Prepare and publish a changelog entry

You can create a changelog entry in two ways: mark a product change and turn it into a draft, or write one manually from scratch. Either way, you edit and publish the draft the same way. You need permission to edit the changelog, and the entry has to belong to a Help Center. Without edit rights, you see entries read-only, with no "Save", "Publish", or "Discard".

Method A: Mark a product change for the changelog

1. Open the change
   Open "Changes" and open the change you want to announce from any of the views. The change's action bar sits at the bottom of its detail pane.

2. Click the megaphone
   The first button in the action bar is a round button with a megaphone icon. When you hover it on an unmarked change, it reads "Add to the changelog." Click it to create a draft entry for that change's Help Center. The button spins while the mark saves, then stays pressed with a small check badge. You can't use it while the change is busy with another action.

   If you clicked by mistake, click the megaphone again while the change is the only source in the draft. This removes the mark.

Write the entry

3. Open the entry
   Open the draft in one of two ways:

   • Click the megaphone again on a change that's already marked.
   • Click "Changelog" in the left column of "Changes" and pick the entry from the "Drafts" shelf. If the list says "Select a Help Center to view its changelog," pick a Help Center in the filter first.

   The entry opens as a card with an action bar below it. If the card shows "Writing the customer text…", wait. You can't edit the fields until the text is written.

4. Choose a category and format
   Select the category that describes what changed for the reader from the row of choices at the top of the card. On the right of that row, pick a format. Hover each format option to see what it's for. Category and format apply to the whole entry, not to individual languages.

5. Write the heading and body
   Type the title readers will see into "Heading." Write the entry's text in "Body" (placeholder: "What changed for the reader."). The body is a Markdown editor with basic formatting such as bold, italic, and small headings. You can't publish until both fields are filled. Until then, the action bar says "Needs a heading and a body."

6. Set the feed date
   The "Feed date" block decides which day the entry is listed under. By default, that's the day of the change ("Listed under , the day of the change"). To change it, click one of these:

   • "Use the publish day"
   • "Pick a day": opens a date field so you can backdate the entry or group several entries under one day
   • "Use the day of the change": switches back to the default

   A backdated entry appears under its chosen day, so it may not show up at the top of the changelog.

7. Review the sources
   Check the "Sources" section below the card. It links to the change the text was written from. If a source has moved on, you'll see a warning next to it, such as "Source changed since the text was written." You can open the change from there to compare.

8. Save the draft
   Once you've made edits, the action bar shows "Unsaved edits" and the primary button becomes "Save" ("Keeps the draft. Nothing reaches readers."). Click "Save." The state changes to "Draft, not published" and the primary button turns into "Publish." If saving fails, a "Saving failed" toast explains why.

   To drop your edits instead, click "Discard" and confirm "Discard unsaved edits?". If you leave the page with unsaved edits, you'll get the same question with "Discard and leave" and "Keep editing."

Publish the entry

9. Click Publish
   Click "Publish." Readers then see the entry, and every other language is translated in the background. If any sources have warnings, a "Publish with warnings?" dialog lists them first. Click "Publish" to confirm.

   After publishing, the state reads "Published" with the time, and the entry moves from "Drafts" to "Published" in the Changelog list. If someone changed the entry elsewhere after you opened it, publishing fails with a "Publishing failed" toast. Reload the entry to get the latest copy, then try again.

Published entries appear on the Help Center's changelog tab only when the Help Center's changelog add-on is on. If it's off, the Changelog list shows "Readers can't see this changelog yet" with a "Turn it on in Add-ons" link. Your entry is saved and published, but readers won't see it until the add-on is turned on.