Preview before publishing
This page is for editors who want to see a change before it goes live. The edit form's Preview opens the draft in
the version preview, rendered with the site's design. The labels below are those of the administration's version
preview page (content/versionview).
Contents
Before you start
- You are editing a draft (Edit was pressed); the draft is saved automatically while you work, and with Store draft you save it yourself.
Steps
- In the edit form, press Preview (in the left column: Preview the draft that is being edited.).
- The preview page shows the draft. Choose:
- the siteaccess to render it with (for example the public site, or a language siteaccess), then Update view;
- the device size: iPhone, iPad, Desktop, and Landscape.
- Read it as a visitor: headings, links, images, the summary.
- Then:
- Back to edit to change it;
- Publish to publish from the preview (it follows the same rules as publishing from the form, including approval);
- Manage versions to compare with earlier versions.
What a preview cannot show
| Not shown | Why |
|---|---|
| Lists on other pages (front page, menus) | they show published content only |
| Notifications and feeds | made on publish |
| Exactly what a visitor without rights sees | the preview runs as you; restricted parts may show |
| Cached pages | the published page may need a cache refresh |
Check those after publishing, signed out.
Pitfalls
| Pitfall | Avoid it |
|---|---|
| Previewing in the admin design only | choose the public siteaccess |
| Assuming a phone view is enough for accessibility | also try the keyboard and zoom |
| Leaving the draft unpublished after previewing | it waits in My drafts (Recover a lost draft) |
Related pages
- Publishing tasks
- Send a page for approval
- Version preview view modes
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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