Publishing Restrictions

Users can restrict the publication of items using publishing restrictions in Content Editor. Publishing restrictions let users specify that a specific item or a version of an item is publishable or unpublishable, either within a specific date range or indefinitely. In this way, users can control which items and pages are available for publishing at any given time.

For example, if a user has set up internal workflow processes to periodically publish an entire site to make sure it is always up to date, the user can create publishing restrictions on the items that they do not want to publish. This can be done for items that are still in progress or for finished items that should only be published when a certain campaign is rolled out, for example. This feature is also helpful if multiple users work on the same page; publishing restrictions can prevent one user from publishing another user’s work before it is ready to go live.

Items that are publishable are eligible to be sent to the publishing queue when a page is submitted to the publishing workflow. 

When a user is working on content within Content Editor, the page must first be locked. This prevents two users from overwriting each other’s work by preventing them from working on the same page at the same time. 

Important: Locking content does not prevent it from publishing.

Using content locks:

1. Navigate to the page in the Content Tree in Content Editor.
2. Click the “Lock and Edit” link on the yellow band at the top of the page in the edit panel, or click the Review tab on the ribbon and click Edit in the Workflow group.
3. Make changes, as needed.
4. Submitting the content to the approval workflow will automatically unlock the content.
5. To unlock the content without submitting for approval and publishing, click the Review tab on the ribbon and click Check In in the Workflow group. The changes will be saved, but not published, and other users can now access and work on the page.

In Content Editor:

1. Click the page in the Content Tree to select it.
2. In the Publish Ribbon Navigation, click Change.
3. In the Publishing Settings dialog box, uncheck Publishable.
4. Click Save.

Users may want to publish an item on a specific future date and have the item appear in chronological order based on assigned date rather than created date. 
For example, an article may be set to publish in May 2028 but is added to the website in December 2026. The content author wants the article to display in the proper order. Placing the article in the 2028 > May folder does not tell Sitecore the proper order to sort for the publishing date. The “Publishable from” date needs to be set. 

1. In Content Editor, navigate to the item you want to prevent from publishing.
2. Click to select the item.
3. In the Navigation Ribbon, click the Publish tab.
4. Click Change.
5. In the Publishing Settings dialog box, click the Item tab. Set the “Publishable from” date range. Click OK.

If a user specifies a date range for when an item or item version is publishable, it does not mean that the item is published on the start date and removed again on the end date. Instead, it means that the item is available for publishing and included when the user submits that item or page to the publishing workflow. 
To make an item appear on the website on the start date and be removed again on the end date, the user must submit the item or page to the publishing workflow on both dates to push the changes live to production via the publishing queue.

Documentation updated: Sept. 21, 2026

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