# Save, preview and publish in the classic editor

_Category: Classic template editor_

The classic template editor saves every change to a draft as you work. Check the draft as real pages with **Preview**, then click **Publish** to show it to visitors.

**Who can do this:** Owners and Admins · **Plans:** All plans

## How saving works

- About a second after your last change, the editor saves your draft by itself, and the save status in the top bar reads **Auto-saved**.
- While a change isn't saved yet, the status reads **Save**. Click it to save straight away. You rarely need to, except when an automatic save didn't go through. After you click it, it reads **Saved**.
- Each save gets a new code next to **Version:**. The classic editor keeps no list of versions you can open or restore. To keep a copy of a design you like, save it as a template. See [Save and reuse a design in the classic editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/classic-editor-templates).
- If you try to leave the page while a change isn't saved, your browser asks you to confirm.

## Preview your draft

1. Wait until the save status reads **Auto-saved** or **Saved**.
2. Click the eye icon (**Preview**) in the top bar.

Your help center opens in a new tab at a separate preview address ending in helpcenter.dev, built from your latest saved draft, with a bar at the top that links back to the editor and shows the **Version:** you're looking at. Unlike the preview inside the editor, these are real pages: your articles, category pages, scripts and custom CSS all work. Only signed-in members of your team can open this preview.

## Publish your changes

1. Make your changes, in the panel or right in the preview. Wait until the save status reads **Auto-saved**.
2. Click **Publish**.
3. The button reads **Publishing...** and then **Published**, and the dot next to it turns green.

![Screen recording. Change something, here the heading, right in the preview. Your change saves to a draft by itself. Click Publish. Published: visitors now see your change.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/P0CNLkc2tJOACSLFLTOkyVTyRMSVQLbD51IAI9fb.gif)
Auto-saved means your draft is stored. Publish makes it live.

That's the whole confirmation: no other message appears. Your live help center now shows the published design.

- **Publish sends your latest saved draft live,** including changes a teammate saved in the classic editor since the last publish.
- **Publish right after a change and you publish the save before it.** If the button still reads **Publish** afterwards, wait for **Auto-saved** and click it again.
- **Publishing never changes your articles or categories.** They aren't part of the design.

The new template editor keeps every publish as a restore point you can go back to. See [Move your help center to the new template editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/move-to-the-new-template-editor).

## Throw away unpublished changes

1. Click the gear next to **Version:**.
2. Click **Reset to Published**.

Your draft goes back to the published design, and "Template successfully reset to last published version." appears. This discards every unpublished change, including your teammates', straight away: there's no confirmation and no undo. **Reset to Published** is grayed out when there's nothing unpublished.

## What changes right away, without Publish

A few things don't wait for **Publish**, and **Reset to Published** doesn't undo them:

- **Brand Name** and **Connected Site** under **General** are saved to your help center as soon as the draft saves. A new brand name shows on your live help center straight away, for example in the header when you have no logo and in the footer.
- **Category changes in the preview:** a new order, names, descriptions, images and new categories. These change your real categories.
- **Fonts you install, upload or delete** under **Style**. Choosing which font your headings and text use is part of the draft.

## Troubleshooting

**Visitors still see the old design.** Check that the button reads **Published** and the dot is green, then reload your help center. See [My changes don't show on my help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/changes-not-showing). If your help center itself isn't published yet, visitors can't see it at all. See [Publish your help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/make-your-help-center-public).

**Nothing happens when I click Publish or Reset to Published.** The editor doesn't show a message when these fail. Reload the page, then check the save status, the dot and the button.

**The save status keeps saying Save.** Your changes aren't reaching the server. Click **Save**. If it still doesn't change to **Saved**, check your connection and reload the page, then make the change again: changes that weren't saved are lost when you reload.

**Preview asks me to sign in.** Preview works only for signed-in members of your team. Sign in to HelpCenter.io in the same browser, then click the eye icon again.

**Template editor opens tabs such as Brand, Theme and Pages.** Your help center uses the new template editor, which publishes differently. See [Publish your design](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/publish-your-design).

## Related articles

- [Get started with the classic template editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/classic-template-editor)
- [Save and reuse a design in the classic editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/classic-editor-templates)
- [My changes don't show on my help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/changes-not-showing)
- [Move your help center to the new template editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/move-to-the-new-template-editor)