Cedros can keep a saved draft alongside the version visitors see. Publishing makes a saved version live, but the button that does this depends on the editor.
The most important difference: in a blog or doc, Save draft keeps changes unpublished. In the visual page builder, Save on an already-published page updates the live page. Check which editor you are using before saving.
This guide covers website pages, blog posts, and documentation articles. You need permission to edit the item and, when releasing it, permission to publish.
FAQs use different save rules. Saving a new FAQ publishes it immediately. Saving an existing published FAQ updates its live answer; saving an existing draft FAQ keeps it unpublished. Prepare answers before entering them in the form, and follow Writing useful FAQs and publishing them for the complete workflow. Hiding an FAQ from the list does not make it private.
Know which version visitors see
Unsaved changes are edits you are still making in the editor. A preview can display them before they have been saved. Wait for a successful save before leaving work you want to keep.
The saved draft is the latest version stored in Cedros. A new item stays unavailable at its normal public address until it is published.
The published version is the version served to visitors. An item can be marked Published while a newer saved draft exists. The status alone does not prove that your latest wording is live.
A scheduled release sets a future publication time for the saved draft. That draft must still pass its release checks when the time arrives. Later edits can make its review out of date; the schedule is not a separate, frozen copy. If the item already has a published version, that version remains available while the update waits.
For example, you can change a published blog post's headline and choose Save draft. Readers continue seeing the previous headline until you choose Publish changes.
Choose the right save or publish action
| Where you are working | What the action does |
|---|---|
| Blog or doc: Save draft | Saves your edits without changing the published version. |
| Blog or doc: Publish or Publish changes | Saves and publishes the article. |
| Unpublished visual page: Save draft | Saves the draft without making the page public. |
| Unpublished visual page: Publish | Saves and publishes the page. |
| Published visual page: Save | Saves and publishes the page changes immediately. |
The instructions below refer to your own site's admin. Use Finding your way around Cedros if you need help locating these tools.
For a blog post or documentation article
- Open Site → Blogs or Site → Docs, then edit the item.
- Make your changes in Write. Check the title, body, links, and any changes in SEO or Taxonomy.
- Choose Save draft when you want to keep working without releasing the changes. Wait for Draft saved.
- Use the body editor's Preview toggle to check formatting. Return to writing if something needs correcting.
- When the whole article is ready, choose Publish for a new article or Publish changes for an existing one. Wait for the publication confirmation.
To leave with unfinished edits, choose Back to blogs or Back to docs. If prompted, Save draft and exit preserves your work without publishing; Exit without saving discards the unsaved edits.
For a visual website page
- Open Site → Pages, then edit the page. Check whether its current status is Draft, Scheduled, or Published.
- Make the change in Builder, then open Preview. Check both Desktop and Mobile Web.
- On an unpublished page, choose Save draft to keep a draft, or Publish when it is ready to go live.
- On a published page, review everything before choosing Save: that action updates the live page.
The published-page builder's Save and exit action also publishes changes. If you need an unfinished replacement kept as a draft while the old page stays live, do not treat the builder's Save as a draft-only control. Use a supported draft workflow through your site administrator or Cedros assistant, explicitly requesting that the existing page remain published.
Changing Publish status to Draft and choosing Unpublish takes the existing page offline. It is not a way to privately save edits while keeping that page live.
Preview the right version
There are two different checks to make before release.
Check the work in the editor. A blog or doc's body Preview shows its rendered text. The page builder's Preview shows current edits and offers desktop and mobile views. The builder calls this a “Live preview,” but opening it does not publish the page.
Check a saved preview when sharing for review. In the page builder's Preview tab, Generate share link creates a link for the saved version; Update share link refreshes it. Save the intended draft first. Changes visible in the editor are not proof that an older share link contains those changes.
For a new blog draft, return to Blogs and use Open draft preview in its row to inspect the saved post in its website layout. The list’s View action on a published article opens the live version, not its unpublished update. For a saved update or a docs article, ask your site administrator or an assistant with content access for a preview of the latest saved draft. Check the title, images, metadata, and surrounding layout as well as the body.
For an already-published visual page, remember that its top Save button also publishes. Do not click it merely to prepare an unfinished draft preview.
Before approving a preview:
- Read the title, headings, prices, dates, and claims.
- Check images, paragraph spacing, lists, and narrow-screen layout.
- Open the important links and confirm their destinations.
- Check that the preview contains your latest change.
- Review the actual customer action separately: a form or checkout looking correct is not proof that submission or payment works.
Preview links can expire. Share them only with the intended reviewers. If a link is outdated, generate a fresh one from the intended saved draft.
If the preview returns “not found”: reopen the item in admin, confirm that the draft saved, and generate a fresh link if that control is available. If the new link still fails, use the in-editor preview for formatting and contact Cedros for help with the share preview. Do not publish unfinished content just to make a preview URL work.
Schedule a release
Scheduling is a separate action from saving. Choose a future date and time, and confirm the schedule was accepted before leaving.
For a new visual page that is still unpublished:
- Finish the page and choose Save draft.
- Open Preview, generate a share link, and review the saved version. Resolve any readiness message before continuing.
- Open Page, set Publish status to Scheduled, and set Publish at. The date and time are interpreted in your browser's local timezone; check your computer's timezone first.
- Choose Schedule Publish and wait for the Publish scheduled confirmation.
- Reopen the page and confirm the saved publication time. After that time, check the normal public address as a visitor.
Selecting Scheduled or entering a time does not by itself create a schedule. A time in the past can trigger immediate publication, so check both the date and time carefully.
The current blog and doc editors do not show this page-builder scheduling control. If you need a timed article release, ask your site administrator or an authorized Cedros assistant to schedule the reviewed draft. Give the exact article, date, time, and timezone, and ask it to confirm the saved schedule. Use the same approach for a scheduled update to an already-published page if you need to preserve its current live version.
Before editing scheduled content: clear its publication schedule while preserving any live version. Then edit, save, review, and schedule the updated draft for a confirmed future time. This also prevents an overdue schedule from releasing the replacement as soon as its review is complete. For blog-specific steps, see Scheduling and updating blog posts.
To cancel a new page's schedule: open Page, select Draft, and choose Clear Schedule. Confirm the cancellation. For an update to content that is already live, ask to clear only the pending schedule while keeping the existing publication; unpublishing is a different action.
Restore an earlier revision
For blog posts and docs, follow Unpublishing or restoring content. For visual pages, use Restoring an earlier page revision. Use the sequence below to check what a restoration changes.
Use History when you need to recover an earlier saved version. Revision history does not contain every unsaved keystroke.
- Preserve any unfinished text you may need before restoring. If the item has a pending publication schedule, clear it while keeping any existing live version, and confirm the cancellation before restoring. Do not publish unfinished work just to create a backup.
- Open the item's History tab. Find the revision by its number, date, author, and change note. Check its address before restoring. If the page address has changed, restoring an older address can affect public routing even before you publish the restored content. Coordinate the address and redirects first; see Restoring an earlier page revision.
- Choose Restore As Current Draft for the revision you want.
- Review the restored title, address, body, and settings. Restoring can recover more than the article text.
- Preview the restored draft. Publish it only when you want it to replace the live version.
Restoring creates the current draft from the earlier revision; it does not immediately replace the published content. The address needs the separate check above. For blogs and docs, release it with Publish changes. For an already-published visual page, Save releases the restored changes.
Restoring a revision does not cancel a scheduled release. After reviewing the restored draft, publish it now or set a new future schedule only when that is your intended release plan.
Confirm what customers can see
After publishing, open the normal page address without a preview link. Check it in a private browser window or while signed out, using a customer account if the content requires one.
Confirm the exact change you made, then check navigation, images, and the main links. A publication confirmation does not guarantee that a holding page, site access rule, or content access requirement will let every visitor reach it.
If the old version still appears, confirm the site and address first, refresh the page, then reopen the editor to check whether your latest changes were saved as a draft or actually published. Do not create a duplicate page to work around a missing update.
When saving or publishing does not finish
The button is disabled or a readiness message appears. Read the message before retrying. The item may need saving, a current preview or review, a valid publication time, or a permission you do not have. Resolve the stated issue rather than switching to another publishing control to bypass it.
Cedros says the content changed after it was loaded. Another session may have saved a newer revision. Copy any unsaved text you need, reload the current item, compare the changes, and reapply only the edits you still want.
Cedros says newer edits still need saving. You changed the content while a save or publish was in progress. Review the remaining edits and save again. If they also need to go live, complete the appropriate publish action.
A scheduled release has not appeared. Check the saved time and timezone, whether the draft changed after review, and any readiness message. Confirm the actual public page. If it is still blocked, contact your administrator or Cedros with the item address, expected publication time, and exact error.
You lost the editor before saving. Reopen the same item and inspect any recovered work before continuing. Browser recovery is a fallback, not a substitute for a confirmed saved draft.
Keep content publishing separate from settings
These rules apply to content editors. Some site settings, including business information, save automatically and do not wait for you to publish a page. Follow the save indicator in the tool you are using.
Shared templates have their own draft and publication controls. Publishing a template changes the design of all linked live pages immediately, without publishing those pages' draft content. See Reusing a shared layout across pages.
Use Setting up your business information for site identity and contact details, or Getting started for a complete first-page walkthrough.