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How to publish on GOV.UK

From:
Government Digital Service
Published
23 February 2016
Updated:
24 April 2026 - See all updates

Topical event pages

How to create and edit topical event pages.

If you’re editing a topical event page that was published before 24 April 2026, read the section ‘Editing old topical event pages’ further down this page to find out how to make changes.

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.

To create topical event pages:

  1. Go to Whitehall Publisher.
  2. Select the ‘New document’ tab.
  3. Select ‘Topical event’ and then select the ‘Next’ button.

You’ll need to add the title, summary and body before you can save your draft. Once you’ve saved it, you’ll be able to add social media accounts, images and featured content. 

Add or edit the title, summary and body

Title

Use the name of the event and, if relevant, the year (for example ‘D5 London 2014’) and state if it’s a government response to a crisis or event (for example ‘Ebola virus: UK government response’).

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.

Summary

Give a summary of the topical event. Write it as a complete sentence with a full stop.

Body

Keep the description short and use it to briefly explain:

  • what the event is
  • how the government is involved
  • what users will find on the page

You can also use it to link to related policies, statements of action or presentations. 

Do not repeat the title or summary.

Tag organisations

Your own organisation will be set as a lead organisation as default, but you can change that or add any other organisations if they’re responsible for the content.

Lead organisations will be listed on the topical event page in the order you add them in the draft. Supporting organisations will be shown in alphabetical order.

Update settings of the draft

Under the ‘Settings’ heading, you can select:

  • ‘Limit access’ if your draft is sensitive - only users from organisations tagged to the content can see it before it’s published and it will not be copied across to Integration
  • ‘Schedule publication’, if you want the draft published at a certain time and date
  • ‘Review date’, if you want to get an email asking you to check the content at a later date after you’ve published it

Add or edit social media accounts

You can add and remove social media accounts in the ‘Social media accounts’ tab. 

To an add account, select the ‘Add a social media account’ button and choose the channel type and add the URL. To remove an account, select the ‘delete’ button next to the account you want to remove.

Add or edit images

You can add a:

  • header image - this will show at the top of the page, next to the title and summary text
  • event logo - this will show next to the description text

To add an image:

  1. Select the ‘Images’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Add’ in the header image or event logo box.
  3. Choose your file and select ‘Upload’. If you’re going to use more than one image, make sure they all have a different file name.
  4. If it’s a header image, you can add a caption or image credit on the next screen. Leave it blank if you do not need to. Select ‘Save’ when you’re done.

If the image requires cropping, it will say this when you go back to the ‘Images’ tab. Select ‘Edit’ to crop the image.

To edit the caption on header images, select ‘Edit’. 

Add a document

  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, select ‘View’ next to it and then select ‘Edit draft’ or ‘Create new edition’.
  3. Scroll down to ‘Topical events’ and select your topical event.
  4. Select ‘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.

You cannot add case studies to topical events.

Once you’ve added a document you can also use it as featured content.

Feature content

You can feature up to 6 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 ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Go to the ‘GOV.UK content’ 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. Follow the instructions in the ‘Add a document’ section of this page to tag content to the topical event.
  3. Select 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 ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select the ‘External websites’ tab.
  3. Select ‘Add an external link’.
  4. Complete the title, summary, type and URL fields and select ‘Save’.
  5. Select 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 ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Reorder pages’ and then drag items up or down in the list.
  3. When you’re done setting the order, select ‘Update order’.

Unfeature content

  1. Select the ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Unfeature’ to remove featured content from your topical events page.

Editing old topical event pages

If you’re editing a topical event page created before 24 April 2026, the process is different to creating and editing new topical event pages.  

To find the topical event page:

  1. Select the ‘More’ tab in Whitehall publisher and select ‘Topical events’.
  2. Search for the title in the ‘Filter topical events’ bar and select ‘View’ next to the relevant page.

Edit topical event details

On the ‘Details’ tab, select ‘Edit’. You can then change the summary or description fields, replace the image or edit the social media accounts. Select ‘Save’ when you’re finished. 

Add or edit the about page

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

  1. Select the ‘About page’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Create new about page’ to add a page, or ‘Edit’ if there’s an existing 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. Select ‘Save’.

Tag an organisation

  1. Select the ‘More’ tab in Whitehall publisher and select ‘Organisations’.
  2. Find the organisation you want to tag and select ‘View’ next to it.
  3. Select the ‘Edit’ button next to the ‘Details’ heading.
  4. Go to ‘Topical events’ and select the topical event from the drop down menu.
  5. Select ‘Save’.

Add a document

  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, select ‘View’ next to it and then select ‘Edit draft’ or ‘Create new edition’.
  3. Scroll down to ‘Topical events’ and select your topical event.
  4. Select ‘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.

You cannot add case studies to topical events.

Once you’ve added a document you can also use it as featured content. 

Edit featured content

You can feature up to 6 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 ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Go to the ‘GOV.UK content’ 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. Follow the instructions in the ‘Add a document’ section to tag content to the topical event.
  3. Select 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 ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select the ‘External websites’ tab.
  3. Select ‘Add an external link’.
  4. Complete the title, summary, type and URL fields and select ‘Save’.
  5. Select 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 ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Reorder pages’ and then drag items up or down in the list.
  3. When you’re done setting the order, select ‘Update order’.

Unfeature content

  1. Select the ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Unfeature’ to remove featured content from your topical events page.