Obscyra Digital · Documentation Control
How documents are versioned and logged
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Confirm the text you are reading is still current
This page explains how Obscyra Digital numbers its documents and records what changed between releases. Use it whenever you need to confirm that a rule you read earlier is still the current one — whether you bookmarked a page months ago, quoted a clause in a report, or are checking whether an exception has expired.
Versioning, review dates, and the change log work as one system. A document tells you what it currently says. The log tells you when that changed and why. Together they let you cite the exact text you relied on, at the exact point in time you relied on it.
Why we version documents
A policy changes over time, and a reader who bookmarked an older version needs to know what moved. Versioning gives each change an identifier and a record, so a reader can compare two versions and see exactly what shifted. Without it, a rule change becomes invisible the moment the page is updated — the sentence you saved is simply gone, replaced by a different one with no note that anything happened.
That matters most for readers who are not browsing for pleasure. If you are answering a question in a report, briefing a colleague, or checking whether an obligation still applies to you, the difference between an older wording and the current wording is the whole answer. A version number lets you say which text you read, and the change log lets anyone else follow you to it.
How version numbers work
Each document carries a version number that increases when its content changes. Minor edits that fix wording or links advance the number by a small step. Changes that alter a rule, a scope, or a role advance it by a larger step. The number appears on the page alongside the review date, so you can cite a specific version in a question or a report.
The steps are deliberately uneven. A small step tells you the meaning held still — you can keep reading from where you were. A larger step tells you the meaning moved, and a rule, a scope, or a role is now different from what you read before. When you see a large step, treat anything you saved from the earlier version as out of date until you have re-read the affected section.
Version numbers are not a count of edits. A document can pass through many minor corrections without the rule itself changing once. The number is a stability signal for the rule, not a record of author activity — which is why the change log, not the number, tells you what actually happened.
Two kinds of step
Small step
Wording and links are tidied. The rule you read still means the same thing, so your earlier notes remain valid.
Large step
A rule, scope, role, or exception changes. Re-read the affected section before relying on anything you saved.
The version number and the review date always appear together next to the document title.
What the change log records
The change log lists each version with its date and a short note on what changed. The note names the section affected and the reason for the change, in one or two lines. It does not restate the whole document. The log is the index; the document itself carries the full text.
The version
Which numbered release the entry describes, matching the number printed on the document.
The date
When the version took effect, so you can place your own reading in time against it.
The affected section
The part of the document that moved, so you can go straight to it instead of re-reading everything.
The reason
Why the change was made — a correction, a clarification, or a decision that alters what readers must do.
Short entries are the point. A note that runs to several paragraphs usually means the underlying text was rewritten, and the document itself is the better place to read it.
Reading a change log entry
An entry shows the version, the date, the affected section, and the reason. If a change was minor, the note says so. If a change altered a rule, the note says which rule and what the new version requires. A reader checking whether a change affects them can usually answer that from the entry alone — that is what the entry is for.
A link was repaired or a heading reworded. Nothing about the rule changed, so nothing changes for you.
A section was clarified in plainer language. The obligation is the same, but the wording is easier to quote.
A scope, role, exception, or rule changed. Read the named section before you rely on an earlier version.
Bracketed markers are part of the log text you will see next to each entry — a quick read of what kind of change you are looking at before you open the document.
Confirming you have the current text
Open the document, note its version and review date, then check the change log for any later entry. If the log shows a newer version than the page displays, you may be reading a cached copy. The entry for the newest version links back to the document it describes.
- First Note the version number and review date printed next to the document title.
- Then Find that version in the change log and check whether a later entry exists.
- If not Reload the page and check again. A mismatch that survives a reload is worth reporting through the Contact page.
Why documents get retired
When a document no longer applies, it is retired rather than deleted. A retired document keeps its final version number and stays in the library for reference. If a replacement exists, the retired entry names it. This keeps the historical record intact and stops old references from resolving to nothing.
Retiring is not the same as removing. A rule that once applied to a process may still explain why an earlier decision was made, and a reader tracing that decision needs to reach the text that was in force at the time.
What counts as a change
Not every edit creates a version. Fixing a broken link, correcting a typo, or adjusting a heading's wording does not change the rule, so it is logged as minor. Changing a scope, a role, an exception, or a rule does change what readers must do, so it gets a full version entry with a reason.
Tidying
Broken links and stray typos. Logged as minor — the rule still reads the same way.
Rewording
A heading or sentence made clearer. Logged as minor when the meaning an obligation carries does not move.
Substance
A scope, role, exception, or rule changes. Full version entry, with the section named and a reason.
Exceptions carry their own expiry dates
An exception has its own expiry date, separate from the document's review date. When an exception expires, the document is updated, and that update is logged like any other change. Readers checking an exception should look at both dates, because an expired exception that still appears in the text means a version is due.
If you are relying on an exception in a live decision, read the expiry date before the surrounding wording. An exception that has run out is no longer an exception, even if the sentence describing it has not yet been removed.
Questions readers ask about versions
Two questions come up often enough to answer here directly. If yours is not covered, the documentation team reads the Contact page every working day.
Office hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM Eastern Time.
How do I cite a specific version of a policy?
Use the version number and review date shown on the page. Both appear next to the document title, and each version has a matching entry in the change log. Quoting both the number and the date is enough for another reader to find the same text.
A page shows an older version than the change log. What happened?
You may be reading a cached copy. Reload the page, and if the mismatch continues, report it through the Contact page. Include the document title and both version numbers you saw, and the documentation team can check whether the page or your copy is behind.
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