Version Control in Prose

Prose documents — Word files, Google Docs, Notion pages — do not have native version control the way code does. The discipline of version control in prose must be imposed manually, through conventions that the organization agrees to follow consistently. Inconsistent version control produces an organization where no one is sure which version of a document is current, where multiple versions are in circulation, and where the document that matters most in a critical moment is the wrong one.

## Playbook Version Control Conventions

NAMING CONVENTION
[Process Name] — Playbook — v[Major].[Minor] — [YYYY-MM]

  v1.0 — Initial publication
  v1.1 — Minor updates (corrections, additions, no structural change)
  v2.0 — Major revision (structural change, process redesign)

DOCUMENT HEADER
Version: [X.X]
Status: [ACTIVE / UNDER REVIEW / DEPRECATED]
Published: [Date]
Last updated: [Date]
Owner: [Name]
Replaces: [Previous version — link or "N/A"]

CHANGE LOG (at end of document)
[Date] | v[X.X] | [Author] | [Description of changes]
[Date] | v[X.X] | [Author] | [Description of changes]

ARCHIVE CONVENTION
Previous versions stored in: [Location]
Named: [Process Name] — Playbook — v[X.X] — ARCHIVED — [Date]

DO NOT:
- Delete previous versions without archiving
- Save over the current version without incrementing the number
- Distribute a draft version without DRAFT watermark