Documentation change log
Development status: Status and changes — This log records dated changes to this documentation only, including status-label changes and superseded pages; it is not a record of protocol or software releases, because none exist. Nothing described in this documentation is publicly available for live use.
Before you read: Availability and changes.
What has changed in this documentation, and when? This page is the dated history of the documentation. It explains what is recorded, how entries are formatted, which changes are logged, how superseded, moved and withdrawn pages appear, and how the log relates to the release notes that would exist once releases do. It records changes to published pages only.
What this log records
The log records dated changes to published pages: new pages, substantive revisions, status-label changes, changes to what is stated as available, corrections, superseded research notes, address changes and withdrawn pages.
It starts at the first publication of the documentation, with an entry that records the initial set of pages and their status labels. It is not a record of protocol or software releases; none exist. Status changes also appear on the affected pages and on Development status: what exists today and what does not.
Entry format
Each entry gives the date, the affected pages linked by title, the kind of change — added, revised, status changed, corrected, superseded, moved or withdrawn — and a short summary.
- A status change shows the previous and the new label.
- A superseded note links to its replacement, and a moved page gives its new address.
- Entries are listed newest first.
- Entries are not edited silently: a correction to an entry is recorded as a new entry.
The layout of an entry, shown with placeholders rather than real values, is “{date} · {page title} · Status changed: {previous label} → {new label} · {summary}”.
Which changes are logged
- Every status-label change, whether on a page or on a block.
- Every change to what is stated as available or unavailable.
- Substantive changes to intended capabilities, assumptions, open questions or glossary definitions.
- New, superseded, moved or withdrawn pages.
- Minor editorial fixes that do not change meaning, such as typographical corrections, which may be grouped into a single entry.
Superseded, moved and withdrawn pages
- A superseded research note stays at its address with a “not current” banner; the log records the supersession and links to the replacement.
- A moved page keeps working through a permanent redirect, and the log records the new address.
- If a page is withdrawn, its address leads to its section’s overview with a neutral note, and the log records the date and the section.
The log and future release notes
When releases exist, release notes would be published separately, each opening with the versions it covers, and this log would link to them; Versioning, compatibility and deprecation describes how versions would be documented. The documentation log would remain separate from release notes, so that changes to explanations are never confused with changes to software.
Assumptions, trust and limitations
An entry records what the documentation said and when; it is not an announcement of a release or a commitment. The log is intended to cover every kind of change listed above from first publication onward.
Not yet available, and how this page will grow
Entries would begin with the first publication of the documentation and be added with each change after that. If a feed of entries is offered, it would carry the same entries as this page. Once releases exist, the log would link to the corresponding release notes.
Related pages
- Versioning, compatibility and deprecation — how versions and release notes would be documented once releases exist.
- Documentation conventions: status labels, dates and reviews — the labels and dates whose changes are logged.
- Public references — references whose additions and supersessions would be logged.
Glossary
References
No approved public references yet.
