Publish and restore versions

Preview your website, publish it, share a preview link, take it offline, or go back to an earlier version.

Website2 min read

Everything you change on your website is saved as a draft first. Visitors only see your changes when you publish. Each publish is kept as a version, so you can always go back.

Only owners and admins can publish, unpublish or restore the website.

Preview before you publish#

At the top of any Website tab, select Preview. Your drafts open in a new browser tab, exactly as visitors will see them. From the page editor, Preview opens the page you're working on.

Want someone to look it over before it goes live?

  1. Select the More site actions button (the three dots) at the top.
  2. Choose Share a preview link.

The link is copied for you. Anyone with it can see your unpublished drafts until the date shown. Making a new link turns the old one off.

Publish#

  1. Select Publish at the top of any Website tab (it says Publish changes once your site is live). You can also select Publish in the page editor.
  2. Select Publish to confirm.

FrontRow checks every page first. If something needs fixing, like a button with no link, you'll see Fix these before publishing with the page and the problem. Fix them and publish again.

Once published, visitors see the new version straight away. The top of the screen shows Live, your site's address, and when it was last published. If you've made changes since, you'll see Unpublished changes.

Good to know: Publishing puts your whole site live, not just the page you're on.

Take your site offline#

  1. Select the More site actions button (the three dots).
  2. Choose Unpublish, then confirm.

Visitors can no longer see your site, on your free address or your own domain. Your pages and drafts are kept, and you can publish again any time.

Go back to an earlier version#

  1. Open Website, then the Settings tab.
  2. Scroll to Version history. Every publish is listed with who published it and when. The one visitors see now is marked Live.
  3. Select Restore next to the version you want.
  4. Select Restore to drafts to confirm.

Restoring replaces your current drafts (every page and the design) with that version, including any edits you haven't published. Nothing changes for visitors until you publish again, so check it over first.

If an image from that version has since been deleted from your media library, FrontRow lists where it was used so you can pick a replacement before publishing.

The last 50 versions are kept.

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