Previously Viewed Versions is a feature that creates and stores an HTML view of a syllabus for future review. Versions can be reviewed by individuals with domain permissions and downloaded as PDFs. They are available for view if generated after January 1st, 2021, and may be accessed for 180 days after the course end date.
Versions are created and organized by Groups, because different groups may see different content on a syllabus as determined by the permissions that Group holds. In other words, Developers might see more than Students can see.
A version is created when any registered user first loads a syllabus (any enrolled developer, manager, instructor, assistant or student). New versions of the syllabus are created each time changes are made on the first page load for each group. For example, if an instructor makes changes to the meeting times, office hours, and description, an instructor version for these changes will not be created until the page is reloaded because saving a content block will not trigger the version - viewing the syllabus will trigger the version. This behavior allows changes to be collected into groups, rather than separated by item.
A new student version of the syllabus would be created by the first syllabus view after those edits took place. If a student happens to view the syllabus in the middle of the editing process, this would likely result in more than one version being created for the set of changes initiated by the instructor. For example, a new version might be logged for the changes to the meeting times, and a third when any student revisits the syllabus and can see the full set of changes (meeting times, office hours, and description).