WordPress users always get confused with the revisions and autosave functionalities. Here is a comparison of Autosave Vs Revisions in WordPress.
Autosave generates a revision but revisions do not generate autosave.
webnots.com
Related: Disable autosave in Gutenberg editor.
| Parameter | Revisions | Autosave |
|---|---|---|
| Applicable | Post and Pages | Post and Pages |
| Browser Storage | No | Yes, when the internet connection is lost while editing a post. |
| Changes Tracked | Post Title, Content, Author and Excerpt | Post Title, Content, Author and Excerpt |
| Core Feature | ||
| Count | Based on number of updates on your post/page | One per post/page which will be overwritten every time. For multiple author, one autosave per author per post/page. |
| Creation Method | Due to manual update, publish or save draft action by user. | Due to automatic save by WordPress. |
| Dashboard Control | No | No |
| Database Table | wp_post | wp_post |
| Definition | Revisions is the feature in WordPress that saves the copy of your post or page content automatically whenever you hit “Save Draft”, “Publish” or “Update” button. | WordPress autosave your changes every 60 seconds whenever you create your content in post editor. |
| Overwriting | No, each revision is stored as a separate row in table. | Yes, one revision per author is overwritten with the latest version. |
| Post Name | (Parent post id)-(revision number) | (Parent post id)-(Autosave) |
| Sample Plugins for Disabling | WP-Optimize, Better Delete Revisions | WP-CMS Post Control |
| Search Engine Visibility | No | No |
| Usage | When the same post is modified by multiple authors. Restoring to previous revisions when you wrongly modified the content. | To restore the content in case of: Browser crash System crash Lost internet connection during modification. |
| Visible in Editor | Under the post editor only after the content is updated / saved / published. Besides the content under “Publish” box showing number of revisions along with “Browse” link. | Displayed in the post editor’s status bar. Under the post editor only after the content is updated / saved / published. |
| Warning Messages | No | Yes, warning message will be displayed if there is browser storage or the content is different from the autosaved one when opening the post / page. |
| wp-config Variable | WP_POST_REVISIONS | AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL |
