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Schedule Future Content for Dynamic Sites ​

This recipe explains how to schedule content to be published for a future date depending on your front-end approach.

Author
Bryant Gillespie
Directus Version
9.21.2

Explanation ​

This guide explains how to schedule content to be published on a future date for dynamic sites when using Directus as a Headless CMS.

Scheduling content has fewer steps for a dynamic site. Since you are calling your Directus API at the time that a visitor requests a page from your site, all you need to do is add a filter to your query.

Note

If your site is statically generated and your content fetched at build time, please follow the guide for static sites.

How-To Guide ​

Requirements

You’ll need to have already created a collection for your site content like articles or posts or pages with a field status that controls the published state.

Add a Field To Control Publish Date and Time ​

  1. Under Settings, go to Data Model.

  2. Choose your content Collection.

  3. Add a new field to your content Collection.

    The interface for creating a new field is shown. The field type Datetime is selected. The Key is named date_published. The field for Use 24-Hour format is checked.

    a. Choose Timestamp for the Type.

    b. Name the Key date_published.

    c. Save the Field and your Collection.

Add Some Content and Set a Publish Date ​

  1. Create or update an Item inside your Collection

    A content item within the Articles collection is shown. The title is "What is Headless CMS?". English translations are also shown with a Summary field. The Summary reads "A quick overview of what Headless CMS is and how it's beneficial to your team."

    a. Set the status field to published

    b. Add a date for the date_published field

    c. Add the content for other fields and save the Item

Check the Published Date When Calling the Directus API ​

  • When calling the API, add a filter rule that checks the date_published field.
  • Use the _lte operator to filter for dates that are less than or equal the current date/time.
  • You can use the dynamic variable $NOW to get the current timestamp.

Examples ​

TIP

In these examples, we're using an AND logical operator to only return records that match both conditions. This provides a little more control over your published content by ensuring only articles that have a publish date AND have the published state are displayed on your site.

Using the Directus JavaScript SDK (preferred)

js
// Initialize the SDK.
import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const directus = createDirectus('https://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const articles = await directus.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		filter: {
			_and: [
				{
					status: {
						_eq: 'published',
					},
				},
				{
					date_published: {
						_lte: '$NOW',
					},
				},
			],
		},
	})
);
// Initialize the SDK.
import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const directus = createDirectus('https://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const articles = await directus.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		filter: {
			_and: [
				{
					status: {
						_eq: 'published',
					},
				},
				{
					date_published: {
						_lte: '$NOW',
					},
				},
			],
		},
	})
);

Using the Fetch API (JavaScript)

js
const response = await fetch(
	'https://yourdirectusurl.com/items/articles?' +
		new URLSearchParams({
			filter: {
				_and: [
					{
						status: {
							_eq: 'published',
						},
					},
					{
						date_published: {
							_lte: '$NOW',
						},
					},
				],
			},
		})
);

const articles = await response.json();
const response = await fetch(
	'https://yourdirectusurl.com/items/articles?' +
		new URLSearchParams({
			filter: {
				_and: [
					{
						status: {
							_eq: 'published',
						},
					},
					{
						date_published: {
							_lte: '$NOW',
						},
					},
				],
			},
		})
);

const articles = await response.json();

Final Tips ​

Tips

  • If you're not receiving the data you expect, double-check your filter rule syntax.
  • Also be sure you have enabled the proper permissions for your content Collection.