Managing Drafts

Drafts allow you to save announcements without publishing them immediately. You can edit, review, and publish drafts when ready.

What Are Drafts?

Drafts are unpublished announcements that:

• Are saved to your account

• Can be edited multiple times

• Are not visible to other members

• Can be published at any time

• Remain available until you delete them or publish them

Accessing Your Drafts

1. Tap the menu icon (☰) in the top-left corner

2. Select My Drafts from the drawer menu

3. The drafts screen opens with your unpublished content

💡 Note: The "My Drafts" option only appears if you have announcement or event creation permissions.

Draft Tabs

The drafts screen has three tabs:

• All - Shows both announcement and event drafts

• Announcements - Shows announcement drafts only

• Events - Shows event drafts only

Tap any tab to filter your drafts by type.

Viewing Your Drafts

Each draft card displays:

• Title - The announcement headline

• Content Preview - First few lines of the content

• Creation Date - When you created the draft

• Scope Badge - Shows Grand Chapter, Province, or Chapter level

• Metadata - Expiration date and pin status (if set)

Working with Drafts

Opening a Draft

Tap any draft card to open it in the edit screen.

Editing a Draft

1. Open the draft from the drafts screen

2. Make your changes:

   • Update title or content

   • Add or remove images

   • Attach or remove files

   • Change metadata (pin status, expiration)

3. Tap Save Draft to keep it unpublished

4. Or tap Publish to make it live

Publishing a Draft

To publish a draft and make it visible to members:

Option 1: From the Draft Edit Screen

1. Open the draft

2. Review all content

3. Tap the Publish button at the bottom

4. The draft becomes a published announcement

Option 2: Quick Publish

1. From the drafts list, some interfaces may show a publish button

2. Tap to publish directly

3. Confirm if prompted

Once published:

• The announcement appears in member feeds immediately

• The draft is removed from your drafts list

• Members at the appropriate scope level can view it

• A publishedAt timestamp is set

Deleting a Draft

To permanently remove a draft:

1. Open the draft from the drafts screen

2. Tap the delete icon (trash/bin) in the top-right corner

3. Confirm the deletion

4. The draft is permanently removed

See Deleting Announcements for more information.

Creating New Drafts

To save an announcement as a draft:

1. Create a new announcement (see Creating Announcements)

2. Fill in the required fields (title and content)

3. Optionally add images, files, and metadata

4. Tap Save Draft instead of Publish

5. The announcement saves to your drafts

Draft Organization

Drafts are organized by:

• Creation date - Newest drafts appear first

• Scope type - Filtered by where they'll be published

• Content type - Separated into announcements and events

When to Use Drafts

Drafts are useful when you want to:

• Prepare content in advance - Write announcements before you're ready to publish

• Review before posting - Take time to proofread and refine

• Collaborate - Work on content over multiple sessions

• Schedule mentally - Create now, publish later when timing is right

• Save incomplete work - Come back to finish later

Best Practices

• Regular cleanup - Delete old drafts you no longer need

• Clear naming - Use descriptive titles to easily identify drafts

• Review before publishing - Always double-check content before making it live

• Set reminders - Don't let important drafts sit too long unpublished

• Use drafts for templates - Save common announcement formats as drafts

Draft Limitations

• Drafts are private - Only you can see your drafts

• Not collaborative - Multiple people cannot edit the same draft

• No auto-publish - Drafts must be manually published (no scheduling feature)

• No notifications - Members don't know you have unpublished drafts

Troubleshooting

Can't find my draft

• Check that you're on the correct tab (All, Announcements, or Events)

• Verify the scope level matches where you created the draft

• Ensure you didn't accidentally publish or delete it

Draft won't save

• Check that title and content are not empty

• Verify your internet connection

• Try again in a few moments

Lost changes to a draft

• Always tap Save Draft before leaving the edit screen

• Changes are not automatically saved

• If you navigated away without saving, changes may be lost

Draft disappeared after publishing

This is normal behavior - once published, the draft is removed from your drafts list and becomes a published announcement. You can find it in the main announcements feed.

---

Last updated: October 2025