Editing Content on the Page

Site Edit lets you change content right on the live preview — you don't open a separate editor screen for most edits. Hover the part of the page you want to change, then edit it by hand, with AI, or through the on-page palette. You can also add a module right where you want it using the + control on the preview. This article covers all of these.

Before you begin: On-page editing works for supported surfaces (for example headings, paragraphs, buttons, images, hero, and modules). If a section does not respond to hover, use Settings, Design, Widgets, or Add New instead.

Open Site Edit

From My Sites, find the site you want to update and select SITE EDIT.

The SITE EDIT button on a site card

Get oriented in the workspace

The Site Edit workspace with live preview
  1. Dashboard
  2. Search
  3. Design
  4. Widgets
  5. Pages
  6. Add New
  7. Settings
  8. Ask AI

The large center area is your live website preview. That is where on-page editing happens.

Open the page you want to edit

On-page editing applies to whatever is loaded in the preview, so start by bringing up the right page or post.

  1. Use Pages in the toolbar, or your site's own navigation inside the preview, to open the page you want to change.
  2. For a blog post, use the Blog Posts filter in Pages, or open the post from your blog index, so the individual post — not the index — is loaded.
  3. Confirm the preview shows the content you intend to edit before you start hovering.

Hover to find what you can edit

  1. Move the pointer over the part of the page you want to change — a heading, a paragraph, a button, an image, or a whole module.
  2. When an element can be edited, Site Edit highlights it with an outline and shows a small toolbar of edit controls near it.
  3. Choose how to edit it: type your change manually, hand it to AI, or open the palette for structured options.
A selected hero button with the on-page edit controls toolbar

The floating toolbar gives you the edit actions for that element — for example info, settings/options, and the AI (sparkle) action.

Hovering never changes your page. It only shows you what is editable and which controls are available for that element. That makes hovering a safe way to explore: move across a page first to see which parts outline and which do not, then decide where to start.

The outline also tells you the scope of the edit. Hovering a single button targets that button; hovering a whole module targets the section. If the outline covers more or less than you intended, move the pointer slightly and check the highlight again before you select.

Choose how to edit

What you want to do Use this
Fix a word, headline, or sentence Edit text by hand
Write or rewrite copy for you AI
Change a link, color, label, or style option The palette
Insert a new section The inline + control
Change slug, publish status, SEO, or page width Settings

Edit text by hand (with live preview)

The fastest way to fix a headline or a sentence is to edit it in place:

  1. Hover the text and select it to start editing.
  2. Type directly into the element on the page.
  3. Watch the page update as you type — headings, buttons, and paragraphs show a dynamic preview in their real size, font, and color, so you see exactly how the change will look before you keep it.
  4. Click outside the element (or move to another one) to finish. Your change is saved to the Site Edit draft.

Because the preview is live, you never have to guess how a longer headline will wrap or whether new text fits — the page reflows in real time. That makes it worth typing the full, real wording rather than a placeholder: if it is too long for the space, you will see it immediately and can shorten it on the spot.

Edit with AI

When you want help writing or rewriting, let AI do it:

  1. Hover the element and choose the AI (sparkle) option on its edit controls, or open Ask AI from the toolbar with the element selected.
  2. Describe what you want in plain language — for example "make the primary hero button copy more action-oriented," or "rewrite this paragraph in a friendlier tone." Site Edit also suggests prompts scoped to what you selected.
  3. Review the suggestion in the live preview before you keep it.
  4. Keep the change or discard it and try a different prompt.
The Ask AI panel scoped to the Homepage Hero with suggested prompts

The panel is scoped to the element you selected (for example Homepage Hero), and you can switch it to Edit anywhere on your site for broader changes. AI edits land in the same Site Edit draft as manual edits, so you can keep refining, then publish everything together.

Check the scope shown in the panel before you send a prompt. A scoped panel acts on the selected element, while Edit anywhere on your site can act more broadly. If a suggestion changed something you did not expect, prompt again or correct the affected content manually. Use the draft-bar DISCARD only when you intend to remove every pending Site Edit change, not as an undo for one AI request.

Use the palette for structured controls

Some elements — like the hero, design chrome, or a module — open an editing palette instead of (or in addition to) inline text editing. The palette groups the controls for that surface.

The Edit Homepage Hero palette with button link, color, label, and style controls
  1. The palette title names what you are editing (for example Edit Homepage Hero or Edit Design).
  2. Use its fields to update text, links, images, colors, or style options — for example the primary button's page/URL, label, color, and style.
  3. The preview updates as you change fields.
  4. Close the palette when finished. Edits save to the Site Edit draft.

Read the palette title as your confirmation of scope — Edit Homepage Hero edits that hero, while Edit Design edits design chrome. If the title is not the surface you meant to change, close the palette and select the element again.

Some things are only available in the palette. Inline typing changes wording, but a button's destination, color, and style are palette fields, so use the palette when you need to change more than the words.

If the palette includes an HTML or rich-text control, use the provided editor for that field only — it does not replace module-based page building.

Add a module inline on the preview

You can insert a new module between existing sections without leaving the preview:

  1. Move the pointer between modules (or over a module's on-page controls) until a blue + insertion control appears.
  2. Select +. A tooltip such as Add a module after module 1 confirms where the new module will land.
  3. In the Add module panel, choose a module type from New, or pick one of your Saved presets.
  4. The module is inserted at that position in the preview and saved to the Site Edit draft.
The blue plus control for adding a module between sections
The Add module panel with New and Saved presets

Read the tooltip before you choose a module — it names the position, so it is your chance to catch an insertion point one section higher or lower than you wanted. Use Saved presets when you want a section that matches one you have already set up, and New when you want to start from a module type.

You can also add modules from Add New → Module or Settings → Modules. See Working with Modules for more on managing modules.

When editing a blog post, open its Modules tab and turn on Enable custom modules before building a post-specific module set.

When to use Settings instead

Use Settings when you need page-level controls such as slug, publish status, SEO, sidebar widgets for the page, or page design width — not the contents of an individual element.

A simple way to decide: if the change is something a visitor reads inside a section, edit it on the page; if it describes the page as a whole, it is in Settings. See Editing an Existing Page and Editing an Existing Blog Post.

Publish your changes

Manual, AI, palette, and inline module edits all collect in the same draft. Select PUBLISH to apply pending draft changes to the live site, or DISCARD to remove them.

Because everything lands in one draft, it helps to review the preview and the change summary before publishing rather than after each individual edit. Keep in mind that PUBLISH applies every pending change in the draft, and DISCARD removes all of them — neither one is limited to the element you edited last.

For more about applying or removing pending changes, see Publishing and Discarding Drafts.

Troubleshooting

What you see What to do
A section does not outline on hover It may not be a supported on-page surface. Use Settings, Design, Widgets, or Add New instead.
The outline covers the wrong element Move the pointer slightly and check the highlight; a module outline covers the whole section, not one item inside it.
You are editing the wrong page Load the correct page or post in the preview first — on-page editing follows the preview.
Typing changes the words but not the link or color Those are palette fields. Open the palette for that element.
The palette title is not the surface you wanted Close it, select the element again, and confirm the title.
AI changed more than you expected Check the panel scope; Edit anywhere on your site is broader than an element-scoped request. Prompt again or correct the content manually.
The + control does not appear Move the pointer between modules or over a module's on-page controls.
The new module landed in the wrong spot Use the tooltip (for example Add a module after module 1) to confirm the position before choosing a module.
Your edits are not on the live website They are still in the Site Edit draft. Select PUBLISH.

Need more help?

For questions, concerns, or feedback, chat with our team at app.placester.com/chat.

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