Comparing Versions of Content

There are two versions of this procedure. Consult your system administrator to determine the correct procedure for you.

If the Ektron CMS400.NET server is	And your client is	See
32 bit	32 bit	The View Content Difference Screen
64 bit	32 bit	The View Content Difference Feature Note: This procedure was the only one prior to 7.5.2. It downloads an ActiveX control to your computer.
64 bit	64 bit	The View Content Difference feature is not available

The View Content Difference Screen

Note: Use this procedure if both your computer and the Ektron CMS400.NET server are 32 bit.

The View Content Difference screen highlights changes to selected content. Below is an example of the View Content Difference screen, showing the default tab, Difference.

See Screen Sample

Each tab is explained below.

Tab	Shows this content
Difference	Both versions: content that only appears in the version on the This Content tab is highlighted in yellow content that only appears in the currently published version is red unchanged content is black
Last Published	Currently-published.
This Content	The version you are comparing the currently-published content against.

Note: If there is no difference between the versions, you see Content is Identical.

Learn About When You Can Compare Content

When Can I Compare Content?

The View Content Difference feature is available when

you are viewing a version of content

a staged version of that content is available (See Also: Staged Content)

Learn About Accessing the View Content Difference Feature

Accessing the View Content Difference Feature

To Access the View Content Difference feature, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the content whose versions you want to compare.

2. Click View Properties.

3. Click History (). The View Content History screen appears. See Also: Comparing Versions of Content

4. Click a version that you want to compare with the most recently published version.

5. Click View Content Difference ().

The View Content Difference Feature

Note: Use this procedure if your computer is 32 bit, and the Ektron CMS400.NET server is 64 bit.

The View Content Difference feature highlights changes that were made to selected content. Below is an example of the View Content Difference screen, showing two versions of content. The changes are indicated by

redlining deleted content

highlighting in yellow added content

See Screen Sample

Within the View Content Difference feature, you can perform several tasks, as well as view different versions of the content separately, or compared.

The View Content Difference feature is explained through the following topics:

When Can I Compare Content?

The Compare Content Window

First Use of the View Content Difference Feature

Learn About When You Can Compare Content

When Can I Compare Content?

The View Content Difference feature is only available when

you are viewing an historical version of content

a staged version of the content is available (See Also: Staged Content)

The following table explains when you can use the feature, and which versions are compared.

Content Status	Compares current published version with
Published	Historical version stored in the content history area
Checked-In	Most recently checked-in version
Submitted	Submitted version
Pending Start Date	Scheduled version pending start date
Checked Out	Not available

If content can be compared with another version, the View Difference button () appears in the content history area or the Web page view.

Learn About the Compare Content Window

The Compare Content Window

Note: The first time the View Content Difference feature is opened, a simple installation program runs. See Also: First Use of the View Content Difference Feature.

The Compare Content window consists of the following:

Toolbar

Content Area

View Tabs

Each area is explained below.

Learn About the Toolbar

Toolbar

The content comparison toolbar has five buttons, explained below.

Button	Name	Description
	Print	Sends content to local or network printer. Note: This option prints the currently displayed content, whether it is the compared, published, or staged content.
	Save	Saves a copy in HTML format on your local machine or network. When saved as a physical file, the HTML may be edited. However, the changes are not saved to the Web Server. Note: The save option saves the version of the content you are viewing.
	Setup	Opens setup dialog box to configure the settings. Typically, only an administrator would use this. For more information, see Setup.
	Help	Displays additional information about the compare feature.
	Exit	Closes the window.

Learn About the Setup Window

Setup

Click Setup () to open the setup dialog box. Typically, a system administrator would edit these settings.

You can change the setup options to better suit your needs. The following table explains each option.

Option	Description
Compare Options
Compare visual aspect	Compares content as it would appear on a Web page.
Compare source code	Displays compared content as source HTML.
Whitespace Options
Ignore All	Blank (whitespace) characters are ignored.
Smart Detect	One or more consecutive whitespace characters are treated as a single separation sequence. That is, multiple whitespace characters are ignored.
Detect All	Blank (whitespace) characters are treated as any other character.
Other Options
Ignore Case	Determines whether comparison is case sensitive. For example, if you check this box, the strings “Bob” and “BOB” are not highlighted because their only difference is the case of the characters.
Ignore Format Attributes	Determines whether comparison ignores changes in text-formatting attributes (HTML Visual Analysis only).

After updating setup information, click OK to save changes.

Learn About the Content Area

Content Area

The content area displays the content comparison.

The following table describes the change indicators.

Symbol	Example	Content state
Plain black text		Unchanged
Yellow highlighted text		Added
Red, struck-through text		Deleted

Learn About the View Tabs

View Tabs

When viewing content in the View Content Difference feature, there are three view modes, explained below.

View	Description
Diff	Compares published version of content to staged version
Published	Displays currently published version
Staged	Displays the staged version of content. See Also: Staged Content

To switch between views, click the corresponding View tab.

Learn About the First Use of the View Content Difference Feature

First Use of the View Content Difference Feature

The first time the View Content Difference screen is used on a client machine, a simple installation program is performed.

Click Yes when the following screen appears.

When the installation program completes, close and reopen the View Content Difference feature.

Actions are explained below.

(continued in Restoring a Previous Version)