Template to Launch

Part 3 of 9

Saving, previewing and publishing

How a change moves from the editor to your live site, and why saving is not the same as publishing.

Last reviewed

In a nutshell

  • Your builder keeps two copies of your site: the one you edit and the one visitors see.
  • Save keeps your work. Publish puts it on the web.
  • Preview shows you the result first, in private.

Two copies of one site

When you open the editor, you work on a draft. Visitors don't see it. They see the last version you published.

Two boxes. The editor copy, where you make changes, and the live site, which visitors see. A Publish arrow copies changes from the editor to the live site. Without it the live site stays the same.
Your editor and your live site are two copies. Publishing updates the live one.

Wix says it plainly: saving won't make your changes live.[1] Saved changes, and changes you can only see in preview, won't show on the live site until you publish them.[1]

That catches many beginners. You fix a typo, save, and the typo is still there for everyone else.

The usual order

Most builders follow the same short path.

A row of four steps joined by arrows: edit in the editor, save, preview, then publish. Only publish leads to the live site that visitors see.
Saving keeps your work. Only Publish puts it on the live site.
  1. Edit. Change words, pictures and sections.
  2. Save. Your work is kept safe. The public can't see it yet.
  3. Preview. The builder shows the page as visitors would see it. In Wix, there is a Preview button for this.[1]
  4. Publish. Now the site is live. Once you publish, your site is on the internet for anyone to see.[1]

You can preview before or after you publish.[1] Preview shows the page before visitors can see it, so use it often.

Editing a live site

Publishing is not a one-time event. You can keep editing after you publish.[1] Each time you want a change to go live, you publish again.[1]

WordPress.com puts the same idea at the page level. You can save a page or post as a draft, publish it when it's ready, and choose who can see it.[2]

When something goes wrong

Two helpful things to know:

  • Old versions. Wix says you can view and restore an older version of your site at any time.[1] Other builders keep a history too, though the name and the reach differ.
  • Stale changes. If your change isn't on the live site, the usual cause is that you didn't publish. Check that first.

A quick habit helps. Make your change, save, preview, publish. Then open your real address in a new window and look.

Phones show pages differently from computers. That's the next topic: mobile layouts.

Sources

  1. Wix Editor: Publishing Your Site, Wix Help Center (accessed 2026-10-22)
  2. How To Customize Your Site With The WordPress Editor, WordPress.com Support (accessed 2026-10-22)
Next: part 4How builders handle phone screens →