# Publish, update or unpublish a widget

Publish a widget so your website can show it, edit it while it's live, try changes on a copy first, or unpublish it to take it off your site.

Your website shows a widget only while it's published. To publish one, open it in the widget builder and click **Publish** in the top bar. After that, the builder saves every edit to the live widget, so there's nothing to publish again. To take a widget off your site without deleting it, open the menu next to **Get code** and choose **Unpublish Widget**. To redesign a live widget without your visitors seeing the work in progress, don't unpublish it: choose **Duplicate** in its menu on the **Widgets** page and change the copy, which starts as a draft with its own embed code. When it's ready, publish it and replace the code on your site with the copy's. See [Try changes on a copy first](#try-changes-on-a-copy-first).

The workspace owner and the project's Admins can publish, edit and unpublish widgets. Other teammates see **You don't have access to manage widgets** on the **Widgets** page.

1. **Open the widget**

   On the **Widgets** page, under **Share** in your project's sidebar, click the widget's name, or **Edit**. The builder opens.

   A new widget starts as a **Draft**, shown in the badge beside its name. Once it's live, the badge reads **Published**.

2. **Publish it**

   Click **Publish** in the top bar, or in the **Preview** window. A widget in **Curate** needs at least one testimonial before you can publish it.

   An **Auto-sync** or **Proof Match** widget fills itself, so it can be published before any testimonial matches its rules. You're asked first: **Publish with nothing to show?** Click **Publish anyway** to put it live empty, or **Not yet** to change the rules on the **Content** tab first.

   The badge changes to **Published**, and a menu button takes the place of **Publish**, next to **Get code**.

   You can also publish without opening the builder: on the **Widgets** page, click **Publish** on a draft, or choose **Publish** from its menu. If you came for the embed code, **Get code** has **Publish and copy code**, which does both.

3. **Add it to your website**

   A published widget appears wherever its embed code is. If the code isn't on a page yet, [add it to your website](/help/display/embed-a-widget-on-any-website).

## If you can't publish

- **"Add at least one testimonial before publishing".** The widget is in **Curate** and has no testimonials yet. On the **Widgets** page it reads **Needs testimonials** and has no **Publish** button. Add one on the **Content** tab: see [Choose which testimonials a widget shows](/help/display/choose-which-testimonials-a-widget-shows).
- **The builder shows a banner and no Publish button.** Your plan doesn't include the widget's type. On the **Widgets** page, **Publish** answers with a message that the layout needs a higher plan. Upgrade, or move the widget to a type your plan includes: see [Plans and limits](/help/display/choose-a-widget-type#plans-and-limits).
- **A message that starts "Your last change wasn't saved".** The builder couldn't save your latest change, so it didn't publish. The message ends with the reason. Fix that, then click **Publish** again.
- **A message that starts "This project is read-only" or "This workspace is read-only".** Nothing in the project can be changed until its owner fixes that. See [Project is read-only](/help/troubleshooting/project-is-read-only).
- **"This widget is archived. Restore it first, then publish it."** The builder shows **Archived** beside the widget's name and no **Publish** button. On the **Widgets** page, open the **Archived** tab and click **Restore**, then publish it.

## Editing a published widget

A published widget has no separate draft. The builder saves your edits to the live widget, and your site picks them up shortly, without new embed code. If your site still doesn't match the preview, see [Widget looks different on your website](/help/troubleshooting/widget-looks-different-on-your-site).

An edit is live once the top bar shows that it saved, such as **Saved just now**: see [Undo, redo and saving](/help/display/customize-a-widget#undo-redo-and-saving). The one edit that changes the embed code is a switch to a style that floats over the page: see [Do I need new embed code after I edit a widget?](/help/display/widget-questions#do-i-need-new-embed-code-after-i-edit-a-widget)

## Try changes on a copy first

To try bigger changes without your visitors seeing them, open the widget's menu on the **Widgets** page and choose **Duplicate**. The copy starts as a draft with its own embed code.

The copy has the original's name with "(Copy)" added, and the same type, design, settings, testimonials and rules. It counts toward your plan's widgets, so **Duplicate** is unavailable while the project is at its limit: see [How many widgets can I create?](/help/display/widget-questions#how-many-widgets-can-i-create)

Because the copy has its own code, putting it live means publishing it and replacing the code on your site with the copy's.

## Take a widget off your site

To hide a widget from your site without deleting it, open the menu next to **Get code** and choose **Unpublish Widget**, then confirm with **Unpublish**. The widget goes back to **Draft** and stops appearing on your site until you publish it again.

On the **Widgets** page, the same action is **Unpublish** in the widget's menu, and it asks first too. Unpublishing changes nothing else: the widget keeps its design, its testimonials and its code, so publishing it again brings it back on your site with no new code.

To archive or delete it instead, see [What is the difference between unpublishing, archiving and deleting a widget?](/help/display/widget-questions#what-is-the-difference-between-unpublishing-archiving-and-deleting-a-widget).

## How soon your site shows a change

Publishing, an edit and unpublishing all reach your site within a few minutes, not at once: a browser that loaded the widget a moment ago keeps that version for a short while. To check a change, wait a few minutes, then reload the page.

If your site still hasn't followed, see [Widget not showing on your website](/help/troubleshooting/widget-not-showing) or [Widget looks different on your website](/help/troubleshooting/widget-looks-different-on-your-site).

## What happens next

On the **Widgets** page, a published widget is listed under **Published**, and its button changes from **Publish** to **Copy embed**. One you unpublish goes back under **Drafts**.

On Pro, Premium and Business, a published widget's status reads **Live** or **No recent views** in place of **Published**: see [The Widgets page says "No recent views"](/help/insights/widget-analytics#the-widgets-page-says-no-recent-views).

- [Embed a widget on any website](/help/display/embed-a-widget-on-any-website)
- [Customize a widget](/help/display/customize-a-widget)
- [Widget questions](/help/display/widget-questions)
- [Widget not showing on your website](/help/troubleshooting/widget-not-showing)