Publishing & Unpublishing

Managing public visibility is a core responsibility for university editors. Drupal on ITS sites uses a direct publishing state: content is either visible to the public or hidden, with no separate background draft mode.

Understanding the publishing states

Every node exists in one of two states:

• Published: The content is live on the internet. It can be indexed by search engines, accessed via its URL, and pulled into automated lists such as news feeds, directories, and calendars (Views).

• Unpublished: The content is hidden from public view. Fields, data, and revision history remain in the database, but visitors cannot access the page.

Because there is no separate draft workflow, clicking Save on a Published node updates the live site immediately. Always confirm the Published checkbox before saving.

The workflow for new content

When you create a new page, event, or announcement, decide whether it should be public right away. On many sites, new nodes default to Published.

Saving as unpublished

If you are still writing, waiting for approval, or building multiple Paragraph components, save as unpublished:

1. Ensure Published is unchecked next to the Save button.

2. Click Save.

Authenticated editors can still find and edit the node; the public cannot view it.

Making the page live

When content is finalized, open the node, check Published, and save. The URL alias becomes active and relevant Views can include the item. See Views if content does not appear in a list.

Unpublishing nodes

To hide an active page, open the editor, uncheck Published, and save. Prefer unpublishing over deleting when you may need the content again. See Deleting.

Unpublishing Paragraphs

You can also control visibility of individual Paragraph components on a page. This is useful for seasonal blocks, deadlines that have passed, or sections still in development without taking the entire page offline.

Some Paragraph types include a Published checkbox at the bottom of the component:

• Checked: The component is visible to visitors when the parent page is published.

• Unchecked: The component is hidden on the front end whether or not the page is published.

Key difference from page-level unpublishing

Unlike an unpublished page—which editors can often still preview while logged in—an unpublished Paragraph does not render on the front-end layout at all. To view or edit it, open the page’s Edit tab; the block remains stored in the administrative workspace.

Best practices for content visibility

Use bulk operations for time-sensitive content

To unpublish many items at once (past announcements, old events), go to Content, select rows with the checkboxes, choose Unpublish content from the Action menu, and click Apply to selected items.

Double-check the sidebar before exiting

Verify the Published checkbox before each save. If a new page does not appear in a directory or automated list, confirm it is published, uses the correct content type, and has the required taxonomy tags.