The content calendar and the idea backlog

The calendar is the list of dated posts in your saved plan, with each post’s status from not drafted to published. The idea backlog is a strategy’s list of ready ideas that autopilot uses to fill open dates on the calendar.

Where to see the calendar

• Strategy → Calendar shows the open strategy’s posts. Use Subscribe here to add it to your own calendar app.
• Overview → Up next shows the next posts from every active strategy, with their drafts. A past post with no draft is marked Overdue.
• A strategy filter (All strategies or one strategy) narrows a merged view.

The calendar shows the saved plan. Changes you make in the strategist only reach it after you save.

What each status means

Each post carries a status glyph as well as a color:

Status	Meaning
Not drafted	Planned, no draft yet
Drafting	A draft is being written
Needs input	The draft is waiting for your answers
Ready for review	A version waits for a decision
Changes requested	A reviewer asked for changes
Approved	Approved, not yet published
Scheduled	Set to publish at a time
Published	Live at a destination
Missed	Approved, but not published by its date
Failed	The draft failed

A post marked Refresh updates an existing page on your site and keeps its URL.

Change the calendar

• Draft a post, or Draft posts for the next 7, 14 or 28 days. See draft your first post.
• Move a post to a new date or remove it from the post’s menu. Removing a post keeps its draft in the Library, and Undo brings the post back.
• Ask the strategist to add, retitle or reschedule posts, then save.

The idea backlog

Each strategy can keep a backlog of ideas, stored as a system file named backlog.json. When an owner turns on Fill the calendar from each strategy’s idea backlog in Settings → Limits and autopilot, autopilot:

1. Looks at every open slot from today through its days ahead, on the days you picked, at the number of posts per day you set.
2. Gives each open slot the best open idea for that date, using the strategy’s editorial mix.
3. Replaces a post whose draft failed with the next idea.

Under the autopilot switch, the calendar shows the backlog’s state, such as “Backlog: 12 open ideas, 3 used”, the cadence, and the next few ideas. Edit in Documents opens it. Owners find the raw file under Documents → System files.

Ideas come from several places: the strategist’s plan, ideas you or an agent add, and new-idea suggestions you approve from search data. Ideas a person adds in the web app are trusted for auto-approve. Ideas an agent or API key adds are not. See autopilot and auto-approve.

Ideas can carry a deadline (publish by a date), a window when they’re valid, a series and part number, and tags. These decide when an idea goes out, never what the draft says. The full format is in the API documentation.

Subscribe in your calendar app

Any member can add the saved calendar to Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar.

1. On Strategy → Calendar, choose Subscribe.
2. Under Include, pick Every strategy or only this one, and whether to include Published posts.
3. Choose Create feed URL, then copy the URL and add it to your calendar app as a subscription.

Each post becomes an all-day event with its format, strategy, status and a link back to Wavefront. Calendar apps refresh it every few hours.

The URL is personal and works without signing in, so treat it like a password. Regenerate URL replaces it (calendars on the old URL stop updating) and Turn off stops it. When you leave the workspace, your feed stops working.

If something goes wrong

• A post is marked Missed. It was approved but never published. Publish or schedule it from the draft’s Publishing box, or turn on Publish approved posts on their calendar date in autopilot settings.
• A post is Overdue. Its date passed without a draft. Draft it now, move it, or remove it.
• Autopilot isn’t filling the calendar. Check that the strategy is active, that the backlog has open ideas, and that the cadence is set.