The Publish Panel
How the Publish panel in AI Website Creator works: when it unlocks, the two-step flow, every publishing option with its badge, and which one to pick.
The Publish panel is where your finished design leaves the Design Editor. It shows every way to ship your site in one place: as a WordPress site or as a fast Astro site, hosted by UiChemy, in your own Cloudflare account, on your own WordPress, or as code you download.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Where | Publish button, top-right of the Design Editor |
| Unlocks | When your design is at least 70% generated |
| Step 1 | Pick a platform (WordPress or Astro), then how to publish |
| Step 2 | The screen for that option, with a Publish breadcrumb to go back |
| Options | Publish sandbox, Manual setup, Cloudflare, Manual download |
| Coming soon | Vercel and Netlify |
| Who | The panel is enabled for all users. Guests are asked to sign up before exporting or publishing. Server configuration can restrict hosting. |
When Publish Unlocks
The Publish button sits in the top-right corner of the Design Editor. It only shows on the Design tab.
- Hidden while AI is generating. It comes back once the generation settles.
- Disabled until your design is at least 70% generated. Hover it to see "Export unlocks once your design is at least 70% generated".
- Held while AI copy is still being written. If you click too early, you'll see "AI copy is still generating". Wait a moment, then click again.
- Sign up first if you're a guest. Trying UiChemy without an account? Clicking Publish asks you to create a free account. Your project stays where it is.
- Shared projects: collaborators need edit access to the project to see Publish.
When the panel opens, UiChemy saves your latest edits first. You'll see "Saving your latest edits before export…" while it works. If the save fails, the panel says so and offers Try again, because publishing now would ship the previously saved version.
Step 1: Choose Where Your Site Lives
The panel opens as Publish your site: "Choose where your site lives, then how to get it there." Pick a platform card:
| Platform card | Description in the panel |
|---|---|
| WordPress | "Keep editing in WordPress and Elementor" |
| Astro | "Fast static site, with an optional CMS". Shows a Live badge when this project has a live Cloudflare site. |
Then pick how to publish from the list under the cards.
WordPress: "How do you want to publish?"
| Option | Badge | Description in the panel | Button |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish sandbox | Fastest | "Live on uichemysites.com in about 3 minutes." | Start |
| Manual setup | none | "Install the UiChemy plugin on your own WordPress site." | Set up |
Astro: "Where should it go live?"
| Option | Badge | Description in the panel | Button |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Recommended (or Live once published) | "Your own account, free workers.dev address." | Start (or Manage once published) |
| Manual download | none | "Download the Astro project as a .zip and host it anywhere." | Set up |
| Vercel and Netlify | Coming soon | Not clickable yet. | none |
Click Cancel to close the panel without doing anything.
Step 2: Finish on the Option's Own Screen
Picking an option opens its own screen. A breadcrumb at the top (for example Publish › Astro › Cloudflare) takes you back to the list. The breadcrumb is locked while something is running, so a publish can't be interrupted by accident.
| Option | What happens next | Full guide |
|---|---|---|
| Publish sandbox | Pick a site address and pages, then Publish. UiChemy hosts a real WordPress site for you. | Publish to UiChemy Sites |
| Manual setup | Download plugin, install it on your WordPress, then import the project in the plugin. | Export to WordPress |
| Cloudflare | Connect Cloudflare, choose Astro + EmDash or Astro frontend, then Publish. | Deploy to Cloudflare |
| Manual download | Download .zip and run the Astro project yourself. | Download an Astro Project |
Which Option Should You Choose?
| You want... | Choose | Hosting | Edit after launch in | Own domain today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A live link in minutes, no setup | Publish sandbox | UiChemy, on your-site.uichemysites.com | WordPress and Elementor | No |
| The site on WordPress hosting you already have | Manual setup | Your WordPress host | Elementor (as UiChemy Composer sections) or Gutenberg | Yes, through your host |
| A fast site you or a client can edit in a CMS | Cloudflare, then Astro + EmDash | Your Cloudflare account, free workers.dev address | The EmDash CMS admin | Not from the panel yet (Coming soon) |
| A fast static site, edited only in UiChemy | Cloudflare, then Astro frontend | Your Cloudflare account, free workers.dev address | UiChemy, then publish again | Not from the panel yet (Coming soon) |
| The source code, to host anywhere | Manual download | Anywhere that serves static files | Your code editor | Yes, through your host |
Not sure? Start with Publish sandbox to get a link you can share today. You can still import the same project into your own WordPress or deploy it to Cloudflare later.