Publishing: news, patch notes and maintenance
Posts players open in your launcher and on your news page: scheduling, audience, translations and patch notes on releases.
Everything you tell your players lives under Publishing in the Studio. Players open your posts in the launcher, and anyone can read the public ones on your news page.
There are three types of post.
| Type | What it is for | In the launcher |
|---|---|---|
| News | Announcements, events, trailers, roadmaps | In the news list; a click opens the article |
| Patch notes | What changed in a version | In the patch notes panel, with a version switcher |
| Maintenance | Planned downtime, with a start and end time | In the news list, marked Maintenance; marked Now while it runs |
The post list#
The Publishing page lists every post with its type, who sees it, what a click opens, its status and its date (in UTC). Use the tabs to show one type, the Game, Channel and Language filters to narrow the list, and the search box to find a post by its title.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Saved, not visible to players |
| Scheduled | Goes live by itself at the time you set |
| Published | Visible in the launcher (and on your news page, if public) |
| Ended | A maintenance window that is over, or a post past its unpublish date |
At the top, Your news page is live shows your public news page's address, with Copy link and View page.
Write a post#
- Choose New post.
- Pick the Type. Maintenance asks for the start and end times, in UTC. Patch notes ask for a Version, and you can pick one of the game's releases so the notes go live with it.
- Write a Title and a Summary (up to 160 characters). The summary shows in the launcher's news list and in link previews when someone shares the post.
- Add a Cover image: PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 5 MB, ideally 1920 × 1080 or larger. If your launcher has key art for the game, Use game key art sets it in one click.
- Write the Body. See Formatting.
- Choose Save draft, Publish now or Schedule.
Writing, publishing and deleting posts need the owner, admin or developer role. Viewers can read posts in the Studio but not change them.
Formatting#
The body is simple text with a formatting toolbar above it. Select some text and choose a tool, or type the marks yourself.
| Tool | What it does | What you can type |
|---|---|---|
| H2, H3 | Heading, subheading | ## Heading |
| B, I | Bold, italic | **bold**, *italic* |
| Link | A link on the selected text | [text](https://…) |
| List, numbered list | One item per line | - item, 1. item |
| Quote | A quoted line | > text |
| Image | Uploads an image and places it on its own line |  |
| Video | A YouTube or Vimeo address on its own line | https://youtu.be/… |
| Button | A button that opens a page | [[Label]](https://…) |
| Divider | A line between sections | --- |
Images in posts are uploaded to your studio; they appear in the launcher and on your news page. Videos play on your news page; in the launcher they show as a card that opens the video in the browser.
Anything else, such as HTML, is shown as plain text and never run. Links and buttons in a post open in the player's browser after the launcher asks them to confirm, showing the address. Buttons and post links need an https:// address.
Preview#
The Preview panel updates as you type. Launcher shows the post in your news list and as an article, in your launcher's accent colour (or Deltaship's until you design your launcher). Web shows it as it appears on your news page.
Schedule, pin and unpublish#
- Publish now makes the post visible at once. Launchers show it the next time they check for news.
- Schedule sets the date and time it goes live, in UTC. The panel also shows that time in your browser's time zone. A scheduled post stays hidden until then; nothing else needs to run.
- Pin to the top keeps the post first in the news list until the end of the date you choose.
- Unpublish on a date hides the post from that time.
- Unpublish now takes a published or scheduled post back to a draft.
Who sees it#
- Games: All games, or one game. A post for one game shows with that game in the launcher; a post for all games shows with every game.
- Channels: tick the channels whose players see the post, for example only Beta players for beta patch notes. With every channel ticked, everyone sees it.
- Languages: a post is written in one main language. Add translations with Add translation above the title: each translation has its own title, summary and body. Players see the translation for their launcher's language when there is one, otherwise the main language. Remove a translation with the × next to its name.
- Show on your news page: when on, the published post is listed on your public news page and anyone with its link can read it. When off, only players in your launcher see it.
When a player clicks it#
- Open the article in the launcher (the default): the post opens in the launcher, in your launcher's look, with a Read on the web link when it is public.
- Open a link in the browser: for a store page, a stream or your forum. Enter an
https://address; the launcher asks the player to confirm before opening it.
Share link#
Every post has its own address on your news page, shown under Share link with a Copy button. It works once the post is published and Show on your news page is on. Sharing it shows the title, summary and cover image in link previews.
Patch notes on a release#
The best place to write patch notes is the release itself.
- Open Games & releases, the game, then Write notes next to a release (or Write patch notes on the Publishing page for the newest release).
- Add an optional Headline. Without one, the notes are titled with the game name and version.
- Add items under New, Changes, Fixes and Known issues. Press Enter in an item to add the next one; use the arrows to reorder items and sections, and × to remove one. Add a section adds your own, such as Balance.
- Choose Save notes.
Options for when the release goes live:
- Publish these patch notes: the notes go live at the same moment as the release, never before.
- List them in the news feed: they also appear in the launcher's news and on your news page.
- Show "What's new" after the update: once per player, the launcher shows the highlights the first time they open the game after updating. The panel shows a preview.
If the release is already published when you save its notes, the page offers Publish now so players see them straight away. Earlier versions lists the releases before it on the same channel, with links to their notes.
To translate release notes or give them a cover image, open them from the Publishing list (or Translate, cover and more on the release's notes page) and edit them like any post.
Your public news page#
Your studio has a public news page: your player portal's address followed by /news, or on your own domain if you have set one up (see Players and the player portal). It lists your published, public posts in your launcher's colours, newest first, and each post has its own page. No sign-in is needed, and drafts, scheduled posts and maintenance alerts before their time never appear there.