There's no documentation provided on how to use this component/bot.
The only access appears to me to be in the backend, where the component provides a list of content items. I've run several tests to change content items, using both the front end and the back end editor,and each time Versioning reports the last edit as the original, and shows no backups!

The version handling only seems to work if the user update pages using the public frontend editor. Would be much better with a full integration that keept track of prevoius versions, even if the change was made using the backend editor. Now, you can't really trust it if you allow users to edit pages using both modes.

Couldn't find any documentation at all for the component, so i thought that the installation failed before I discovered that it only worked in front-end..very annoying.

Really cool, but no versioning within the backend...

With the following patch also new version created in the backend are stored in the content_backup table:

Index: administrator/components/com_content/admin.content.php
===================================================================
658a659
> $isNew = true;
661a663
> $isNew = false;
719a722,746
> if ( !$isNew ) {
> $database->setQuery("SELECT * FROM #__content WHERE id =".$row->id);
> $contents = $database->loadAssocList();
> if (isset($contents[0])) {
> if ($database -> getErrorNum()) {
> echo $database -> stderr();
> return false;
> }
> $content=$contents[0];
> $row = new mosContentBackup($database);
>
> // bind it to the table
> if (!$row ->bind($content)) {
> echo " alert('"
> .$row -> getError()
> ."'); window.history.go(-1); \n";
> exit();
> }
> $row->checked_out = 0;
> $row->checked_out_time = 0;
> // store it in the db
> $row ->storeBackup();
> }
> }
>
Index: components/com_content/content.php
===================================================================
Index: includes/joomla.php
===================================================================
2491a2492,2569
> class mosContentBackup extends mosDBTable {
> /** @var int Primary key */
> var $id = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $title = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $title_alias = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $introtext = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $fulltext = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $state = null;
> /** @var int The id of the category section*/
> var $sectionid = null;
> /** @var int DEPRECATED */
> var $mask = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $catid = null;
> /** @var datetime */
> var $created = null;
> /** @var int User id*/
> var $created_by = null;
> /** @var string An alias for the author*/
> var $created_by_alias = null;
> /** @var datetime */
> var $modified = null;
> /** @var int User id*/
> var $modified_by = null;
> /** @var boolean */
> var $checked_out = null;
> /** @var time */
> var $checked_out_time = null;
> /** @var datetime */
> var $frontpage_up = null;
> /** @var datetime */
> var $frontpage_down = null;
> /** @var datetime */
> var $publish_up = null;
> /** @var datetime */
> var $publish_down = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $images = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $urls = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $attribs = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $version = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $parentid = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $ordering = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $metakey = null;
> /** @var string */
> var $metadesc = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $access = null;
> /** @var int */
> var $hits = null;
>
> /**
> * @param database A database connector object
> */
> function mosContentBackup( &$db ) {
> $this->mosDBTable( '#__content_backup', 'id,version', $db );
> }
>
> function storeBackup( $updateNulls=false ) {
> $ret = $this->_db->insertObject( $this->_tbl, $this, $this->_tbl_key );
> }
> }
>
> /**
> * Module database table class
> * @package Joomla
> */

This function should be part of the core for both frontend and backend. Versioning is really necessary in a collaborative site. Most of the time frontend users are the less experienced and commit mistakes. With this new tool don’t worry, your content remains safe !!!

This is the one thing that has been sorely lacking in Joomla. I hold my breath every time I teach my clients how to update their Joomla websites. As a matter of practice, we have taken to copying and pasting content into Word before editing a webpage. If for some reason a page is lost, it's not easy getting it back.

This component really rocks! It installs quickly and easily and just works.

My only other wish would be for this to be integrated with editing content on the back-end administration system.

Thank you so much for this and keep up the great work!

I tried it out on my test site. I love it!

However, it is not ready for prime time. Try enabling the bot, then create a new article. You will get a bind error, and you start over (no content). That is, it gives a bind error, clears your into and main fields, and sends you back to the compose screen.

The bot needs to check if there is an existing article ID in jos_content table first, then execute the backup if found.

As it stands now, installing this component/bot will stop new content publishing! :0

Owner's reply:
You are correct !

I will add this fix rapidly !

This is exactly what I was looking for. I can now allow my users to edit each others content and still be able to undo un-wanted changes made by others. Easy to install and use. For others installing it, make sure you publish the mambot before using.