Creating a New Article

Contributor

This guide walks you through every step of creating a new article in PATHS, from navigating to the Articles collection to saving your first draft.

Before You Begin

Make sure you are logged into the Payload admin panel with your contributor account. You should see Articles listed in the left sidebar navigation.

If you do not see the Articles collection, contact your administrator to verify your role and permissions.

Step-by-Step: Create an Article

Navigate to the admin panel and click Articles in the left sidebar.

Click the Create New button in the top-right corner of the Articles list view.

Articles list view with the Create New button highlighted in the top-right corner

Enter a descriptive Title for your article. Choose something clear and specific — this is what learners will see in search results and content listings.

The Slug field auto-generates from your title. You can edit it manually if needed, but keep it URL-friendly (lowercase, hyphens, no spaces).

Select a Content Pillar from the dropdown. Every article must belong to one of the six longevity pillars: Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Stress Management, Supplements, or Diagnostics.

Set the Access Level to determine which membership tiers can view this article. Choose from Free, Essential, Professional, or Premium.

Upload a Featured Image by clicking the image field and selecting or uploading a file from the Media library. This image appears in article cards and at the top of the article page.

Write your article content in the Lexical rich text editor. Use headings, paragraphs, lists, and blocks to structure your content. See the Lexical Editor guide for detailed formatting instructions.

Leave the Status field set to Draft. Do not change this until you are ready to submit for review.

Article edit form showing title, slug, content pillar, access level, and status fields

Click Save to save your article as a draft. You can return to edit it at any time.

Required Fields

Every article must have the following fields completed before it can be submitted for review:

Title — a clear, descriptive headline
Content Pillar — the longevity category this article belongs to
Access Level — who can read this article
Content — the article body, written in the Lexical editor

Featured image matters

While technically optional, articles without a featured image look incomplete in content listings. Always upload a relevant, high-quality image.

Saving and Returning

Your article is saved as a draft automatically when you click Save. You can close the browser and return later — find your drafts by navigating to Articles and filtering by status. See Managing Your Drafts for tips on organizing your work.

Save your work frequently as you write. The editor does not auto-save, so use the Save button regularly to avoid losing progress.

Next Steps

Now that you have created an article, learn how to format your content effectively in the Lexical Editor guide.