Feature Proposal: Management and Versioning Enhancements

[fsbraun]

Summary

This proposal suggests several enhancements to improve the maintainability and usability of djangocms-versioning—particularly for managing old or unused versions and improving workflow efficiency on the page tree level.

Proposed Features

1. Management Command to Delete Unpublished / Archived Versions

• Goal: Provide a management command to automatically remove old versions that are no longer relevant (e.g., unpublished, archived, or expired).

• Use Case:

  • Reduce database clutter in long-running CMS projects.
  • Automate cleanup tasks in CI/CD or scheduled cron jobs.

• Example:

  python manage.py delete_old_versions --states unpublished archived --older-than 90

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2. Additional State: “Mark for Deletion”

• Goal: Introduce a new transitional version state for content that is pending deletion but requires review or confirmation before removal.

• Details:

  • Acts as a soft-delete marker.
  • Useful for workflows where deletion must be approved (e.g., via moderation or audit trail).

• Suggested Workflow:

  draft → published → unpublished → mark_for_deletion → deleted
  

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3. Versioning Commands on Page Tree Level

• Goal: Enable versioning operations (e.g., publish, unpublish, archive, revert, mark for deletion) to be executed at the page tree level rather than individual pages.

• Benefits:

  • Bulk operations for hierarchical content structures.
  • Ensures consistency when managing multi-level page hierarchies.

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Additional Considerations

• Permissions integration for bulk operations.
• Logging and reporting for cleanup and deletion actions.
• Optional dry-run mode for management commands.

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Expected Outcomes

• Simplified maintenance of large CMS installations.
• More robust and transparent version lifecycle management.
• Enhanced usability for content managers and administrators.