This chapter takes you from never having seen Core dna to having published a page. It assumes nothing except that someone has given you an account.

What you will be able to do

  • Find your way around the admin without guessing.
  • Create a page, choose a layout for it, and fill it in.
  • Preview work before anyone else can see it.
  • Publish deliberately — and unpublish safely when something needs to come down.

The one idea to take away

Saving, activating and publishing are three separate things. Almost every "why can't I see my page?" question comes from treating them as one. Saving stores your work. Activating decides which saved version is current. Publishing decides whether the public can see it at all.

Once that distinction is second nature, most of the platform stops being surprising.