You must meet minimum publishing requirements before you can publish your profile.
Open the Publishing checklist at the top of the builder — it names exactly which condition is unmet.
Six things must be true: one role with two or more private fields, three Strong skills and one skill marked "Still developing", an elevator pitch of at least 100 characters, at least one acknowledged gap, your name on the Basics tab, and a quality score of 50% or above. The two that hold people up most often are the still-developing skill and the pitch length.
Detail
| Check | Passes when |
|---|---|
| Experience depth | At least 1 role with a company name, a job title and 2 or more private-context fields |
| Skills breadth | At least 3 Strong skills and at least 1 skill marked "Still developing" |
| Professional narrative | Elevator pitch of at least 100 characters |
| Acknowledged gaps | At least 1 gap or weakness entry |
| Your name | Your full name filled in on the Basics tab |
| Minimum score | Quality score of 50% or above |
What each row of the checklist says
Click Publishing checklist in the status bar, next to the Publish profile button. A panel headed "Publishing requirements" opens with six rows, always in the order below. Each row shows a ✓ or a ✗, the name of the check, and one line of text under it. That line changes as you edit. In the table, N stands for a number the checklist fills in from your profile.
| Row | Text when it passes (✓) | Text when it fails (✗) |
|---|---|---|
| Experience depth | "N role(s) with deep context" | "Open one role on the Experience tab and fill 2+ private context fields (why you joined, what you achieved, etc.) — a résumé never carries these" |
| Skills breadth | "N strong skills, N still developing" | "Need N more strong skill(s) on the Skills tab", "Need 1 skill marked "still developing" on the Skills tab", or both in one line (see below) |
| Professional narrative | "Elevator pitch is detailed enough" | "Elevator pitch needs N more characters" |
| Acknowledged gaps | "N gap(s) or limitation(s) acknowledged" | "Add at least 1 gap or limitation on the Gaps tab — honesty builds trust" |
| Your name | "Your name is on your profile" | "Add your name on the Basics tab — it heads your public page" |
| Minimum score | "Score is N% — meets the 50% minimum" | "Score is N% — need at least 50% to publish" |
Three things about the wording are worth knowing:
- The Skills line names only what is missing. With three Strong skills and none marked "Still developing", it reads "Need 1 skill marked "still developing" on the Skills tab". With one Strong skill and a still-developing skill already in place, it reads "Need 2 more strong skill(s) on the Skills tab". With one Strong skill and none still developing, one line names both: "Need 2 more strong skill(s) and 1 skill marked "still developing" on the Skills tab".
- The pitch line counts down. A 60-character pitch reads "Elevator pitch needs 40 more characters". Spaces at the very start and end of the pitch are not counted.
- A name made only of spaces is empty. The Your name row stays ✗ until the Full name field on the Basics tab holds real text. The check runs when you click Publish, so a profile that is already published stays live. Your name also still earns quality points, as before.
While any row shows a ✗, the Publish profile button is dimmed, and hovering over it shows "Complete all required sections to publish". That hover text does not say which row is unmet. The checklist does. To close the panel, click Hide checklist.
A card you added but never filled in passes nothing. A new role, skill or gap card counts toward a check only once you have typed over its starting text.
Your score can rise while Experience depth still fails
The quality score and the Experience depth check count private fields differently:
- For the score, a role counts once it has a company name, a job title and one private field filled.
- For the Experience depth check, at least one role needs a company name, a job title and two or more private fields filled.
So three roles with one private field each earn the full Experience points, and the Experience depth row still shows a ✗. If your score is climbing and Publish is still disabled, check this row first. The fix is a second private field on any one role. Any two of the eleven private fields count, and no field counts more than another. The Tab 3 — Experience guide covers the fields one by one.
The traps, in the order people hit them:
- No skill marked "Still developing". If your skills came from an import, check the levels it proposed: Moderate skills count for nothing here. You need three in the Strong column and at least one in the "Still developing" column.
- The pitch is short. 100 characters is roughly two sentences. The counter is on the field.
- Private fields on the wrong role. The check wants two or more private fields on a single role, not two spread across two roles.
- Skills confusion. A skill marked "Still developing" in the Skills matrix is not the same thing as an entry on the Gaps tab. Both checks exist and are satisfied separately.
The minimum score of 50% is listed as its own row in the same checklist.
💡Follow our step-by-step Quick-Start User Guide to learn how to set up your profile quickly and easily.
Related
- What is a "still developing" skill, and why does Profiled require at least one?
- How does the quality score work?
- How long until I can publish?
Last verified: 2026-10-21