Time Slots for Platforms

Stories need to be scheduled for publication to achieve maximum impact.

Kordiam allows you to schedule a story in two ways:

• Assign a story to a time slot, i.e. a range such as "Morning (6:00am - 9:00am)"
• Schedule the precise publication time

This post mainly focuses on the slightly more complex Time Slot feature. 

Publication times can be set by users by clicking on the hour icon to the right of the scheduled publication date. Please note that setting the publication time is not possible if the printing time value set in the admin area is >0 days (since defining a publication time for a printed product does not really make sense).

And remember that you can sort story lists by publication time (slot).

What Is a Time Slot?

A time slot is a time range during which you plan to publish a story, e.g. "6:00am - 9:00am" labelled "Morning".

Many editorial departments define a range of such slots per day, e.g. "Morning", "Noon", "Afternoon" and "Evening".

It relates to the scheduled time, not the actual publication time. If Kordiam is connected to your CMS then scheduling a story for a specific slot is equivalent to scheduling it with the end time of that slot (as defined in the admin area when setting up the slot - see below).

How Do I Define a Time Slot?

Time slots are defined per platform. You can, of course, enter the same time slots for several platforms.

To enter a time slot open a platform for editing on the page Settings >Platforms. You need to have admin rights to access this page.

In the Time Slot section click on Add Time Slot to add one. The widget that opens allows you to enter

• the time slot name,
• the start and
• the end time of the slot.

Please note these restrictions and options when defining a time slot:

• There can be gaps between time slots.
• You cannot enter overlapping time slots.
• The end time can be on the next day (e.g. start time: 10:00pm, end time: 06:00am).

Where Can I Set a Time Slot for a Story?

Once at least one time slot has been defined for a platform you can easily set the slot by clicking on the clock icon to the right of the scheduled publication date.

You will see a list of slots to choose from. Alternatively you can remove the slot or select a specific time instead.

Where do I See the Time Slot Data in Content Lists?

Time slot data is displayed in the story boxes in just about all places where we list stories.

If a story list is sorted by Publication Time then we do not display that information as the list is clearly structured by those time slots.

There are exceptions:

• Stories with a specific publication time (e.g. 8:30pm) will feature that specific time no matter the sorting of the list. However, if that specific time is within the time range of a time slot then the story will be displayed within that time slot.
  Example: Time slot ranges from 7:00pm until 10:00pm. Story is scheduled for 8:30pm. This story is displayed in the time slot.
• Stories with specific times which are outside of all time slots are displayed with the corresponding hour label in the story lists.
  Example: Story scheduled for 1:30am (no time slot covers that time). Story is displayed in the 1:00pm section.
• What if the list contains platforms with multiple and potentially different or overlapping slots?
  • Kordiam displays all slots separately sorted by the slots' end time, with the following exception:
  • Slots with the exact same end time are merged. This allows you to define identical slots for multiple platforms (e.g. "Morning slot" for two websites) and to have a merged view of all stories assigned to those slots.
• Stories in status "Published": As soon as a story is put into this state and the publication time is changed from the scheduled to the actual one, the story appears in the time slot in which it was published.
  Example:
  • Two time slots: "Morning (9:01am - 12:00pm)" and "Noon (12:01pm - 2:00pm)"
  • Story planned for "Morning"
  • Actual publication but at 12:05pm (status is set to "Published")
  • The story is displayed in the slot "Noon".