WordPress For Documentation Versioning

Software documentation needs to reflect the software's current version. As the software changes, the documentation needs to follow. For products with multiple supported versions, the documentation needs to handle each one.

The patterns that work in WordPress depend on the operation's complexity.

The single-version approach

The documentation always describes the current version. When a new version releases, the documentation updates entirely.

Advantages: simple to maintain; users always see current docs.

Disadvantages: users on older versions don't have applicable documentation; the upgrade path between versions isn't clear.

Fit: products with mostly-automatic upgrades where users typically run current version.

The version-as-taxonomy approach

Each documentation article has a version taxonomy. The user selects their version; the site filters to applicable content.

Advantages: one site supports multiple versions; users see relevant content.

Disadvantages: requires version selector UI; some maintenance overhead per version.

Fit: products with infrequent major versions, where users may be on different versions.

The version-in-URL approach

Different URLs for different versions: docs.example.com/v2/getting-started/ vs docs.example.com/v3/getting-started/.

Advantages: clean URL structure that's version-explicit; old version URLs persist.

Disadvantages: requires URL routing; significant duplication if multiple versions are maintained.

Fit: products with long-lived versions where direct version URLs are useful.

The separate sites approach

Each major version has its own documentation site: v1.docs.example.com, v2.docs.example.com.

Advantages: complete isolation; each site can have its own design and architecture.

Disadvantages: high maintenance overhead; each site needs its own hosting and updates.

Fit: very large products with extensive per-version documentation.

The version sunset

For older versions that are no longer supported, the documentation can be archived rather than maintained.

The archive: clearly marked as for an unsupported version; not actively updated; eventually removed when the version's user base is small enough.

The honest framing

Documentation versioning is operationally complex. Match the approach to actual user needs.

For most products, the single-version approach with clear "latest" labels works. Sophisticated versioning is appropriate only when users actually need it.