Publishing Content with Workflows

Content additions and changes save automatically as content authors work in the system. These must be published using the publishing workflow before they will appear on the website.

With workflows enabled, content no longer needs to be manually published. When content is approved through workflow it is automatically added to the publishing queue.

This publishing behavior applies to content edited in both Page Builder and Content Editor. While the steps differ slightly depending on where a user is working, the outcome is the same: approved content is queued for publishing and published during the next scheduled publish cycle.

When the publishing queue runs its regularly scheduled publish cycle, content is saved in the Sitecore Master database. Published items are copied from the Master database (where content is maintained and stored) to the publishing target (i.e., the website hosting server). These changes then populate to caching servers around the globe. This process can take several minutes (generally up to five minutes for standard pages and up to twenty minutes for changes to appear on a listing page).

When a user creates or updates a page using Page builder, Sitecore automatically manages the workflow state.

• New pages are created in a Draft state
• Updated pages return to the Draft state after changes are made

The current workflow state is always visible in the upper right corner of the Page builder interface.

In Page Builder:

1. Click the Pages tab at the top of the left side panel to display the Sitemap
2. Click to select the page in the Sitemap.
3. Review the current workflow state in the upper right corner. (See Fig. 1)
4. Click Actions button in the upper right corner. (See Fig. 2)
5. Click Submit.

6. Enter a comment describing the update. Comments assist reviewers in understanding what changes were made to the page.

   

After submitting the page:

1. The page state changes to Approved.
2. The page is automatically added to the publishing queue.
3. The page is published during the next scheduled publish cycle.

No additional publishing action is required.

Note: If all page items have been approved and submitted to the publishing workflow, hovering over the Publish button will show a message that publishing permissions are not available. This does not mean the changes made won't publish. Anything approved has been submitted to the queue. 

Users can also approve changes at the component level. This is especially useful when troubleshooting. If a component does not appear after the page publish process has completed, confirm the component does not need approval. 

Method 1: Approve from the Page Items menu

1. Locate the page in the Sitemap tab of the left side panel.
2. Click the ellipses (...) icon to open the page menu. (See Fig. 4)
3. Click Page items to open the page items menu. (See Fig. 4)
4. Scroll through the list of items on the page. Any items marked "Draft" need approval. Click the Approve button. (See Fig. 5)

5. All items should show a status of "No workflow" or "Approved" to be eligible to be included in the publish cycle. 

   

   

Method 2: Approve from the Component Details Panel

1. Click the specific component to select it. Click the "Select parent element" on the component editing toolbar to select the component instead of the text/content within the component.
2. On the right side panel, select the Content tab.
3. There will be a tag indicating "Draft" or "Approved" status. If in Draft status, click the Approve button to submit the changes for approval and publishing. (See Fig. 6)

When working in Content Editor, items must be locked before they can be edited.

To open Content Editor:

1. From the Sitecore launch pad, click to select the appropriate environment. (See Fig. 7)

   

2. Click Content editor on the flyout menu. (See Fig. 8) Continue to step 3, below.

   

Alternative method to open Content Editor, from Page builder:

1. Click the dropdown arrow to the right of the Sitecore launchpad icon in the top left corner of the screen. (See Fig. 9)

   

2. Click Content editor in the dropdown menu. Content editor opens in a new browser tab. (See Fig. 10)

   

3. Expand the Content tree in the left side panel and locate the page to be edited.
4. Expand the Data node for the page.
5. Click on the item to be edited.
6. On the yellow ribbon in the main content editing panel, click the Lock and Edit link to edit the item. (See Fig. 11)
7. Edit the item, as needed.

1. Click Save on the navigation ribbon to save all changes.
2. Click the Edit button on the Home tab of the navigation ribbon. (See Fig. 12)
3. Click Submit.
4. Enter a comment describing the update. Comments assist reviewers in understanding what changes were made to the page.
5. Click OK.

After submitting the item edits:

1. The item is approved based on the current workflow.
2. The item is automatically added to the publishing queue.
3. The item is published during the next scheduled publish cycle.

• There is no manual Publish step when workflows are enabled.
• Workflow approval determines when content is published.
• Any change made to approved content returns the item to a Draft status until it is submitted again.
• Page builder and Content editor follow the same publishing rules even though the editing experience differs.

• Use Page Builder to create and update pages.
• Use Content Editor to manage structured content such as Job Cards or Education for People Data and conduct advanced editing tasks.

Both interfaces use the same workflow and publishing process. 

Documentation updated: May 29, 2026