Topical event pages

How to create and edit topical event pages.

Create topical event pages

To create topical event pages you need to get approval from the Government Digital Service (GDS). Do not create them without approval.

Topical event pages are made up of 3 sections:

  • details
  • about page
  • features

To create topical event pages:

  1. Select the ‘More’ tab in Whitehall publisher and click on ‘Topical events’.
  2. Click the ‘Create topical event’ button. This will open the ‘Details’ page.

Create topical event details

  1. Complete the ‘Name’ field, including the name and date of the event. Names must be unique and cannot be changed once published. They do not need a full stop. When you save your page this will become its ‘slug’, which users will see as the last section of the page URL.
  2. Complete the ‘Description’ field. Keep it brief and use it to explain what the event is, how the government is involved and what users will find on the page. You can also use it to link to related policies, statements of action or presentations. Use Markdown to format things like headings, bullets and links.
  3. Add a logo if you have one, following the guidance for adding an image.
  4. Complete the ‘Duration’ section. Topical event pages are only relevant for a specific period of time, so you’ll need to set a start date and an end date.
  5. Complete the ‘Social media accounts’ section by selecting any services being used for the event and adding the URL. You can add a maximum of 7.
  6. Click ‘Save’ to publish the topical event.

Create an ‘About’ page

You can include more detail about the topical event in the ‘About’ page.

  1. Click on the ‘About page’ tab.
  2. Click ‘Create new about page’.
  3. Add a name for the ‘About’ page. The name of the topical event page will automatically appear as the ‘About’ page title, so do not repeat this.
  4. Include some ‘Read more link text’, following the guidance for writing link text. The link text will appear below the summary on the main topical event page.
  5. Complete the ‘Summary’ field using a maximum of 140 characters. This must be written as a complete sentence with a full stop.
  6. Complete the ‘Body’ section using Markdown to format things like headings, bullets and links. Common Markdown commands are also listed on the right-hand side of the page.
  7. Click ‘Save’.

Add a document

You cannot add case studies to topical events.

  1. Select the ‘Documents’ tab at the top of Whitehall publisher.

  2. Search for the document you want to add to the topical event page, click ‘View’ next to it and then click ‘Edit draft’ or ‘Create new edition’.

  3. Scroll down to ‘Topical events’ and select your topical event.

  4. Click ‘Save and go to document summary’. Publish the document as normal.

  5. Documents added to the topical event page will automatically appear in the ‘Latest’ feed.

Tag an organisation

  1. Select the ‘More’ tab in Whitehall publisher and click on ‘Organisations’.

  2. Find the organisation you want to tag and click ‘View’ next to it.

  3. Click on the ‘Edit’ button next to the ‘Details’ heading.

  4. Go to ‘Topical events’ and select the topical event from the drop down menu.

  5. Click ‘Save’.

Feature content

You can feature up to 5 pieces of content. Any items you feature must include an image.

Feature content published on GOV.UK

  1. On your topical event page, select the ‘Features’ tab.
  2. Go to the ‘Documents’ tab and search for the document you want to feature using the filters on the left hand side. Only documents tagged to the topical event page will appear in the search - you’ll need to add a topical event association first before you can feature them. 
  3. Click on the ‘Feature’ link next to the document you’d like to feature.
  4. Select a 960 pixels wide and 640 pixels high image to be shown on your topical event page with this feature.

Feature content published on other sites

  1. Select the ‘Features’ tab.
  2. Click on the ‘Non-GOV.UK government links’ tab.
  3. Click on ‘Create new link’.
  4. Complete the title, summary, type and URL fields and click ‘Save’.
  5. Click on the ‘Feature’ link next to the external page you’d like to feature.
  6. Select a 960 pixels wide and 640 pixels high image to be shown on your topical event page with this feature.

Change the order of featured content

You can change the order of featured content. The first piece of content you feature will be the most prominent.

  1. Select the ‘Features’ tab.
  2. Click ‘Reorder documents’ and then drag items up or down in the list.
  3. When you’re done setting the order, click ‘Update order’.

Unfeature content

  1. Click on the ‘Features’ tab.
  2. Click ‘Unfeature’ to remove featured content from your topical events page.