Understand Site Updates

An update is a named collection of changes to the current base site. The changes remain in the update until you commit them and permanently update the base site.

Each time you view or edit a site in the editor, you use an update. Any changes you make in the editor are part of that update. You can have one or more updates and you can continue to add changes to an update over time. Updates give you flexibility with how you manage edits to a site. For example, you can have several people working on their own updates for different parts of the site. You can review and modify individual updates, and when you’re ready, you can commit the updates to the base site. You'll still need to publish the site to make the updates available online.

You can organize updates in several ways:

Page-specific changes in an update named for the page
Changes made by a specific user in an update with the user’s name
Changes made on a given day or for a particular project milestone

Note:

An update shows the changes in that update against the base site. Although it’s easy to switch between available updates within the editor, you can view only one update at a time. If there are multiple updates to a given page, you might not know if you have multiple changes to the same content area. To prevent conflicting changes on a page, target individual updates to specific pages or areas of the site.

When you commit the changes in the current update, the changes are made to the base site and the update is deleted. You'll need to publish the site (by bringing it online or republishing it) to make those changes visible online to anyone with access to the site.

To edit a site:

Select the site in the list and choose Open in the right-click menu or in the actions bar.
The editor opens in preview mode. To make changes or to use the navigation options in the sidebar, make sure the Edit switch is set to Edit.
If this is the first update for a site, enter a name for the update and an optional description, then click OK. You can use letters, numbers, underscores (_), and hyphens (-) in the name. If you enter a space, it’s automatically replaced with a hyphen. If you already have updates to the site, select an update from the list and click .
To edit a particular page, locate the page using the site tree in the left sidebar, searching for the page, or using the site’s own navigation. To show the site tree, click on the left, then click .
Add and change page content as necessary. Select Fit to Window to use the layout options to see how the page will look on different devices and with different sizes. Several sizes are given and you can create your own device size. Click to see markings. Click an interval on the ruler to quickly see how the site appears at different sizes. You can also select to see how a site will appear on a mobile device depending on orientation.
When you’re done editing your site, save your changes in one of the following ways:
- Click Save to save your changes to the current update. You can continue working in the current update or return to the update later.
- Click Commit to apply your changes to the base site.
You'll still need to publish your site before your website users see the changes. See Bring a Site Online or Take It Offline or Publish Site Changes.

When you commit the changes in the current update, the changes are made to the base site and the update is deleted. You must use an active update each time you view or edit a site in the editor, so you’re returned to the site list where you can create a new update.

With an update, the process is linear:

The original site (base site) exists. Let’s call it Version 1.
You create an update. When you merge the update (with Commit), the update is permanently written to the existing site. You now have a new version (Version 2) of your base site.
If you create and merge another update, then the update is permanently written to the existing site. You now have a new version (Version 3) of your base site.

With updates, remember that:

Current Base Site + A Merged Update = New Version of the Base Site