In the True Anthem Dashboard, your Published Time of Record is the "clock" our automation engine uses to identify new content from your website. By selecting a specific time of record, you tell our system exactly which articles are eligible to be filled into your automated publishing windows.
What is a "Published Time of Record"?
Every piece of content pulled from your CMS (Content Management System) arrives with multiple timestamps. The Published Time of Record is the specific timestamp you choose to represent when an article is officially "ready" for social distribution and the time we base filtering off of.
Our automation rules look at this timestamp to determine if an article fits within your active publishing windows.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: Once you select a Published Time of Record, it applies to all automation rules for every social platform's feed. Your Published Time of Record cannot vary for each social platform. Changing this setting frequently can cause gaps in your posting schedule or duplicate posts.
Published Time vs. Modified Published Time
To choose the right setting, it is important to understand how your CMS handles these two distinct timestamps:
- Published Time: This is the timestamp created the very first time an article goes live on your site. It never changes, even if you update the text later.
- Modified Published Time: This timestamp updates every time a user clicks "Save" or "Update" on an existing article in your CMS. It represents the most recent version of the content.
Which One Should You Choose?
The best choice depends entirely on your editorial workflow and how you handle "re-upping" or updating stories on your website.
Pick "Original Published Time" if:
- You only want to automate brand-new stories as they are first released.
- Your team frequently makes small typos or SEO edits that shouldn't trigger a "new" social post.
Pick "Modified Published Time" if:
- Your strategy involves updating existing articles with breaking news (e.g., a "Developing Story").
- You want an article to move back to the "front of the line" for automation whenever it is significantly updated in your CMS.
- Your CMS is configured to "Refresh" the modified date to signal that a story is relevant again.
💡 TIP: If you use Modified Published Time, be aware that minor edits (like fixing a spelling error) may make an old article appear "new" to our system. This could result in an old story being posted to social media unexpectedly.
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