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Understanding Content States in Strapi: Save vs. Publish, Drafts vs. Published

This document clarifies the distinctions between saving and publishing content, as well as the concepts of drafts and published content within Strapi. This information is crucial for efficient content management and workflow.

Save vs. Publish​

Save​

When you "Save" an entry in Strapi, you are essentially storing the current state of your content without making it publicly accessible. This action is used to preserve your work as you develop it.

  • Purpose: To store changes to your content without immediately releasing them.
  • Visibility: Content remains private and is not visible on your live application or website.
  • State: The content will be in a "Draft" state.
  • Use Case: Ideal for ongoing work, incremental changes, or content that needs further review before going live.

Publish​

The "Publish" action makes your content publicly available. Once published, the content can be retrieved by the web site and will be visible to your users.

  • Purpose: To make content visible and accessible to the public.
  • Visibility: Content becomes live on your application or website.
  • State: The content will be in a "Published" state.
  • Use Case: Use this when your content is complete, reviewed, and ready for public consumption.

Drafts vs. Published Content​

Drafts​

A "Draft" is any content entry that has been saved but not yet published. Drafts are internal versions of your content, allowing for iteration and collaboration before release.

  • Status: Not live.
  • Accessibility: Only accessible within the Strapi admin panel to users with appropriate permissions.
  • Characteristics: Can be edited, reviewed, and updated multiple times before publishing.
  • Example: A news article that is still being written, or an article undergoing review by team members.

Published Content​

"Published" content refers to entries that have been made live and are available to your audience through your front-end application.

  • Status: Live.
  • Accessibility: Accessible to the public via your connected applications.
  • Characteristics: Represents the current live version of your content. Even published content can be edited and then re-published to update the live version, or unpublished to remove it from public view.
  • Example: A live product page, an active news article, or an official documentation page on your Docusaurus site.

This understanding is fundamental for effectively managing your content in Strapi and ensuring a smooth content delivery to your Docusaurus documentation.