Areca DocsPreviewing drafts
Open a draft of an entry on the real website before you mark it ready, and know how long the preview link stays valid.
A preview shows you an entry the way it will look on the website, before anyone else sees it. It uses your latest saved draft, so you can check your text, images and layout in context. Opening a preview never changes the status of an entry, and it never publishes anything.
Open a preview
Open the entry in the editor, then select the Preview button (the eye icon) in the top bar. The draft opens on the website in a new tab.
You can also open the More actions menu (⋯) and select Open in new tab.
A preview shows the draft as it was last saved. If you have just typed something, wait until the save status says Saved or All changes saved, then open the preview.
A new entry can be previewed once it has a title and a slug. Until then, the button tells you Preview works once the entry is saved. Add a title to save it. or Add a slug to preview this entry.
What the website needs
The preview is shown by the website itself, not by the CMS. For it to work, two things must be in place:
- The website has a preview page. The developer who built the website adds a preview route with the site SDK. If previews do not open, ask your developer to check it. For the developer side, see Preview.
- The site has an address to preview from. Previews open at the site's Preview URL if an agency admin set one, otherwise at the production URL. An agency admin sets these in Settings › General. See Site settings.
Preview while you edit
To see changes beside the fields as you type, open the entry in Visual mode. See Visual editor.
Preview links expire
Each preview link is valid for one hour. Select Preview again after that to open a fresh link. Each link is tied to one entry, so you cannot use it to see other entries.
Anyone with the link can see the draft
A preview link lets anyone who has it read the draft until the link expires, even without signing in to the CMS. Do not post preview links in public channels or send them to people outside the project.
Preview formatting in the editor
Entries with rich text fields have an extra option. Open the More actions menu (⋯) and select Preview formatting. The editor then shows the text the way the website receives it, so you can check headings, lists and links without leaving the CMS.
What a preview does not do
- It does not mark the entry ready.
- It does not change the live website.
- It does not start a Go live.
When you are happy with the draft, the next step is to ask an owner to mark it ready, or to mark it ready yourself if you are an owner. See Drafts, ready and live.
Related
Drafts, ready and live
What each entry status means, who can approve content, how edits after approval behave, and how statuses appear in lists.
Visual editor
Edit an entry or site content section beside a live preview of the page. See changes as you type, and click part of the page to jump to its field.