Previewing Content in the Content Management System

Liferay DXP 2026.Q3+

In the Content Management System, you can preview how a content item renders in a display page template without leaving the editing view. The preview opens beside the editing form, where you select a channel and a display page template. A channel is either a site the content’s space is connected to or an address outside Liferay DXP.

Open the Global Menu () and click CMS.
Click Actions () for a content item in a space and select Edit.
Click Preview in the toolbar.
Select a channel from the Channel drop-down menu (1).

The list contains the sites the content’s space is connected to, plus an External URL option. If the space isn’t connected to a site, External URL is the only entry. See Connecting a Space to a Site and Previewing at an External URL.
Select a display page template from the Display Page drop-down menu (2).

The menu lists the approved display page templates defined for the content’s type in the selected channel. If the channel has none, the panel replaces the menu with No display page templates are available for preview in this channel. Select a different channel, or create a display page template for the content’s type.

The preview renders when you select a channel and a display page template (3). It shows your content as it was last saved, in the translation language selected in the editing view.

The Channel and Display Page menus sit above the rendered content in the preview panel, beside the editing form.

Edits you make afterward (1) don’t appear until you save as a draft or publish again, so the preview keeps showing the last saved version (2). A banner above the preview (3) reads You have unsaved changes. Save as draft or publish to update this preview.

Text edited in the form, the preview still showing the last saved version, and a banner reporting the unsaved changes.

Previewing at an External URL

Instead of a site, you can point the preview at an address outside Liferay DXP. For example, you can preview the content on a page of an external application that displays it.

Save the content as a draft or publish it before using this preview method. This ensures the external application reads the current version.

Select External URL from the Channel drop-down menu.

Selecting it replaces the Display Page drop-down menu with a text input for the address.
Enter the destination address and press Enter.

If you leave out https://, Liferay DXP adds it for you, so example.com becomes https://example.com in the field.

The panel renders exactly the address you supply, with no display page template applied. If the preview doesn’t appear, this may be due to an invalid URL, a connection timeout, or the source site restricting IFrame embedding. Try opening it in a new tab or clicking Refresh () to retry.

Note

The translation language selected in the editing view applies only to a display page template preview. An external page decides which language it shows.

Opening the Preview in a New Tab

You can review the rendered content at full size in a separate browser tab.

Click Open Preview in a New Tab () next to the Display Page drop-down menu or the address box. The link appears once you select a channel and a display page template, or enter an external URL.