How to Maintain a Product Update Log Based on Official Sources

The update log is built around a simple scheme: was → became → proof. It helps distinguish a real product change from an announcement, retelling, or personal interpretation.

An entry appears when you can record the previous and new states, specify who it affects, and attach an official source. If one of these elements is missing, this is a reason to set the entry status to “needs clarification” rather than filling the gap with a guess.

Anchor sources by their responsibility

For each product, create a short map of official pages and channels. Different types of changes are usually confirmed in different places.

• Releases and features — updates section, release notes, documentation, official blog, or team channel.
• Pricing and limits — pricing page; if payment details are important, also related terms.
• Usage rules and data processing — terms of service, privacy policy, specific rules for a particular feature.
• Outages and availability — status page, official incident reports, and subsequent clarifications.

An official channel may quickly report news, but it does not always contain all limitations. If a post says “new feature available,” but documentation clarifies regions, plan, or activation procedure, the document with terms will be the primary proof. The post can be saved as an additional link.

Keep entries using the “was → became → proof” scheme

One log entry describes one change. Add fields that will allow you to verify it later:

Use this entry template:

• Date detected: [DD.MM.YYYY]
• Date verified: [DD.MM.YYYY]
• Effective date: [DD.MM.YYYY or “not specified”]
• Was: [previous state from official source]
• Became: [new state from official source]
• Affected users: [plan / region / account type / “not specified”]
• Terms and limitations: [conditions, limits, exceptions / “not specified”]
• Change status: [announced / rolling out / active / canceled]
• Action: [what needs to be checked or changed]
• Proof: “[verbatim excerpt]”; [page snapshot: date, URL]
• Original: [URL of official source]
• Entry status: [confirmed / needs clarification / replaced by clarification]

Change status answers the question of what stage the change itself is at. Entry status shows whether you have sufficient grounds to trust the current description. For example, a change may be “announced,” but the entry “confirmed” if the official source directly describes future conditions. Or a change may be “active,” but the entry “needs clarification” if it is unknown which users it affects.

Separate fact from conclusion

A significant entry has three layers:

1. Confirmed fact — what is directly stated in the original.
2. Working conclusion — what this might mean for you.
3. Open question — what the source does not explain.

Suppose the official text reports a new setting. Fact: “setting added.” Conclusion: “need to check if it changes the current workflow.” Question: “is it available on the current plan?” Record these parts separately so that a hypothesis does not look like a confirmed change.

Independent reviews, comments, or retellings may suggest where to look. But they do not confirm price, terms, availability, or the cause of an incident. Save such materials in notes to the entry, and keep the official source in the “Original” field.

Update the entry after clarifications

An announcement may be incomplete, and terms may change. Do not silently correct past wording. Create a new linked entry: add the date of the new verification and a link to the clarification. Keep the previous entry with the status “replaced by clarification.” If the change was canceled, set the change status in the new entry to “canceled” and save the proof of cancellation.

This way, both the initial version and the reason it ceased to be relevant remain visible in the log. The log answers two questions: what is known now and on what source this is based.