Beta Feature: Version history and drafts for Matik Mail templates are currently in beta. Contact your Technical Account Manager to have it enabled for your account.
Matik tracks the history of changes to a Matik Mail template, so you can see what changed, roll back when something goes wrong, and stage edits before your team sends from them. Every save creates a new version automatically.
Drafts build on that history. A draft lets you rework a subject line, rewrite the body, or swap the recipient Dynamic Content, and test the result, all without changing the template your team is generating and sending from right now.
This works the same way in both the Visual Builder and the Code editor. Any admin with edit access to the template can create, edit, and publish drafts.
Version history and drafts are also available for Dynamic Content and Inputs. See Version History for Dynamic Content and [BETA] Draft Versions for Dynamic Content and Inputs.
Overview
A version is a snapshot of your email template at a single point in time. At any moment exactly one version is the live version, which is what your team generates and sends from. Every other version is either a historical version, kept for review and restore, or a draft.
- Live: The version your end users send from. Editing and publishing to it takes effect immediately.
- Draft: A working copy that only admins can see. Editing it never affects what your end users send. Each template can have one draft at a time.
- Historical: A past version, kept read-only. You can view it, restore from it, or use it as the starting point for a draft.
Versions are immutable. Once created, the content captured in a historical version never changes. Only the version title and description can be edited afterward.
Note: Version history only appears for templates that have been saved at least once. Save a brand new template first to start tracking history.
What's Tracked in Version History
Each version captures the content of the email itself:
- Subject: The email subject line, including any tags.
- From: The sender, whether static or driven by sender Dynamic Content.
- Recipients: The To, CC, and BCC configuration, including recipient Dynamic Content.
- Editor: Whether the template uses the Visual Builder or the Code editor.
- Attached Template: The name of the presentation template attached to the email, if there is one.
- Email Body: The full body content, including tags, loops, and conditionals.
Some parts of a template are not tracked, and always save straight to the live template even while you are working in a draft:
- Template name and description.
- Attachments. Attaching or detaching a presentation template changes the live template right away. The attached template's own content is not versioned along with the email, so the version history records only its name.
Viewing Version History
To open version history, go to the three-dot ⋯ actions menu in the template header and select Show Version History. The panel opens alongside the editor and lists versions in reverse-chronological order, with the live version at the top.
Each row shows the version title, description, the admin who saved it, and how long ago it was created. The live version carries a Live Version badge, and an active draft appears as its own row.
Click any row to view that version in the editor. A historical version opens read-only, with a Historical version banner naming the version and its date.
You can also tell which version you are looking at from the status line under the template name:
- Live · Published [time] for the live version.
- Draft · Created [time] for your draft.
- Viewing version · [date] for a historical version.
Working with Drafts
A template can have one draft at a time. If a draft already exists and you save another, Matik prompts you to confirm that you want to overwrite it.
Creating a draft
There are three ways to start a draft.
- From the actions menu. Open the three-dot ⋯ menu and select Create Draft. This copies the current live version into a draft and switches the editor into draft mode. Use this when you want to be in draft mode before you start editing. This option only appears if the template does not already have a draft.
- While saving your edits. Make your changes on the live template, then open the Update button's dropdown and choose Update as Draft instead of Update & Publish. Your changes go to a draft rather than going live.
- From an earlier version. Open a historical version, then choose Restore as Draft from the three-dot menu. This creates a draft pre-filled with that version's content.
Editing a draft
While you are in a draft, a Draft banner sits at the top of the editor reading Draft Created · [date] · Edits won't affect your end users, with a Publish draft link.
Edit the subject, body, sender, and recipients as you normally would, in either the Visual Builder or the Code editor. The save button becomes a single Update Draft button, so there is no way to publish by accident.
Testing a draft
Send yourself a test email from the draft to see exactly what it renders as, using the Send & Schedule tab as usual. The test uses the draft's content, so you can check tags, loops, and formatting before anything goes live.
Note: Test sends are the only kind of send available from a draft or a historical version. Sending to recipients is only available on the live version, and scheduling is hidden. Existing schedules, triggers, and flows always run against the live version, so a draft never interrupts them.
Publishing a Draft
When the draft is ready, open the Compare & Publish flow, either from the Publish draft link on the draft banner or from Review & Publish Draft on the draft's row in version history.
The flow has two steps:
- Compare Versions. A side-by-side view of the live version and the draft, with each changed field tagged Changed and a summary of how many fields differ. Recipient and sender Dynamic Content shows by name rather than by ID, so the comparison is readable. Review the differences, then click Continue.
- Enter Publish Details. Optionally add a Title and Description for the new version, a short note explaining what changed and why. Click Publish Draft to finish.
On publish, the draft becomes the new live version, the previous live version moves into version history, and Matik confirms with a Draft published message. From that point, your team sends using the published changes.
Restoring an Earlier Version
Open version history and click the version you want, then use the three-dot ⋯ menu in the template header. You have two options:
- Restore as Draft: Creates a draft pre-filled with that version's content, so you can review or adjust it before it reaches your team. If a draft already exists, Matik asks you to confirm before overwriting it.
- Restore & Publish: Publishes that version as the new live version immediately. Matik asks you to confirm first, since this changes what your end users send.
Restoring never removes anything. The version you restored from stays in the timeline, and restoring creates a new version rather than rewriting an old one, so the full history is preserved.
Discarding a Draft
To throw away a draft without publishing it, open the three-dot ⋯ menu and select Discard Draft. It is also available on the draft's row in version history.
Discarding removes the draft and leaves the live version exactly as it was. There is no undo, so discard only when you are sure you do not need the changes.
Managing Versions
Any admin with edit access to the template can name versions, restore from them, or delete them.
Naming versions
When you have not given a version a title or description, Matik generates one so the history stays readable at a glance. The default title combines the type of change with the date and time, for example Updated · Mar 14, 2:30 PM, and the default description summarizes what changed.
Naming a version yourself makes important checkpoints easy to find later. Before a significant rewrite, name the current version something like Pre-launch - approved copy so you can find and restore it if you need to. Named versions are also kept longer than unnamed ones.
To name a version, click the three-dot ⋯ menu on its row in version history and select Name this version, or Edit version info if it already has a name. Titles are limited to 255 characters and descriptions to 2,048.
Version cleanup
For performance reasons, Matik does not keep version history forever:
- Unnamed historical versions are discarded after 3 months.
- Named historical versions are discarded after a year.
The live version and your draft are never discarded.
Limitations
- Matik Mail templates only. Version history and drafts are not available for presentation templates.
- One draft per template. Each template supports a single active draft at a time. Creating or saving another overwrites the existing one.
- Name, description, and attachments are not versioned. Changes to these save to the live template immediately, even while you are working in a draft.
- No recipient sends from a draft. Test sends work from a draft or a historical version, but sending to recipients and scheduling are only available on the live version.
- Historical versions are read-only. To change one, restore it as a draft first.
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