diff --git a/panel/io/handlers.py b/panel/io/handlers.py
index 52e408b171..f4c3a0551b 100644
--- a/panel/io/handlers.py
+++ b/panel/io/handlers.py
@@ -533,7 +533,10 @@ def _render_template(self, doc, path):
 
         layouts, outputs, cells = {}, {}, {}
         for cell_id, out in state._cell_outputs.items():
-            spec = state._cell_layouts[self].get(cell_id, {})
+            if cell_id in self._layout.get('cells', {}):
+                spec = self._layout['cells'][cell_id]
+            else:
+                spec = state._cell_layouts[self].get(cell_id, {})
             if 'width' in spec and 'height' in spec:
                 sizing_mode = 'stretch_both'
             else:
@@ -545,15 +548,19 @@ def _render_template(self, doc, path):
             for po in pout:
                 po.sizing_mode = sizing_mode
             outputs[cell_id] = pout
-            layouts[id(pout)] = state._cell_layouts[self][cell_id]
+            layouts[id(pout)] = spec
             cells[cell_id] = id(pout)
             pout.servable()
 
         # Reorder outputs based on notebook metadata
         import nbformat
         nb = nbformat.read(self._runner._path, nbformat.NO_CONVERT)
+        if 'order' in self._layout:
+            cell_order = self._layout['order']
+        else:
+            cell_order = nb['metadata'].get('panel-cell-order', [])
         ordered = {}
-        for cell_id in nb['metadata'].get('panel-cell-order', []):
+        for cell_id in cell_order:
             if cell_id not in cells:
                 continue
             obj_id = cells[cell_id]
@@ -568,7 +575,10 @@ def _render_template(self, doc, path):
                     ordered[obj_id] = spec
 
         # Set up state
-        state.template.layout = ordered
+        state.template.param.update(
+            layout=ordered,
+            local_save=not bool(state._jupyter_kernel_context)
+        )
         if persist:
             state.template.param.watch(self._update_position_metadata, 'layout')
         state._session_outputs[doc] = outputs
diff --git a/panel/pane/vega.py b/panel/pane/vega.py
index 09dff84804..6afbccd905 100644
--- a/panel/pane/vega.py
+++ b/panel/pane/vega.py
@@ -264,6 +264,16 @@ def _get_properties(self, doc, sources={}):
         data = props['data']
         if data is not None:
             sources = self._get_sources(data, sources)
+        if self.sizing_mode:
+            if 'both' in self.sizing_mode:
+                if 'width' in data:
+                    data['width'] = 'container'
+                if 'height' in data:
+                    data['height'] = 'container'
+            elif 'width' in self.sizing_mode and 'width' in data:
+                data['width'] = 'container'
+            elif 'height' in self.sizing_mode and 'height' in data:
+                data['height'] = 'container'
         dimensions = _get_dimensions(data, props) if data else {}
         props['data'] = data
         props['data_sources'] = sources
diff --git a/panel/template/editable/__init__.py b/panel/template/editable/__init__.py
index 78d3d840f8..d410870af2 100644
--- a/panel/template/editable/__init__.py
+++ b/panel/template/editable/__init__.py
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ class EditableTemplate(VanillaTemplate):
       The layout definition of the template indexed by the id of
       each component in the main area.""")
 
+    local_save = param.Boolean(default=True, doc="""
+      Whether to enable saving to local storage.""")
+
     _css = [
         pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent / 'vanilla' / "vanilla.css",
         pathlib.Path(__file__).parent / 'editable.css'
@@ -106,6 +109,7 @@ def _update_vars(self):
         }
         self._render_variables['muuri_layout'] = list(layout.values())
         self._render_variables['editable'] = self.editable
+        self._render_variables['local_save'] = self.local_save
         super()._update_vars()
 
     def _init_doc(
diff --git a/panel/template/editable/editable.html b/panel/template/editable/editable.html
index 7f4dbc1a8f..f7776a8827 100644
--- a/panel/template/editable/editable.html
+++ b/panel/template/editable/editable.html
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 {% if editable %}
 <div id="header-indicators">
   <div id="grid-reset" class="header-icon"></div>
+  {% if local_save %}
   <div id="grid-save" class="header-icon"></div>
+  {% endif %}
   {% if busy %}
   <div class="pn-busy-container">
     {{ embed(roots.busy_indicator) | indent(6) }}
@@ -123,7 +125,11 @@
     }
     width = Math.min(100, width);
     item.style.width = `calc( ${width}% - 30px)`;
-    item.style.height = `${height}px`;
+    if (height == null) {
+      item.style.height = "";
+    } else {
+      item.style.height = `${height}px`;
+    }
     if (notify) {
       grid.refreshItems()
       grid.layout()
@@ -195,7 +201,7 @@
       const el = item.getElement();
       const margin = item.getMargin();
       const height = item.isVisible() ? item.getHeight() : 100;
-      resize_item(el, 100, height-margin.top, false);
+      resize_item(el, 100, Math.max(height-margin.top, 50), false);
     }
     grid.refreshItems();
     grid.show(items, {layout: false});
@@ -222,11 +228,13 @@
     }
   }
 
+  {% if local_save %}
   const save_button = document.getElementById("grid-save")
   save_button.addEventListener("click", function() {
     const layout = export_layout()
     saveToLS('grid-layout', layout)
   })
+  {% endif %}
 
   window.resizeableGrid = interact('.muuri-grid-item')
   .resizable({
@@ -241,11 +249,14 @@
 	const height = event.rect.height-top-bottom;
 	event.target.style.zIndex = 100;
 	resize_item(event.target, width, height, false);
+	grid.refreshItems()
+	grid.layout()
       },
       end (event) {
 	event.target.style.removeProperty('z-index')
 	grid.refreshItems()
 	grid.layout()
+	window.dispatchEvent(new Event('resize'));
       }
     },
     modifiers: [