Question

In the web.config file of a Sitecore instance there is a setting called DefaultPublishingTargets. Here’s an example where it is set to 3 targets:

<!--  PUBLISHING GROUPS
  Pipe separated list of default publishing groups.
  Groups in this list will be preselected in the Publish dialog.
-->
  <setting name="DefaultPublishingTargets" value="target1|target2|target3" />

This pre-selects the above publishing targets in the “publish” dialog when users come to publish an item.

If that item has publishing restrictions at odds with the pre-selected DefaultPublishingTargets setting, then what happens? Does Sitecore ignore or respect the publishing restrictions?

E.g. The item is restricted to only publish to target3, but in the publish dialog, all 3 targets are selected. If I click publish, will the item be published to all 3 targets?

Answer 1

If the item has a publication restriction saying that the item cannot be published to a certain target, then it will not be published to that target, no matter what the selection in the publish dialog says.

Do keep in mind that not checking any target in the publication restriction dialog means that the item can be published to all targets (not that it can be published to none).