Title: Draft/Slug 404 problem
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Draft/Slug 404 problem

 *  [Lou Tambone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lou-tambone/)
 * (@lou-tambone)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/)
 * I’ve noticed that sometimes when I save something as a draft, WP automatically
   gives the post a slug with a number. Then when I publish that link remains and
   the permalink is not changed to what I have WP set as which is just post name.
   This results in a 404.
 * The temp fix I’m using is just to Edit the post and then remove the slug completely,
   letting WP assign a new one and this works.
 * Wondering why this happens?
 * I have a few staffers who are not that experienced and sometimes they just publish
   and close the browser, leaving the 404 error intact. They don’t know about the
   slug and how it works.
 * Thanks.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782436)
 * It shouldn’t happen. Millions of people are publishing an untold number of Posts
   every day using exactly the same routine without any problems whatsoever. This
   problem appears to be specific to your site.
 * Have you refreshed/updated your permalinks lately?
 *  Thread Starter [Lou Tambone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lou-tambone/)
 * (@lou-tambone)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782437)
 * How do I do that? Thanks!
 *  Thread Starter [Lou Tambone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lou-tambone/)
 * (@lou-tambone)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782439)
 * By the way, when I just make a new post and publish right away (no draft saved)
   it totally works fine.
 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782440)
 * Go to Settings -> Permalinks and click Update.
 *  Thread Starter [Lou Tambone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lou-tambone/)
 * (@lou-tambone)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782445)
 * I don’t see an Update button. Just “Save Changes”
 *  Thread Starter [Lou Tambone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lou-tambone/)
 * (@lou-tambone)
 * [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782447)
 * I hit Save (didn’t change anything) and it gave me the message “Permalink structure
   updated.” Maybe that works.
 * Oh well, just wanted to let people know just in case anyone else had this issue.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

The topic ‘Draft/Slug 404 problem’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [slug](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/slug/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 6 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Lou Tambone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lou-tambone/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/draftslug-404-problem/#post-3782447)
 * Status: not resolved

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