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Select Create.
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