---
title: "How do I perform a dummy publish action?"
slug: "how-do-i-perform-a-dummy-publish-action"
updated: 2026-05-07T04:56:58Z
published: 2026-05-07T04:56:58Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.whatfix.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How do I perform a dummy publish action?

When you perform certain configurations and updates on the dashboard, they may not reflect in your application or for your end-users.

The reason is that some features and settings in the dashboard are applied only after a Publish action. Until content or selected changes are published, the changes remain in draft state and are not pushed to the live environment.

**The following actions require you to perform a dummy content publish or selectively publish a configuration change:**

| Feature or Configuration | Action |
| --- | --- |
| Advanced Customization (AC) [Code Editor](/studio/docs/access-code-editor) | Add new code or update any existing code. |
| [End-user Authentication](/studio/docs/whatfix-end-user-sso) | Enable or modify authentication settings. |
| [Map Stage Conditions](/studio/docs/how-are-the-visibility-rules-evaluated-while-mapping-stages) | Add or update the Ready or Production stage URL logic conditions. |
| [Style Changes](/studio/docs/configure-themes-and-tooltips) | Updates to the style, appearance, and color of UI elements of Whatfix Content. |
| [Tags](/studio/docs/segmentation-using-tags) | Create, edit, or update Tags. |
| [Technical Configuration](/studio/docs/set-technical-preferences-for-your-whatfix-account) | Changes to technical setups or configurations, such as Mutation Observer Config and Proxy Domain. |
| User Action | Create or delete user actions. |
| User Rules | Create, update, or delete the following user rules: - Locale identification - Custom variables - User identification - Analytics variables |

Use the following steps to perform a dummy publish after completing any of the actions described in the table above:

1. On the Whatfix Guidance Dashboard, click **Ready**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/a268766e-d74d-4619-9613-e2472f809ffb/Images/Documentation/clm_db_ready_stage_select.jpg)

1. Click **Publish all**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/a268766e-d74d-4619-9613-e2472f809ffb/Images/Documentation/clm_db_publish_all(1).jpg)

1. In the **Publish changes** dialog box, select the changes you made, along with a dummy piece of content (for example, a placeholder link with a dummy URL intended for only publishing changes that won’t appear to your end-users). ![](https://cdn.document360.io/a268766e-d74d-4619-9613-e2472f809ffb/Images/Documentation/image-8B1I4BI3.png)

1. Click **Publish**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/a268766e-d74d-4619-9613-e2472f809ffb/Images/Documentation/clm_db_publish_all_pop_up(2).jpg)

> [!WARNING]
> Note:
> 
> - You cannot unselect**Advanced configuration**, Whatfix improvements, and bug fixes. These changes go live when you publish any content. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/a268766e-d74d-4619-9613-e2472f809ffb/Images/Documentation/Publish_Changes(2).png)
> - If the **Publish changes** dialog box displays **This will also publish Whatfix improvements and bug fixes**. message, this means the publishing process includes a software update, not just a content refresh.

Whatfix Content includes Flows, Images, Videos, PDFs, Articles and Links.

Whatfix Tags enable you to segment or group content on the Whatfix Dashboard. A Tag also helps identify a page on your application so that relevant Whatfix content can be displayed on the right page.

Whatfix User Actions enable you to track your end users' actions and behavior on your application