Understanding Batch-Supported Publishing
Liferay DXP 2026.Q1+
Publishing to Live uses the same import path as a Liferay Archive (LAR) file import, which enables lazy referencing. As of Liferay DXP 2026.Q1, a publish process records references between entities handled by the batch framework, but does not resolve them.
Referenced content reached Live differently in earlier releases. See Referenced Content in Liferay DXP 2026.Q1 and Earlier.
Publishing Referenced Content
For batch-supported entities, only content explicitly included in a publishing process is published to Live.
A batch-supported entity arrives on Live without the content it references, and these references remain unresolved until that content reaches Live too. The same applies to a parent page, to content shown in a widget, and to content shown in a fragment. You must select the referenced content explicitly in the publish process. See Managing Data and Content Types in Staging for selecting content types and their referenced content on the Advanced tab. Review the publish configuration and include every referenced entity you want present in the Live environment.
Include only the referenced content you need. Republishing content that is already current on Live can be unnecessary and slow down publishing.
The publish process treats each reference direction differently:
| Reference Direction | Publishing Behavior |
|---|---|
| From a batch-supported entity to any entity | The referenced content is published only when you select it in the publish process. |
| From an entity the batch framework does not handle to a batch-supported entity | The referenced content is published automatically with the entity. |
Entities That Take Lazy References
A batch-supported entity never carries its referenced content to Live automatically, regardless of what it references. This covers a reference to another entity, a parent page, content shown in a widget, and content shown in a fragment. You must select that content in the publish process. An entity the batch framework does not handle still carries a referenced batch-supported entity to Live with it.
See Batch-Supported Entity Types for a list of entities the batch framework handles.
Unresolved References
When the target of a reference is absent, the publish process creates a placeholder for that target instead of failing. The placeholder exists in the Live environment, but it holds no content until the referenced content is published. See Handling Missing References in Imports for the placeholder each entity type produces.
A publish process can complete successfully even when references are unresolved, leaving placeholders on Live with no content. After importing all your content, you must check Live to verify referenced content is present.
Referenced Content in Liferay DXP 2026.Q1 and Earlier
Liferay DXP 2026.Q1 and earlier
Before Liferay DXP 2026.Q1, a publish process gathered referenced content automatically through the staging framework, so the content an entity referenced reached Live with that entity. If you’re upgrading from an earlier release, a publish process now carries less content, so select the referenced content you want present on Live.
Batch-supported entities take lazy references instead, and such an entity carries none of its referenced content to Live. Pages are batch-supported, so a parent page is not published unless you select it, and a missing parent becomes a placeholder on Live.
Liferay DXP 2026.Q1 and earlier also had two Staging settings that set defaults for referenced content, Publish Parent Pages by Default and Publish Displayed Content by Default, and both are removed as of Liferay DXP 2026.Q2. See Publishing in Liferay DXP 2026.Q1 and Earlier for what each setting did, and Liferay DXP 2026.Q2 Breaking Changes for the removal entries.