Create and Publish Changesets

Administrators may create multiple changesets containing different combinations of changes and deploy those changesets individually.

• For example, if you wished to update the name of a label that appears onscreen in messages and in one or more mosaics, you could create a changeset called "Edit Labels" to easily update that and any other label in the future, wherever it appears in the user interface.
• Similarly, you may wish to create a standing "Edit Rules" changeset to be used for updating business rules.

The Changeset Manager admin screen allows administrators to create, delete and revert changesets, as well as to see all changes in a particular changeset. It is also possible to cross-publish changesets between different Chrome River environments.

Click here to jump to Changeset best practices.

Access Changeset Manager

1. To access the Changeset Manager, select the ADMIN SETTINGS option at the bottom of the left navigation menu.

2. Select USER INTERFACE, then CHANGESET MANAGER.

3. By default, you will see a list of all changesets in descending chronological order. You may opt to view just Drafts or Published changesets by clicking on the labels at the top.

4. The most recently published changeset appears at the top of the list with a green LIVE label and a time stamp. Click on any changeset, then click on an element in the Changes list to see all changes made for it.

Create a New Changeset from the Manager

1. Click NEW in the upper right corner.

2. You must name the new changeset. A description is optional. Then click CREATE.

3. Under Changes, use the buttons to select which option you would like to edit.

Create a New Changeset Within an Admin Screen

Creating a new changeset directly from inside a feature's admin screen allows you to create one that will contain everything in the currently live changeset. For this example, we'll create a new changeset from the Messages admin screen.

1. Select the Live on [Environment Name] changeset and click VIEW.

2. Click EDIT in the upper right corner of the live changeset.

3. The Select or Create New Changeset window will appear. Scroll to the bottom of the list and click CREATE A NEW CHANGESET.

4. You must name the new changeset. A description is optional. Then click CREATE.

5. You will be taken to a landing screen that allows you to manage the new changeset.

• Click EDIT to change the name and description of your changeset.
• In the Changes section, select an option to edit via your changeset.
• Click DELETE to remove the changeset.

6. Once you have selected the option to edit, click to SAVE your new changeset.

Rename a Draft Changeset

You may change the name of any changeset as long as it is still in Draft status. Published and Live changesets may not be renamed.

1. Click the pencil icon next to the name.
2. Use the pop-up window to change the name of the changeset.
   1. You may also change the Description.
3. Click SAVE.

Edit a Changeset

The Select a Changeset field allows you to choose the changeset you wish to edit from a list of changesets. Choosing "Live on [Environment]" will allow you to edit changes that will become active in the selected environment (Production, QA/UAT) immediately upon publishing.

Delete a Changeset

You may delete a changeset while it is in Draft mode. Select the changeset in the list and click DELETE above the name.

You will be asked to confirm the deletion. Click DELETE.

Restore a Changeset

You may use the Changeset Manager to restore a previously published changeset in order to overwrite the current live changeset.

1. Select the published changeset from the list, then click RESTORE in the upper right corner.

2. You will be asked to provide a reason in the confirmation pop-up screen. Then click RESTORE.

Publish a Changeset

No changes will appear in the interface until you publish your changeset. There are two areas from which you may publish:

• From within the changeset, click the green PUBLISH button in the upper right corner.

• From within the Changeset Manager, select the desired changeset and click PUBLISH in the upper right corner.

If there are no conflicts, you will receive a message that your changes have been published successfully. At this point, your changes are live. To see them in the application, either log off and log back on or click the Reload button on your browser.

Cross-Publish Changesets Between Environments

For customers who have a Chrome River QA/UAT environment, cross-environment publishing allows you to push changes from one environment to another. This makes it easy to import data from Production to the QA/UAT environment, test changes to the data in QA/UAT, and implement the changes in Production with just a few clicks.

Administrators with appropriate permissions will see APPROVE and IMPORT buttons that allow them to cross-publish.

• APPROVE: Make a published changeset available in other environments
• IMPORT: Bring an approved changeset into the current environment

Note that permissions are granted separately in each environment. Your organization may find it beneficial to remove the APPROVE button from Production so that it is available in QA/UAT only. This encourages admins to make changes in QA/UAT first and then move them to Production. See Access Permissions Admin Screen for more details on permissions.

Approve and Import Changesets

The following example shows how you would approve changes made in one environment, import them into the other environment and publish them.

1. In one environment, create and publish a changeset or select a previously published changeset from the list, then click APPROVE.

• Only published changesets may be approved.

2. You will be asked to verify approval. Click APPROVE.

3. You will now see a label on the changeset indicating that it has been approved for other environments. The thumbs-up icon also appears next to the changeset's name in the Changeset Manager list.

4. Next, log into Chrome River in the other environment and navigate to the Changeset Manager. Click the filter drop-down in the upper right and select READY FOR IMPORT.

5. Find the approved changeset in the list and click IMPORT to bring it in as a draft.

6. You will be asked to verify import. Click IMPORT.

7. Now click the drop-down again and select DRAFT.

8. Find the imported changset in the list. You will be able to view the list of changes made and see a label indicating that it has been imported from another changeset.

• If desired, click EDIT to change the name and description of the changeset.

9. Click PUBLISH to make the draft live in this environment.

Resolving Conflicts

When more than one user is editing the same set of changes, the first user to publish their changes "wins" — the changes are accepted. If another user publishes the same changes before you, you will see a conflict icon next to the data they have changed. Hover over it for details on who made the change, when it was published, and what was changed.

If you still attempt to publish your own change, the Resolve Conflicts screen will appear when you click the PUBLISH button. All conflicts will be listed according to the language they are in.

1. Check the box next to your choice for each conflict. If there are multiple conflicts, you may use the blue links to choose all of your changes or all of the other user's changes.

2. Click PUBLISH.

Changeset Manager Tips

Below are best practices for using the Changeset Manager.

Cross-Publish from QA/UAT to Production

• Make and test all changes in the QA/UAT environment.

  • If your organization does not have a Chrome River QA/UAT environment, you should only publish changes during your system's downtime to avoid unintended consequences.

• Use cross-environment publishing to move changes into Production.

• Approve changesets in QA/UAT.

• Import/publish changesets in Production.

• Publish imported changesets in Production in the same order in which they were published in QA/UAT.

• Publish and move changes to Production as soon as possible to reduce the potential for conflicting changes.

Group Your Changes

• The same changeset can be used for all the changes involved in accomplishing a particular objective.

• All changes made in a changeset will ultimately be deployed together, so it’s important that all are fully tested prior to moving them to Production.

• If you do need to employ multiple changesets, the fewer you use, the easier it will be to move your changes into Production.

• Do not select just any draft changeset when initiating a change. Be sure the selected changeset contains changes that can be tested and deployed along with the new changes you are making.

• Use the Changeset Description to help identify changesets that relate to the same overall change.