Audit

Where to find it: the Audit option on an item (for example, a device, playlist, or user)

Audit history is a record of changes made to an item in the dashboard. Every time something is created, edited, or deleted, the change is logged (along with when it happened and who did it) so you can always see how an item reached its current state.

It’s a useful way to answer questions like “who changed this, and when?” or “what did this look like before?”, whether you’re troubleshooting, reviewing a change, or simply keeping track.

Note Audit history is available to administrators.

What Has an Audit History

Many of the things you manage in the dashboard keep an audit history, including companies, devices, device groups, users, playlists, layouts, Canvas designs, media files, and scheduled device actions. Wherever it’s available, you’ll find an Audit option on the item itself.

Opening an Item’s History

There’s no separate Audit area. You open the history from the item you’re interested in. On the item’s page (or its menu), choose Audit to see the full record of changes for that item.

Reading the History

The history is shown as a list, oldest first, with a row for each change:

For an update, the Changes column shows each field that changed alongside its previous and new values, so you can see precisely what was altered. For a deletion, no field changes are shown: just the record that the item was deleted, by whom, and when.

What Gets Recorded

Every creation, edit, and deletion of an item is recorded, capturing only the fields that actually changed. A few rapidly-changing technical details are deliberately left out so the history stays meaningful: for example, a device’s constantly-updating status, last-seen time, and snapshots aren’t logged as changes, since they’d otherwise flood the record. What you’re left with is a clear history of the changes people actually made.

A Note on Playlist History

A playlist’s history is a little broader than most. As well as changes to the playlist itself, it includes changes to the files within it, so you get a complete picture of everything that has affected what the playlist plays, in one place.

Best Practices

• Use it to answer “what changed?”: When something looks different or isn’t behaving as expected, the history often shows what changed and when.

• Check before assuming a fault: A recent edit in the history can explain a change in behaviour that might otherwise look like a problem.

• Review the author: Seeing who made a change makes it easy to follow up with the right person.