--- title: "Managing Articles" description: "Write, schedule, and share articles, choose which roles can see each one, and organize them into categories." url: https://support.communitrak.com/en/articles/70-managing-articles collection: "Articles for Leaders" updated: 2026-10-10 language: en --- # Managing Articles Write, schedule, and share articles, choose which roles can see each one, and organize them into categories. Articles is where your community keeps its policies, guidelines, how-tos, and other reference material. This article covers turning Articles on, writing and scheduling an article, choosing who can see it, editing, unpublishing and deleting, and organizing categories. For finding and reading articles, see the article on using Articles. ## **Who can do this** Each part of Articles is its own permission, granted per role: - **Create Article**: can write and publish articles, see and edit their own drafts and unpublished articles, delete their own, and see scheduled articles before they go live. - **Manage Articles**: can edit, delete, and unpublish anyone's article, and sees every article, including drafts, unpublished articles, and articles restricted to other roles. - **Manage Article Categories**: can create and delete categories. Turning the module on or off requires the **Update Community Preferences** permission. Some options may be unavailable or appear differently depending on your level of account access. ## **Turn on Articles** 1. Click **Community** in the main navigation menu. 2. Click the **Preferences** tab. 3. Turn on the **Articles** toggle. Articles then appears in the main navigation menu for everyone in your community. Turning it off hides it again, and your articles are kept. ## **Write an article** 1. Click **Articles** in the main navigation menu. 2. Click **New Article**. On a phone, tap **New**. 3. Enter a **Title**. 4. Optionally enter a **Subheading**. It appears under the title on the article's card and at the top of the article. 5. Choose a **Category**, or leave it at **No Category**. If you have Manage Article Categories, you can click the **+** button next to the dropdown to create a category without leaving the page. 6. Choose a **Status**. New articles start as **Draft**. Choose **Published** when it's ready for residents. 7. If you chose Published, leave **Publish Date** blank to publish as soon as you save, or pick a future date and time to schedule it (see below). 8. Optionally add a **Hero Image**: drag an image onto the upload area or click **Choose Image**. JPG, PNG, GIF, and WebP files up to 10 MB work. Once it uploads, you can add a caption, or click **Remove Image** to start over. 9. Write the article in **Content**. The toolbar has headings, bold, italic, underline, lists, quotes, links, images, and alignment. 10. Under **Article Options**, leave **Show article author** checked to sign the article with your name and photo, or uncheck it to publish without a byline. 11. Under **Article Visibility**, choose who can see it (see below). 12. Click **Save Article**. The article opens once it's saved. Title and Content are required. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/fvORUtfsrexH2DQctGpuKCbjagy4Pj2aXs95L4Vh424OKMHL50KSyioaRTpIFIbCSrN80zFfRrY.png) > **Info:** **Tip:** If your community uses AI features, the sparkle buttons next to Title and Subheading write one from your article's content. Write the content first, and the buttons become available. ### **What each status means** - **Draft**: saved, but residents can't see it. - **Published**: residents can see it, starting on its publish date. - **Unpublished**: hidden from residents but kept, so you can publish it again later. ## **Choose who can see an article** Under **Article Visibility**, choose one: - **Public - visible to all members**: everyone in your community can read it. - **Restricted - only visible to specific roles**: check each role that should see it. Members whose role isn't checked won't see the article in the list, and its link won't open for them. Roles that have Manage Articles are always checked and can't be unchecked. They're marked **(Always visible because of role permissions)**. Once you save, the article's page lists the roles that can see it next to the eye icon. As the author, you can always open your own article, even if you leave your role unchecked. ## **Schedule an article** 1. Set **Status** to **Published**. 2. In **Publish Date**, pick the date and time it should go live. Times are in your community's time zone, which is shown below the field. 3. Click **Save Article**. Until then, the article's card shows **Scheduled** and the date it publishes, and the article's page shows a **Scheduled Article** banner. Only people with Create Article or Manage Articles can see it in the meantime. At the scheduled time, it appears for residents on its own. ## **Share an article** Publishing an article doesn't notify anyone. To let residents know about it, open the article, click **Copy Link**, and post the link on the Bulletin Board or in a message. Anyone who opens it and isn't signed in is asked to sign in first, then taken straight to the article. ## **Edit an article** 1. Open the article. 2. Click **Edit Article**. On a phone, tap the pencil icon. 3. Make your changes. 4. Click **Save Article**. Editing a published article keeps its original publish date and adds an **Updated** date to the article's page. Publishing an Unpublished article again dates it to the day you republish it. ## **Unpublish or delete an article** To take an article down but keep it, edit it, set **Status** to **Unpublished**, and save. To remove it for good: 1. Open the article. 2. Click **Delete**. On a phone, tap the trash icon. 3. Click **Delete** in the confirmation. > **Error:** **Heads up:** Deleting an article can't be undone. If you might need it again, unpublish it instead. ## **Manage categories** 1. On the Articles page, click **Manage Categories**. On a phone, tap **Categories**. 2. Review the list. Each category shows how many articles it holds. 3. To add one, click **New Category**, enter a **Category Name**, and click **Create**. 4. To remove one, click its trash icon. If it holds articles, choose a category under **Move articles to:**, then click **Delete**. Every community starts with two categories marked **Default**, **Announcement** and **Update**. They can't be deleted. Category names must be unique, and there's no rename: to rename a category, create the new one, then delete the old one and move its articles across. ## **Things to know** - Your own drafts and unpublished articles appear in your list, with their status on the card. To see only those, use the **Draft** or **Unpublished** option in the Status filter. People with Manage Articles see everyone's. - You can edit and delete articles you wrote while your role has Create Article. Editing or deleting someone else's takes Manage Articles. - Articles don't have comments. - If your community's account is read-only because of a billing issue, **New Article**, **Edit Article**, and **Delete** are disabled until the account is back in good standing. Residents can still read articles. If you have questions or need help, chat with Communitrak Support from any page using the messenger icon in the bottom-right corner.