SGEN status
⏱ Quick answer below · full page ≈ 5 min · skim the bold lead-ins to move faster.
In short. Every record in SGEN — page, post, product, event, popup, or custom object — has a status that controls whether it appears on your live site. The three core states are Published (live and visible), Draft (saved but not live), and Archived (removed from active listings). Changing status never deletes a record. That's the whole idea — read on for the lookup table and common scenarios.
On this page: What status is · The three states · Where status appears · Status by record type · Common scenarios · Related reading
What is this for?
Status is the lifecycle control for every content record in SGEN. It answers one question for the platform: should this record appear on the live site? Every module that holds publishable records — Pages, Blogs, Products, Events, Popups, Custom Objects, and more — uses the same status model.
Read this page when you want a reference definition of how status works across the platform. Per-module publish workflows live in the module's own reference page.
Scope
This page covers the platform-wide status model: what the states mean, where they appear, and how they interact with visibility on the live site. It does not cover per-module publish workflows or SG-Builder page composition.
What is covered:
- The three core status states (Published, Draft, Archived)
- How status maps to live-site visibility
- Which record types carry status
- Common operator scenarios
What is not covered:
- Step-by-step publish procedures — open the relevant module Guide
- SG-Builder visual editing — see SG-Admin Overview
- Staging vs live environment switching — see Configuration
The three states
| Status | Live-site visibility | Editable | Recoverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published | Visible to all visitors | Yes | Not applicable |
| Draft | Hidden — not on live site | Yes | Not applicable |
| Archived | Removed from active listings | Yes | Yes — restore to Draft or Published |
Published means the record is live and reachable by visitors on your site. A published page appears in navigation, search results, and direct URLs (if those are configured). A published post appears in blog feeds.
Draft means the record exists and is fully editable, but it is not visible on the live site. Drafts do not appear in navigation, feeds, or search results. Use Draft to stage content before it is ready to go live, or to pause a live record without deleting it.
Archived means the record has been removed from active module listings and is no longer live. It is not deleted — it remains in the system, is still editable, and can be restored. Archived records are typically filtered out of default list views; look for an "Archived" filter tab in the module to see them.
Where to find it
Status appears in three places across the admin:
1. List views — Every module with publishable records shows a status column or badge in the record list. Pages, Posts, Products, Events, Popups, and Custom Object lists all surface the current status at a glance.
2. Record edit view — Open any record to edit it. The status selector appears in the sidebar or publish panel, depending on the module. Change it there and save to update the record's visibility.
3. Bulk operations — In modules that support bulk operations (Pages, Blogs, Products), select multiple records and apply a status change to all of them at once. Find Bulk operations under Tools.
Where status appears in the admin
List view
Status badge beside each record — filter by state
Status badge beside each record — filter by state
Edit view
Status selector in the sidebar — change and save
Status selector in the sidebar — change and save
Bulk operations
Apply status to many records at once via Tools
Apply status to many records at once via Tools
Status by record type
Not every record type uses all three states. The table below maps the states available per module.
| Record type | Published | Draft | Archived | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pages | Yes | Yes | Yes | Homepage must stay Published |
| Blog posts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Scheduled posts hold in Draft until publish time |
| Products | Yes | Yes | Yes | Out-of-stock products can stay Published |
| Events | Yes | Draft | Archived | Past events auto-move to Archived in some configurations |
| Popups | Yes (active) | Draft (inactive) | Archived | "Active" maps to Published in this module |
| Custom Objects | Yes | Yes | Yes | Follows the same model as Pages |
| Forms | Active / Inactive | — | — | Forms use Active/Inactive rather than the three-state model |
Note on Forms: Forms use Active / Inactive rather than Published / Draft / Archived. Active forms accept submissions; Inactive forms are closed. This is a distinct model from the standard content status.
Fields
The status field in a record's edit view accepts the following values:
| Field | Type | Values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
status | Select | published, draft, archived | draft |
When you create a new record, SGEN defaults it to Draft. You explicitly publish when it is ready to go live. This prevents accidental live publication of incomplete content.
Status selector — record edit view
Published
Draft
Archived
Select a state in the sidebar of any editable record and save. The change takes effect immediately.
Examples
Taking a page offline without deleting it
Your site has a seasonal promotion page that should not be live between campaigns. Instead of deleting it, switch its status to Draft. It disappears from the live site but remains fully editable. When the next campaign starts, switch it back to Published.
Preparing a blog post in stages
A post that is not yet ready for publication starts as Draft. Multiple editors can work on it, preview it, and revise it before anyone flips it to Published. The post does not appear in the blog feed until that final step.
Retiring old content
A product that is no longer available should not clutter active product listings but may still need to be referenced internally. Switch it to Archived. It disappears from the live site and from default list views, but it is not deleted — you can restore it if the product returns.
Bulk-archiving a batch of outdated posts
After a site audit, you find 20 blog posts that are no longer accurate. Select them all in the Blogs list view and apply Archived via Bulk operations. One action, all 20 removed from the live site.
Vocabulary
Status — the lifecycle state of a content record. Controls whether the record is visible on the live site.
Published — live and visible to all site visitors.
Draft — saved but not live. Hidden from site visitors, fully editable.
Archived — removed from active listings and from the live site. Not deleted — can be restored.
Bulk status change — applying a status update to multiple records in one operation via Tools → Bulk operations.
Scheduled post — a blog post held in Draft until a future publish time, at which point SGEN automatically moves it to Published.
Visibility — the outcome of status, environment, and menu placement working together. A record can be Published (status) and still not appear in navigation (menu placement) or on the public site (environment). All three must be correct for content to be fully live and discoverable.
Maintenance
When SGEN adds new record types to the platform, verify that those record types are reflected in the Status by record type table above. The three core states (Published, Draft, Archived) are stable across the platform; per-module variations (such as Forms using Active/Inactive) should be noted as exceptions.
Related features
- Pages — per-module publish workflow for site pages.
- Blogs — post lifecycle including scheduled publishing.
- Products — product visibility and inventory-driven status.
- Tools — Bulk operations for applying status changes across many records.
- SG-Admin Overview — parent surface definition.
How this connects to other features
Status works alongside two other visibility controls in SGEN:
- Environments (Staging vs Live) — a Published record on the staging environment is not live on your public site until the environment is promoted. Status controls record-level visibility; environments control which version of the whole site is live. See Configuration.
- Navigation / Menus — a Published page is live but may still not appear in navigation if it has not been added to a menu. Status and menu placement are independent. See Menus.
Anti-patterns
Do not delete records when you mean to unpublish them. Deleting a page removes it permanently. If you want content off the live site temporarily, move it to Draft. If you want it gone from active workflows but not permanently lost, Archived is the right call. Delete only when you are certain the record will never be needed again.
Do not leave stale drafts indefinitely. A large backlog of forgotten drafts makes it harder to find active work-in-progress content. Review the Drafts filter in each module periodically and archive records that are no longer planned.
Do not rely on status alone for access control. A Draft or Archived page is hidden from site visitors, but it is accessible to all admin users with edit rights. If a record contains sensitive information that specific team members should not see, use role-based permissions in Users — status alone is not a permission gate.