Score Versioning Guide
Opening History
In the repository, switch on Historical mode (the Real time / Historical pill in the toolbar) to show a History button on every tune, folder, and media attachment instead of the usual edit actions. Click it to open this page and see every saved version, newest first.
What creates a version
Only your own typing in the ABC source editor publishes a version, and only once per editing session — close the editor and open it again on the same tune and that is a second session, so a second version. Everything the app writes on your behalf — inserting or clearing chords, nudging the tempo, transposing, injecting backing before playback, auto-fixing a syntax warning — is saved exactly as before but publishes nothing, so the history stays a list of the edits you would actually want to find again.
Browsing versions
Click any version row to preview its content in the panel above the list — this is read-only and never changes anything, so it's safe to click through every version. A folder's history lists every file and sub-folder change inside it, mixed together and labelled with each item's name.
Compare
Click the compare icon on any older version to see a structural, line-by-line diff against the current version — additions, deletions, and changed bars are highlighted separately, the same way a code diff works.
Restore (Edit mode)
In Edit mode, the Restore button on any older version brings its content back as a brand-new current version — nothing is deleted or overwritten, so the version you restored from is still there afterwards. Not offered on the current version itself, and never from a folder's mixed history (open the specific tune's own history instead).
Start an arrangement (Edit mode)
In Edit mode, the branch icon on any row — including the current version — keeps working on that version as a new arrangement: a separate tune, named by you, filed in the same folder as the original, with a history of its own starting from that point. Use it for a fingerstyle setting, a slow-air reading, or a session version you want to take somewhere else without disturbing the tune you started from, which is left exactly as it was. Its first version carries a note saying which tune and which version it came from.
Naming a version
The tag icon lets you attach a short name to any version — even the current one — such as "Before lesson" or "Festival version". This is purely organisational: it never affects the content, and clearing the name back to empty removes it.
Notebook notes
The notebook icon lets you attach a longer freeform note to any version — practice reminders, fingering tips, anything worth remembering. A filled notebook icon means a note is already there. Independent of the name: a version can have either, both, or neither.
Milestones
The flag icon lets you mark any version with one of 5 fixed milestones — First playable version, Lesson with teacher, Session version, Performance version, Competition version — turning your history into a musical diary. Milestone versions get a highlighted badge, and a quick-jump strip above the list lets you return to any of them in one click.
Deleting a version (Edit mode)
The trash icon permanently removes one version from the list. Unlike every other action here, this cannot be undone — a confirmation dialog always appears first. It only removes that version's entry; it never touches the current content or any other version.
Media attachment history
Scores (PDF or image), audio recordings and links each have their own history button, opening a dedicated page with the same preview, name, note, milestone, restore and delete actions. A recording you upload is kept take after take, up to 5 MB — replacing it does not lose the earlier ones. Uploaded video is the one exception and is never versioned: nothing about a film of a session rewards keeping every earlier cut, and they are the largest files accepted.