404 if you happen to be on the wrong thing when switching versions

[kcoleman-marklogic]

I'm not sure if there is anything we can do about this or not, but it's a surprising and not very friendly user experience that I think make us look a bit cloddish:

If you are viewing something that is new to the default version, like the Node.js dev guide in 8.0, and then you select an older product version from the version drop down in the nav pane, you get a 404. For example:

• Navigate to http://docs.marklogic.com/guide/node-dev/documents#id_30566
• Select Marklogic 7 from the product version dropdown
• 404!

The 404 is accurate in the sense that there is no Node.js dev guide in 7.0, but given that there is no other way to switch versions, it seems a little hostile to throw the user on a 404 page and insist he navigate to docs.marklogic.com all over again just to switch versions. I wanted to look up something else entirely, not the Node.js guide. It was just coincidence that that was the last thing I viewed.

The majority of the time, I think the current behavior is good. It's nice to be able to easily swap between versions if you want to check on how something has changed. However, I wonder if there can be some special form of 404 handling when switching versions that at least drops you on a page with the normal framework (TOC, search box) so you can move forward, rather than to the sitewide 404 page.

Obviously, this is a minor issue, but I didn't want it to get lost. Assigning to Danny for contemplation. For all I know, this is WAI.