# Publish your design

_Category: Design and templates_

Everything you change in the template editor saves to a draft as you work, and only your team can see it. Readers keep seeing your current design until you publish, and then all your changes go live together.

**Who can do this:** Owners and Admins (Editors through **Customize** on your help center) · **Plans:** All plans

## Publish your changes

1. Make your changes in the template editor. The top bar shows **Saving…** and then **All changes saved**.
2. Click **Publish**, or press ⌘Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows).
3. In the **Publish changes** dialog, check the list of what changed, such as **Colors (light)**, **Page: Article** or **Custom CSS**.
4. Optionally, write a **Version note** (up to 300 characters) that says what changed. Your team sees it in **Version history**.
5. Click **Publish**.

![Screen recording. Your edits save to a draft as you go. Click Publish and add a note for your team. Click Publish. Your live help center updates.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/oyoHhfNvFof5K7X3tJrw6OSv9aH9jLUUXAyjMmCZ.gif)
A short version note makes the history easy to scan later.

Your live help center switches to the new design right away, and a message confirms it.

## What publishing does

- **It publishes the whole draft.** Every unpublished change goes live, including changes your teammates made in the same draft. Check the list in the dialog before you confirm.
- **It creates a restore point.** Each publish is saved in **Version history**, so you can go back later. See [Restore an earlier design](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/restore-a-design).
- **It updates your brand name everywhere.** The **Site name** under Brand also names your help center in the widget, contact form emails and the API, and those follow the published design.
- **It starts a fresh draft.** You can keep editing straight away. Nothing you change reaches readers until your next publish.

## Save status

| Top bar says | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **All changes saved** | Your draft is stored. Safe to close the editor. |
| **Unsaved changes** | You made an edit. It saves a moment later, or right away if you press ⌘S (Ctrl+S). |
| **Saving…** | Your draft is being stored. **Publish** waits until it's done. |
| **Draft conflict** | Someone else changed the same draft. See Troubleshooting below. |
| **Save failed** | Your last change couldn't be stored. See Troubleshooting below. |

## Undo, redo or start over

- **Undo** and **Redo** in the top bar step through your last 50 changes: ⌘Z to undo, ⌘⇧Z or ⌘Y to redo (Ctrl on Windows). The history clears when you publish or reload the editor.
- Applying a theme can't be undone step by step. Use Reset draft instead.
- **Reset draft** (the clock icon in the top bar) throws away every unpublished change and takes your draft back to the published design. Click it, then confirm **Reset draft**. This can't be undone.

Keyboard shortcuts pause while you're typing in a field, so ⌘Z there undoes your typing instead.

## Troubleshooting

**"This draft was changed elsewhere."** A teammate, or you in another tab, saved the same draft. Click **Reload** to pick up their changes, or **Overwrite** to keep yours and replace theirs.

**"Save failed."** The message says what went wrong, for example an empty **Site name**. Fix it, then click **Retry save**. Publishing is blocked until the save works, so you never publish an outdated draft.

**"Recover unsaved changes?"** Last time, you left before some changes reached the server. Click **Recover changes** to add them to your draft, or **Discard** to keep the saved copy.

**Your help center still shows the old design.** Check that you clicked **Publish** in the dialog, not only saved. Then wait a moment and reload the page. See [My changes don't show on my help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/changes-not-showing).

## Related articles

- [Restore an earlier design](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/restore-a-design)
- [Preview on phones, tablets and in dark mode](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/preview-your-design)
- [My changes don't show on my help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/changes-not-showing)