Notavi

Version history

Documentation that stays current.

The reason SOPs fail isn’t that nobody writes them — it’s that the moment a process changes, the document becomes a lie. Notavi gives every guide a memory: each revision is kept with a plain-language note on what changed, so your documentation is always the current version, never quietly out of date.

Download for Mac Download for Windows See it in the full walkthrough →

Make a version

A minor tweak or a full rewrite — versioned either way.

When a procedure changes, make a new version instead of overwriting the old one. The current guide is archived to history and a fresh version takes its place — with the whole lineage kept intact, so nothing is ever lost.

  • Minor versionA small fix — a corrected step, an updated screenshot — bumps a minor version (v1.0 → v1.1).
  • Major versionA substantial rewrite bumps a major version (v1.1 → v2.0), signalling a real change in the process.
  • Nothing overwrittenThe previous version is archived, not replaced — every earlier revision stays readable.
Notavi's 'Create a new version' dialog — choose a new minor version (v1.1) or a major version (v2.0).
Choose minor or major; the lineage stays whole.
An automatically written change note on a new version — 'Step 8 was added to right-click the target user account and click Properties…' — with the initial version below it.
A plain-language note, written for you, on every version.

Automatic changelog

The changelog writes itself, in plain English.

You don’t keep the history — Notavi does. Each version carries an automatically written note describing what actually changed, in ordinary sentences rather than a technical diff, alongside who made the change and when. Anyone opening the guide can see how it got here.

  • What changed, in sentences“Step 8 was added to right-click the target account and click Properties” — not a wall of code.
  • Who and whenEvery entry is stamped with the author and date, so the history is accountable, not anonymous.
  • No extra step for youThe note is generated when you make the version — there’s no changelog to maintain by hand.

Restore & make current

Go back a version without losing your place.

The whole lineage is one click away. Reopen an earlier version just to read it, or promote it back to current when a change turns out to be wrong — the newer versions stay in history either way, so you can always move forward again.

  • View any versionOpen an older revision read-only to check exactly how the procedure used to work.
  • Make it currentRoll back to a known-good version in one click; nothing newer is deleted.
  • Extract a versionPull any version out as its own standalone guide when a branch deserves its own life.
Notavi's version rail — v2.0, v1.1 and v1.0 with a change note and View / Make current / Extract controls on each.
Every version, with one-click view, restore and extract.

Why it matters

A document that can’t stay current is worse than no document.

Once a guide has been wrong once, people stop trusting all of them — and quietly go back to interrupting the one person who knows. A living version history is what keeps your documentation believable: the guide in front of a new hire is the real one, and its whole past is right there to prove it.

Notavi's 'Where should it start?' dialog — start the new version from the existing SOP, or from a blank document under the same lineage.
Start from the existing guide, or a blank one — same lineage.

Branch it

Fork a new version from what you already have.

When you make a new version, you decide where it starts. Carry the existing SOP forward and edit from there, or begin from a blank document under the same lineage — either way the title and department carry over, so the new version is unmistakably part of the same story.

  • Start from the existing SOPKeep the steps you have and revise — best for an incremental update to a working procedure.
  • Start from scratchBegin clean under the same lineage — best when the process has genuinely been re-done.

One source of truth

Two guides drifting together? Merge them into one.

Version history isn’t only forward. When a new guide starts to overlap one you already have, Notavi flags it right in the editor and lets you compare them step by step — which steps match, which differ, and which appear in only one — before you decide what to do.

  • Merge as a new versionFold two overlapping guides into one authoritative SOP, kept in the version history like any other change.
  • Cross-referenceLink related guides instead of merging, so each keeps its own place while pointing at the other.
  • Keep separateDecide they really are different and Notavi remembers your call — nothing changes until you choose.
A guide open in Notavi's editor with a banner reading '1 possible duplicate found — this SOP looks similar to others in your library' and a Review button.
Flagged right in the editor.
Notavi's step-level comparison — this SOP beside the existing one, with matching, differing and only-in-one steps labelled.
Compare step by step, then decide.

At a glance

Every card shows its current version.

Across the whole library, each guide wears its version like a badge — so you can tell at a glance which procedures have moved on and which are still on v1.0, without opening a single one.

The Notavi library — folders and favorites down the left, a grid of step-by-step guides on the right, each showing its current version badge.
Folders, favorites and a version badge on every guide.

Give your procedures a memory.

Build and keep your own library for free, in storage you own. Turn on the AI writeup and automatic history whenever you’re ready.

Download for Mac Download for Windows

Free to build your own library · Apple Silicon Mac (M1+) · Windows 10/11