> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tixfix.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Publish a seat map

> Validate your map, review the ticket count change, and put it on sale, then edit it safely once seats have sold

Publishing turns your drawing into inventory. TixFix checks the map, generates one sellable seat for every seat you drew, and shows buyers the result. Until you publish, buyers see nothing, and you can draw, delete, and redraw freely.

<Note>
  Publishing the **map** is separate from publishing the **event**. The map only sells once the event itself is live. See [Publish and visibility](/events/publish-and-visibility).
</Note>

***

## Validate and publish

<Steps>
  <Step title="Let your changes save">
    `Validate & publish` is disabled while edits are unsaved and while the map has no sections. Wait for the `Saving changes…` or `Unsaved changes` line under the buttons to clear, or click `Save` in the toolbar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Validate & publish">
    The **Publish seat map** dialog opens and checks the map automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fix anything it flags">
    If there are problems, the dialog lists them in red and `Publish` stays disabled. Close the dialog, fix them on the canvas, and open it again. See [What blocks a publish](#what-blocks-a-publish).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the ticket count change">
    A clean map shows a table with `Category`, `Before`, and `After`. Rows that change are in bold.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tick the confirmation and click Publish">
    Tick **I understand ticket counts will be replaced by the seat map**. `Publish` turns on. A `Seat map published.` message confirms it is live.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Read the ticket count table

Publishing replaces each seated category's ticket count with the number of seats the map draws for it. The table is your chance to check that before it happens.

| Category | Before | After |
| - | - | - |
| **General Admission** | 1000 | 110 |
| **VIP** | 50 | 40 |

`Before` is the quantity you typed when you created the category. `After` is the number of seats on the map assigned to it, not counting blocked seats. If a number looks wrong, cancel and check which category each section is assigned to.

After publishing, TixFix keeps each category's available count in step with the map. Every sale, release, and full refund updates it, so your [sales reports](/reporting/sales-reports) keep working for seated events.

***

## What blocks a publish

Validation refuses a map that cannot be sold. Each problem names the section or category it is about.

| Message | Fix |
| - | - |
| `Add at least one section before publishing` | Draw at least one seat row, table, or standing area. |
| `Section "…" has no ticket category` | Open the section and choose a `Ticket category`. `Unpriced` cannot be published. |
| `Section "…" has no seats` | Give it at least one row and seat, a table seat, or a capacity. |
| `More than one section is called "…"` | Rename one of them. |
| `Ticket category "…" is not mapped to any section` | Assign that category to a section, or delete the category. Every category on a seated event must appear on the map. |
| `A seat map may hold at most 5000 seats; this one would hold …` | Shrink a section or remove one. |
| `These sold or held seats are missing from the new map: …` | You are republishing a live map and have removed a seat someone owns. Put those seats back. |

Markers never appear in this list. A map with no stage, no entrances, and no labels publishes fine.

***

## Edit a live map

You can change a published map at any time. Open the event, go to the seat map step, and edit as normal.

* **Your edits are a draft.** The map buyers see does not change until you publish again. Each publish creates a new version and retires the previous one.
* **Buyers pick up the new map within a few minutes.** Published maps are cached for up to five minutes, so someone with the picker already open may see the previous version briefly.
* **Existing seats keep their state.** Publishing matches each seat by its section, row, and seat number. A seat that was sold stays sold, and a seat someone is holding stays held. Renaming or moving a section keeps its seats. Deleting a section and drawing a new one with the same name does not: the new section is treated as different seats.
* **Seats you removed are deleted only if nobody has a claim on them.** If a seat is claimed at the moment you publish, it is kept and the dialog reports how many could not be removed.

<Warning>
  You cannot remove a section, or shrink it below a seat that has been sold or is being held. The publish is refused and the message lists the affected seats. To free a seat that is already sold, [release it](/seating/manage-seated-events#release-a-seat) first.
</Warning>

***

## Turning reserved seating off

You can switch `Enable Reserved Seating` off on step 2 only while no seat has been sold. Once any seat is sold, the switch is refused with `Seating cannot be disabled while seats are sold`.

The card on step 2 warns you when the event already has a published map.

***

## Next step

See what buyers experience in [How buyers choose seats](/seating/how-buyers-choose-seats), or skip to [managing a seated event](/seating/manage-seated-events) once sales start.