Documentation Versioning

Documentation versioning maintains separate documentation for different design system versions, ensuring users access accurate information for their installed version. Versioning prevents confusion from documentation that describes features unavailable in older versions or uses deprecated patterns. This capability becomes essential as design systems mature and maintain multiple supported versions.

What Is Documentation Versioning

Documentation versioning creates and maintains distinct documentation sets corresponding to design system releases. When a team releases version 2.0 with breaking changes, users on version 1.x need documentation that matches their version’s behavior. Version selectors allow users to switch between documentation versions.

Versioning applies most critically to technical documentation like component APIs and code examples. Conceptual content and design principles may remain stable across versions, though significant redesigns may require version-specific guidance.

How Documentation Versioning Works

Documentation versioning typically operates through content snapshots or branch-based approaches. Snapshot versioning copies documentation content at release time, creating version-specific directories or builds. Branch-based versioning maintains documentation in git branches corresponding to release branches.

Documentation tools like Docusaurus and VuePress provide built-in versioning features. These tools snapshot documentation on command, maintain version directories, and generate version selectors automatically. Custom documentation sites may require implementing versioning logic manually.

Version selection presents users with available versions and remembers their preference across sessions. Some systems detect installed package versions and recommend matching documentation. Clear version indicators prevent users from unknowingly reading wrong-version documentation.

Key Considerations

• Version snapshots should capture documentation state at release time to match released component behavior
• Version selectors should be prominent and persistent so users know which version they view
• Latest version should be the default with clear indicators when viewing older versions
• Version support policies should clarify how long documentation versions remain maintained

Common Questions

How many documentation versions should teams maintain?

The number of maintained documentation versions should match supported release versions. If the design system supports the latest major version plus one prior major version, documentation should cover both. Maintaining documentation for unsupported versions may continue briefly to support migration but consumes resources without benefit. Clear end-of-life communication helps users migrate before documentation removal.

How do teams handle documentation content that spans versions?

Some content applies across versions with minor variations. Teams can share this content through include mechanisms, maintaining common content in one location referenced by multiple versions. Version-specific sections within shared content address variations. Alternatively, teams may accept duplication between versions, accepting maintenance overhead for simplicity. The approach depends on how much content varies between versions and documentation tooling capabilities.

Summary

Documentation versioning ensures users access accurate documentation for their installed design system version. Implementation typically uses documentation tool features or custom snapshot management. Clear version indicators and matching supported versions to documented versions maintains documentation usefulness across the version matrix.