Publish a tour and manage revisions
Publish a tour so viewers can see it, push later edits with Update, roll back to an earlier revision, and take a tour down with Serving.
A buyer should only ever see a finished tour, even while you're still working on it. ShowPilot keeps your edits in a draft and shows viewers a frozen copy, called a revision, until you choose to push the next one. You can edit a live tour freely, and if a change goes wrong, put an earlier revision back in a minute.
This article covers publishing and updating a tour, what a revision is, what can block a publish, rolling back, and taking a tour down.
You're in the right place when a tour is ready for viewers, your latest edits aren't showing, or you need to undo a published change.
What is a revision?
When you publish, ShowPilot freezes the tour as it stands into a numbered revision: revision 1, then 2, and so on. Viewers always see the latest revision, through the tour's share links, embeds, its hub and your agent.
A revision holds:
- Every screen, in order, with your element edits and actions.
- Every step, with its words, buttons, settings and narration.
- The tour's name and description, as used on its share preview.
- Its look: the style guide's styles, the Display option and the Screen transition.
Everything you do in the builder after that changes your draft. Viewers don't see the draft. They keep the frozen revision until you publish again, so you can work on a live tour without anyone watching you do it.
A few settings aren't frozen and reach viewers as soon as you save them in the tour's Settings panel: How the tour link opens, Pace (agent-led) and Serving. See Tour settings and defaults.
How do you publish a tour?
Check the tour in Preview
Select Preview in the builder's mode switch and play the tour from the start. This is the draft exactly as a viewer will get it.
Select Publish
Select Publish at the top right of the builder. The button shows Publishing…, then Published ✓.
A Live · rev 1 chip appears in the top bar, with a clock icon for revision history beside it. The button now reads Update.
Share it
The tour's share links and embeds start working. Open Share on the tour to copy its link or embed code. See Share links and Embed a tour.
How do you push later edits?
Once a tour is live, the main button reads Update. Edit as much as you like, then select Update when you want viewers to see it. ShowPilot freezes the draft into the next revision, the chip moves to the new number, such as Live · rev 4, and share links and embeds pick it up within about a minute.
The top bar also shows a save word as you work: Saving…, Draft saved or Save failed. That's your draft saving. It's separate from publishing.
What can stop a publish?
When a publish fails, the button shows Publish failed for a moment and the reason appears next to it in the top bar. Hover the reason to read all of it.
A step has no text
A guide step with no title and no description would show viewers an empty card with only a Next button. ShowPilot won't publish until you fix it. The message names the screen:
A step on "Billing overview" has no text — add a title or description, or delete the step, then publish.
When several steps are empty, it counts them and names the screens:
3 steps have no text (on "Billing overview", "Invoices" and 1 more) — add words or delete them, then publish.
To fix it, open that screen in Build, find the empty step in the storyboard, and either write a title or description or delete the step. A Group step with no guide or link inside it counts as empty too. Lightbox and link steps aren't checked, because they carry their own content.
Script mode is a quick way to find empty steps: they show "Untitled step" and "Write what the viewer should hear here…". See Read and edit a tour as a script.
Your plan or role doesn't allow it
Your plan and your role must both allow publishing tours.
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| "You need publish rights to do that." | Your role in the workspace can't publish. Ask an admin. See Team members. |
| "Tours are not included in your plan." | Your plan doesn't include tours. |
| "Your [plan] plan includes N published tours. Upgrade to add more." | Your plan's limit on published tours is reached. Updating a tour that's already published doesn't count as a new one. |
How do you see revision history?
Select the clock icon next to the Live chip. It appears once a tour has been published. The list shows your most recent revisions, newest first:
- The top row is the revision viewers see now, marked live.
- Every other row shows Rev N and the date it was published.
How do you roll back to an earlier revision?
Pick the revision
Open the revision history and select the revision you want viewers to see again. You can't select the live row.
Confirm
The builder asks "Roll back to revision N?". Select Roll back.
Rolling back republishes that earlier revision as a new number. For example, if revision 5 is live and you roll back to revision 3, it goes live again as revision 6. The history keeps every revision, so you can roll forward again the same way. Viewers switch within about a minute.
Your draft in the builder isn't changed. It still has your latest edits. The next time you select Update, the draft is published and replaces the rolled-back revision. If you want to keep working from the older version, change the draft to match before you update.
A rollback isn't checked for empty steps, because the revision already passed that check when it was first published.
How do you take a tour down?
There's no unpublish button. To stop viewers seeing a tour, turn off Serving.
- Open the tour in the builder and select Settings in the top bar.
- On the Delivery card, turn off Serving.
- Select Update at the bottom of the panel.
The change is immediate. The tour's share link shows a "Tour not found" page, its embeds stop playing, and it drops out of its hub. Your revisions and draft stay as they are. Turn Serving back on and select Update to bring the tour back, with the same live revision.
A hub doesn't have a publish step of its own. Its link goes live once it holds at least one published tour with Serving on, and while the hub's own Serving is on. See Hubs.
What do the status chips mean?
| Chip | Where you see it | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Live | The Tours list, and Live · rev N in the builder | The tour has been published. Viewers see its latest revision while Serving is on. |
| Draft | The Tours list | The tour has never been published. Only your team can see it, in the builder and its preview. A hub marks it "Draft — hidden from viewers". |
| Archived | The Tours list | The tour was archived. It isn't served. You'll see this on some older tours; there's no archive button in the builder. |
A published tour with Serving off shows Serving off instead of Live: its link and embeds are down until you turn Serving back on. See How do you take a tour down?.
A draft tour's Share window is dimmed with "Publish to share" and a button to open it in the builder.
Test it
Your publish is working when:
- You change a step's title and select Update.
- The chip moves to the next revision number.
- You open the tour's share link in a private window, and within a minute it shows the new title.
- You roll back to the previous revision, reload the link a minute later, and the old title is back, while the builder still shows your new title.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| "A step on … has no text" | Add a title or description to the empty step on the named screen, or delete it. |
| "You need publish rights to do that." | Your role can't publish. Ask an admin in your workspace. |
| A plan message about published tours | You've reached your plan's limit on published tours. Turning off Serving doesn't free a place; see the FAQ. |
| "Roll back to revision N failed" | The live revision is unchanged. The message says why; fix that and select the revision again. |
| Viewers still see the old version | Select Update. Draft edits never reach viewers on their own. Allow about a minute after publishing. |
| The share link says "Tour not found" | The tour isn't published, or Serving is off on its Delivery card. |
| The clock icon isn't there | Revision history appears after the first publish. |
| A rollback didn't change anything | Reload the revision history. If the live number didn't move, try the rollback again. |
FAQ
How do I unpublish a tour?
There's no unpublish button. Turn off Serving on the tour's Delivery card in Settings, then select Update. The tour stops being served straight away, and you can turn it back on later without republishing.
Does turning off Serving free up a published tour on my plan?
No. A tour stays counted as published after it's been published, whether or not it's being served.
Do viewers see my edits while I work?
No. Edits save to your draft, and viewers keep the last published revision until you select Update.
Does rolling back overwrite my draft?
No. The earlier revision goes live as a new number, and your draft in the builder keeps your latest edits. Your next Update publishes the draft.
Can I add a note to a revision?
Not yet. Revisions are listed by number and date.
Do I need to republish after changing a style guide?
Yes. A tour's style is frozen into each revision, so select Update on each tour that uses the guide. See Style guides.