Scheduling topics for future publication

:bookmark: This guide explains how to use topic timers to schedule a topic for future publication in Discourse.

:person_raising_hand: Required user level: Trust level 4 users or Staff (Admin/Moderator)

Discourse allows you to create topics and schedule them for publication at a later date using topic timers. This feature is available to staff (admins and moderators) as well as trust level 4 users.

To schedule a topic for future publication:

  1. Create a new topic in a private category
  2. Set a topic timer for publishing
  3. Choose the publication time and destination category

Creating a topic for future publication

Create a new topic in a private category

  1. Click the “New Topic” button at the top of your forum.
    New Topic button

  2. Add a title for your topic.

  3. Select a private category (e.g., “Staff”) to temporarily publish the topic. You may want to create a new private category called “Scheduled Topics” for this purpose.

  4. Write the content of your topic.

  5. Click “Create Topic”.

Set the topic timer for future publication

  1. Click the :wrench: wrench icon next to the first post of the topic.

  2. Select “Set Topic Timer…”.

  3. From the dropdown menu, choose “Schedule Publishing”.

  4. Set the publication time and select the destination category.

  5. Click the “Set Timer” button.

Reviewing and managing the scheduled publication

After setting the topic timer, you’ll see a new section at the bottom of the topic showing when and where it will be published:

Verify that the publication time and destination category are correct. You can edit or delete the timer using the :pencil2: (edit) and :wastebasket: (delete) buttons.

:information_source: When the scheduled topic is published, its timestamp will be updated to reflect the publication time.

Best practices

  • Use a dedicated private category for storing scheduled topics to keep them organized and easily accessible.
  • Double-check the publication time and destination category before setting the timer to avoid accidental early publications.
  • Regularly review your scheduled topics to ensure they’re still relevant and up-to-date before their publication date.

FAQs

Q: Can I edit the topic content after setting a publication timer?
A: Yes, you can edit the topic content at any time before it’s published.

Q: What happens if I delete the topic timer?
A: If you delete the topic timer, the topic will remain in its current private category and won’t be automatically published.

Q: Can regular users see topics scheduled for future publication?
A: No, only users with access to the private category where the topic is initially created can see it before publication.

Last edited by @JammyDodger 2024-07-31T08:14:36Z

Last checked by @hugh 2024-07-31T05:58:46Z

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77 Likes

qq, what is the ‘relative’ time within the ‘Custom date and time’ - I’m unsure what to select for this? Is it the amount of time until you want it to post?

3 Likes

Yes, it is “Relative time to now”. So setting it to 2 hours would mean “Your topic would be posted in 2 hours”.


The same type of topic timer is also used in closing topics, example:

2 Likes

How are notifications working with scheduled topics at the moment?

The last time I tried it, I noticed that notifications were not triggered (at least not Watching First Post) when the topic is published.

4 Likes

I didn’t realise scheduling broke notifications! :scream: this is really problematic as scheduling is specifically to notify users of something time sensitive - and the notifications failing breaks the key reason to schedule.

Another issue is managing scheduled posts - is there a view? (or do I need to create a private category for scheduling posts?)

Finally, is there a way of templating scheduled posts to have specific tags and post body?

2 Likes

I just tried it at a category where the my test user is watching first posts and a notification appeared.
Maybe the disable category edit notifications setting is enabled? That often causes missing notifications.

3 Likes

Ah - I do have that disabled after getting burned when moving some topics around a while back.

Perhaps I should have turned it back on! This is very good to know - thank you!

2 Likes

I’ve checked - it is not enabled - but notifications fail.

Scheduled publishing also fails to trigger notification for discord integration.

1 Like