Imagine you have published your map and want to make changes. However, these changes are a bit more time-consuming and you want to take it easy. Working with versions is exactly for this situation. It allows you to have a current "version in progress" next to the live map, in which you can check all adjustments. These only become visible as soon as you synchronise them into the live map. Or simply put: You can make changes in peace without them being immediately visible to everyone who has access. 

Or, imagine you have created your map but still want to test an alternative representation. Working with versions can also be helpful in this situation. In this case, create a live version of the map as soon as you have finished creating your first variant. When you then make the changes in the "version in progress" you can finally decide whether you want to keep these adjustments (synchronise with the live map) or whether you want to restore the old version (discard changes). 

A detailed description of the function of the versions can be found here, under version management in the tool overview.