Getting ready to publish — what "ready" actually means
The pre-publish checklist tells you something real and specific — but it's easy to read it as a broader promise than it actually makes. Here's what it's actually checking, and what it isn't.
The checklist tracks what's invented, not what's correct
Every section is flagged Sample or Real based on one thing: whether aiKit had to invent its content, most commonly a testimonial, since no new project has a real customer quote on day one. A section marked Real just means it didn't require inventing anything to begin with — a contact button, a structural feature — not that a human has proofread it for accuracy. The checklist is a real, useful signal. It's a narrower one than "this page is done."
It's informational on purpose — the decision is genuinely yours
Publishing is never blocked by outstanding Sample flags; the call is explicitly left to you. That's the right default for a lot of real situations — sharing a rough live link with a partner for feedback doesn't need every section finished first. It matters more the moment the link is actually going to a customer or client, where a visibly-placeholder testimonial reads very differently than it does in an internal draft.
Read every section with a visitor's eyes once, not just the flags
A section marked Real can still be a sentence worth reconsidering — a tagline that stayed deliberately general because your original description was thin (see the description guide in this Field Guide) isn't flagged as a problem, because it isn't invented, it's just honestly vague. The checklist won't catch that; a plain read-through before publishing will.
What changes the moment you go live
Your real live link starts working, a feedback widget appears for visitors, and if your project includes operational screens, they show up grouped by role as the working software behind the site. From that point on, real feedback starts arriving through the widget — which is really the same "read it, don't just trust it" habit from every guide in this Field Guide, continuing after launch instead of stopping at it.
Looking for what a specific screen or button does instead? Check the Help Center.