Why can't I publish my tour?

The short answer

A tour is published in one of two ways. It is listed on Explore (tick Publish to Global Showcase), which any account can do within the totals of free publishing, with Panoramr's branding. Or it is hosted, in your plan or in a Vault. A tour in your plan's hosting is private until you tick Published on the Hosting tab, which opens it by its link and in an embed; a tour you put in a Vault is published at once. When neither works, or visitors still cannot open the tour, the cause is one of the problems below. Find the message or the symptom you have, and follow the fix.

Save Settings is gray

The Save Settings button on the Publish tab is gray until you change something. Tick Publish to Global Showcase, or change another box, and it comes alive.

Ticking Publish to Global Showcase shows an error

A red box at the top of the Publish page lists the message, and the checkbox goes back to how it was saved.

• Only the tour owner can change this setting. You are a collaborator. Only the owner can tick or untick this box: ask the owner.
• This tour is offline while our team looks at it. It can be published again once that is done. Our team has put the tour on hold. See Our team has taken the tour offline.
• Your plan lets you publish up to N tours on Explore and N are there already. Free publishing holds 10 tours. Take one off Explore, or host this tour.
• This tour has N panoramas and publishing on Explore has room for M more (up to X in total). Free publishing holds 250 panoramas in all. Take another tour off Explore, remove panoramas, or host this tour.

A tour is listed as a whole: visitors never get only the first scenes. Free publishing, plan hosting or a Vault has the totals.

The Host in my plan box is gray

A line under the box says why.

• Your plan does not include hosting. Host this tour in a Vault, or upgrade your plan. Free hosts 0 panoramas. Pro hosts 250, Agency 360. Buy a Vault or upgrade.
• This tour has N panoramas and your plan has room for M more. The tours already in plan hosting use the rest. Take another tour out of plan hosting, remove panoramas, or put this tour in a Vault.

Ticking Published shows an error

Publishing a tour without listing it on Explore needs hosting. Host it in your plan or in a Vault, or publish it on Explore. The Published box is on the Hosting tab and opens a tour by its link and in an embed without listing it on Explore. A tour that was never hosted cannot be opened that way. Host it, or tick Publish to Global Showcase.

I hosted the tour, but visitors get "Tour not published"

Visitors see Tour not published and This tour is private: its owner has not published it. A tour in your plan's hosting stays private until you publish it: open Publish, then Hosting, tick Published and click Save Settings. A tour put in a Vault is published at once, so for a tour in a Vault the box was unticked, or the tour was taken out of the Vault (The tour is out of the Vault. It is private now.). The badges on My Tours read In a Vault and In plan hosting with Not published when the tour is still private. See Who can see a tour.

I am sent to the Check your inbox page when I publish or buy

Your email address is not confirmed. Look for the amber bar at the top of the page. What it says tells you where you stand:

• Confirm your email address to invite people, publish, post and buy. We have sent you a link. You can edit, but Publish Changes, Deploy Draft to Live, buying a Vault, publishing to Google Street View and handing over a tour are held until you confirm. Ticking Publish to Global Showcase is not held.
• Please confirm your email address by <date>: we have sent you a link. After that date you will need it to keep using your account. Until that date, publishing and buying work. Inviting people, handing a tour over, posting and commenting do not.
• Your email address is not confirmed yet. Confirm it to use your account: we have sent you a link. Only the confirmation page, your profile and signing out are open to you.

Click the link in the email. If it has not come, look in your spam folder, then click Send me a new link in the bar, or Resend link on the Check your inbox page. If the address is wrong, click Wrong address?.

Our team has taken the tour offline

Every tab shows a red notice: Our team has taken this tour offline. or This tour is offline while our team looks at a report about it. The My Tours list shows Offline or On hold. You can keep editing, but you cannot publish the tour, and visitors see This tour is currently unavailable. until our team lifts the hold. For an offline tour the notice says you can ask for a second look, with the link in the email and the notification we sent you. While a report is being looked at, the notice says we will tell you what we decide. Report a tour, a picture, a post or a person explains what happens after a report.

Visitors see a different theme on my website

The tour wears a Pro theme, it has never been hosted and its owner is on the Free plan, so visitors, and embeds, get the free Default look. Choose a free theme, put the tour in a Vault, or move to a paid plan. See Fix embed problems.

A tour that was hosted shows Panoramr's branding

Its Vault ended, or your plan stopped covering it. If the tour fits free publishing (250 panoramas in 10 tours, counted with your other public tours) it stays online in its own design and embeds keep working; only Panoramr's branding is back. If it does not fit, it is made private, nothing is deleted, and you get an email. Renew the Vault, or tick Host in my plan again: What happens when a Vault ends.

I cannot find the Published box

It appears on the Hosting tab only once the tour is in a Vault, or Host in my plan is ticked. Until then the only way to publish is Publish to Global Showcase.

I cannot find the Publish tab

• On a phone or a narrow window the tab row scrolls sideways. Publish is the last tab.
• A collaborator sees it only if their role includes it. The owner sets this under Client Workspaces in My Account, where it is called Publish Tab.

I published, but visitors see the old version

See Hold back edits until you publish them if the tab row shows Draft Mode Active, and My changes do not show for visitors for the rest.

Unpublish / Hide Tour

Ticking Unpublish / Hide Tour on the Hosting tab keeps the tour where it is, but visitors who open it, on Explore or on another website, see Tour paused and This tour is not available right now. Please check back later. You and your collaborators still see the tour. To take a tour off Explore, untick Publish to Global Showcase and save.

The tour is published but I cannot find it on Explore

Explore opens with the newest tours first, so a newly listed tour is near the top. If you chose Most viewed in its order list, a new tour can be far down: choose Newest again, type the tour's name in the search box, or pick its category. Load more tours adds the next ones. A hosted tour is not listed on Explore at all unless you also tick Publish to Global Showcase.

The whole Publish tab is gray and says the trial cannot publish

The note reads Publishing is not available on the trial. Create a free account to use it. The tour is in a guest account, made on Create Tour without signing up. A guest tour stays a private draft, and only the Standard design can be downloaded. Click Create a free account: the tour comes with you. See Try it without an account.

Buying a Vault failed

See Buy a Vault before you have a tour and VAT, invoices and refunds.