The editor
Write Docs, Updates, and Course lessons in one shared editor. Changes save as drafts; publishing makes them visible to readers. The save status tells you when your work is stored and when it still needs attention.
Open an item to edit
Contributors and Administrators can create and edit content, including other authors’ drafts. In Account menu, open Manage content or Manage organization, then Content. Select Doc, Update, or Course to create an item, or open an existing item to revise it.
The title identifies the item. In Details, use Short description for its summary, up to 300 characters. Other details depend on the content type: a Docs section, an Update audience, or Course information. Docs, Updates, and Build a course explain those choices.
Write and format content
Use Commands to insert a block or change its format. You can also type / in an empty paragraph to open the command menu. Select text to open the formatting controls for bold, italic, inline code, and links.
Choose a block for the job it does:
| Block | Use |
|---|---|
| Headings | Organize sections |
| Bulleted list | Group related items |
| Numbered list | Order steps |
| Callout | Highlight a short note |
| Table | Compare compact values |
| Code block | Preserve copyable code |
| Image or video | Explain visually |
| Divider | Separate distinct material |
The title already provides the page’s main heading. Use Heading 2 and Heading 3 for the body’s main sections and subsections; these appear in a doc’s page outline.
For a link, select the relevant words and choose Link, then enter the destination. Select an existing link to edit its URL, copy it, or remove the link. Use descriptive words so readers know where it leads.
Tables have controls for changing their rows and columns. Keep cells short: the reader can scroll a wide table horizontally, but a paragraph in every cell makes it difficult to use. Images and video covers media insertion, replacement, and accessible alternatives.
Undo and Redo apply to edits in the writing area. On larger screens, Focus mode gives the writing area more room; use Exit focus to return to the surrounding controls.
Know what is saved and what is live
The editor shows saving and publication as separate states:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Saving… | A draft save is underway |
| Saved | Your draft is stored |
| Draft | No published copy exists |
| Published | Readers have a live copy |
| Unpublished edits | The draft differs from live |
| Changes not saved | Recovery is needed |
Autosave does not publish. If you edit an already published item, readers continue to see its last published copy while you work.
Before leaving the editor, wait for uploads and saving to finish. If Fieldbook warns about unsaved changes, staying on the page gives you the opportunity to save or download them.
Publish and revise
- Open Details and check Before publishing. Select any listed requirement to reach the part that needs attention.
- Review the title, short description, body, and content-specific details. Confirm media has finished uploading.
- Select Publish.
- Open the item from its reader area and check the result: text, headings, links, and media.
Published edits replace the live copy. Course versions and Update feed position are deliberate choices, covered in Revise a published course and Updates.
To withdraw content, use Unpublish from the item’s actions in Content and review the confirmation. The item returns to draft and leaves the published library. Unpublishing is different from deleting it.
Recover changes that did not save
When a save fails, your open changes remain in the editor. The recovery controls give you three choices:
- Retry saving checks the latest saved state and tries to save when it can do so safely. If another session changed the item, Fieldbook asks you to reconcile the work instead of overwriting it.
- Download your changes saves a JSON copy of the open item. Keep this copy before replacing your work or closing a page with unsaved changes. It is a recovery file, not a promise of automatic re-import.
- Load saved draft retrieves the latest saved item. Replacing different open changes requires confirmation and discards those open changes.
If the visual editor cannot safely open some formatting, Fieldbook preserves the original Markdown in a text editor. You can work with that source or use Retry visual editor. Download a copy before making uncertain changes to unfamiliar formatting.
Return to the published copy
For a published item with draft changes, Revert to published version replaces the editorial draft with the current published content after confirmation. The restored draft saves automatically. Readers continue to see the same live copy, and this action does not start a new Course version or reset learning progress.
This is a return to the current published copy, not a browser for older publication history.
Download the writing
Open More editor actions and select Download Markdown to save the current writing area as a .md file. For a doc or update, this is its body; in the Course builder, it is the selected lesson’s content.
The download is useful for editing or keeping a text copy. It is not a full installation backup or a package of uploaded media, Course questions, assignments, and other item details.