This article outlines a practical suggestion for keeping data in sync between the staging and live site for portlets that allow changes in both places. Following the workaround will help prevent staging publication errors and failure.
Resolution
Generally, if staging is enabled for a portlet, one cannot add or edit portlet data in the live site. However, some portlets in the Liferay platform may allow users to make changes to the live version of the staged portlet. This behavior depends on the portlet's own implementation and developers decide to program their portlets with this feature mostly when the portlet requires data from end users.
In order to avoid confusion and publication errors, list all of the assets that can be modified in the live site and then clearly communicate to users of the portal where changes should be made (whether in staging or directly in live).