Scheduling the Publishing of Pages

SharePoint 2016 has the ability to schedule Page Publishing to allow for timed page updates or page launches. There are a few settings we need to enable to allow for this feature. They are:

• Enabling Major and Minor Versions
  • This is enabled by default on most sites, but we will walk you through enabling it below
  • This allows for draft versions (minor) and published version (major)
• Adding Content Approval
  
  • This is disabled by default on most sites and we will walk you through the steps to enable it below
  • This allows for an approval workflow on all changes within the site, meaning that all changes must be approved by an user with the appropriate permissions level before being published

Enable Major and Minor Versions & Content Approval

1. To begin this process, navigate to the subsite that includes the page you would like to schedule to be published.
2. Log into the authoring version of the site. A production authoring URL should start with ‘www-auth’ or if it is a staging site it will start with ‘stage-auth. Examples:
   • https://www-auth.oregon.gov/odhs/pages/default.aspx
   • https://stage-auth.oregon.gov/v4x/Pages/client-side.aspx
3. Once logged in, click the gear in the upper right-hand corner and choose Site Contents. 
4. 
5. Here you will see the Lists and Libraries on that subsite. Each subsite has its own Library called Pages. Open that Library.
6. Using the SharePoint ribbon at the top, go to Library and choose Library Settings.
7. 
8. Under General Settings choose ‘Versioning scheduling.’
9. Change the question ‘Require content approval for submitted items?’ to ‘Yes’.
10. Change the ‘Create a version each time you edit a file in this document library?’ to ‘Create major and minor (draft) versions Example: 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 2.0’
11. Click OK at the bottom of the screen.
12. This should now route you back to the Pages Libraries Settings page and we can enable Page Scheduling.

Enable Page Scheduling

1. While on the Pages Libraries Settings Page (follow steps 1-6 here if you need assistance getting to this page), under General Settings choose ‘Manage item scheduling.’
2. On this page go ahead and check the ‘Enable scheduling of items in this list’ checkbox. Then click OK.
3. If you see red text that reads ‘This list does not currently support scheduling. It must first have major and minor (draft) versions enabled, and content approval must be enabled.’ Find the steps to enable those here.

Add Scheduling to a Specific Page

1. Navigate to the page you would like to schedule to be published.
2. Make the changes to the page that you wish to be published.
3. Using the SharePoint ribbon choose Format Text and click Save. This will save the changes you have made.
4. The using the SharePoint ribbon choose Check in.
5. A Check In modal will open, add a comment if you want and choose Continue. This will allow your changes to be seen by anyone with access to the authoring environment. No visitors without login access to the site will see these changes.
6. When ready choose Publish in the SharePoint ribbon at the top of the screen, then choose Schedule.
7. A modal will open that allows you to specify a Start Date and an End Date of when it should be published as well as a few other options. Click OK when finished. These changes will need to be approved, and the end date allows you to set the date for approval cutoff.
8. 

Submit Edits for Approval  

After saving and scheduling the updates, we need to ask for the changes to be approved.

1. Starting on the page that contains the edits, using the SharePoint ribbon choose Publish, click the little down arrow below Submit and choose Submit out of the dropdown. Add a comment if you wish and click Continue in the modal.
2. 
3. If you have the correct permission level to publish, you can choose Publish in the SharePoint ribbon and then choose Approve, add a comment if needed and choose Continue on the modal.
4. If you do not have the right permissions, someone with the right permissions should be notified to Approve or Reject these changes. When they approve the update will be scheduled.