How to publish an Insight correctly
Open MYCDIC Insights in the institutional dashboard.Use New Insight for a new article or Edit for an existing record. The dashboard always shows the planned public URL.
Complete the editorial identity.Add title, slug, content type, primary topic, author, reviewer and deck/excerpt. The slug determines the canonical public route:
/insights/your-slug/.Write the article body.Use
## for major headings, ### for subheadings, - for list items, [[source:source-id]] for registered source citations, and Markdown-style internal links such as [Youth Diplomacy](/youth-diplomacy.aspx).Add evidence.Select sources from the shared registry and/or add manual sources. Editorial images are optional. If you use one, add meaningful alt text and a photo/source credit when applicable. Existing uploaded images remain stored when the record is edited.
Complete Search Authority fields.Add one primary focus query, useful secondary queries, and the related canonical MYCDIC authority page. Avoid assigning the same focus query to several articles.
Complete SEO metadata.Add a concise SEO title and a useful meta description. The public canonical URL is generated automatically from the slug.
Move the article through review.Use Research Required, Editorial Review, Fact Check, SEO/GEO Review and Approved as internal workflow states. Approved does not make the article public.
Click Publish now.The system changes the status to Published, sets missing publication/review dates to today, clears noindex, includes the URL in the Insights sitemap, synchronizes MYCDIC Search and sends discovery updates. The dashboard then displays Open live.
What every status means
| Status | Meaning | Public? |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Initial writing stage. | No |
| Research Required | Evidence or analysis is still incomplete. | No |
| Editorial Review | Structure, clarity and institutional accuracy are being reviewed. | No |
| Fact Check | Claims and sources are being verified. | No |
| SEO/GEO Review | Search intent, metadata, internal links and entity clarity are reviewed. | No |
| Approved | Editorially approved and ready for the final publish action. | No |
| Scheduled | Prepared for a future publication time. | Only when the scheduled time is reached |
| Published | Live canonical article. | Yes |
| Updated / Performance Monitoring / Needs Update | Post-publication maintenance states. | Yes unless archived |
| Archived | Removed from the public Insights collection. | No |
Important: The most common confusion is Approved versus Published. Approved is an internal gate. Only the final Publish action makes the public link live.
How to add sources
Registered sources
Use Manage source registry to create reusable sources, then select them inside the article. Use Ctrl/Cmd to select multiple sources.
Manual sources
Add one source per line using this exact structure:
Publisher | Title | URL | Publication date | Primary/Secondary | Source type
Example: United Nations Youth Office | Meaningful Youth Participation | https://example.org/report | 2026-01-15 | Primary | Official guidance
Manual sources are saved with the article and appear in its public References section without being added to the shared Source Registry.
How publication and search now work
- MYCDIC internal search: live Insights are merged into
/global-search-data.phpdirectly from the current Insights dataset, so a newly published article can be found without waiting for an old static search index to refresh. - Search index synchronization: publishing also writes all live Insights into the central MYCDIC search index. The dashboard includes a manual Sync public search button if needed.
- Sitemap: a published Insight is automatically included in the Insights sitemap.
- Indexability: publishing automatically clears noindex. You do not need to remember to uncheck it.
- Discovery services: the article, Insights hub, all-links directory, Observatory and related authority page are submitted to the configured discovery process.
- External search engines: the technical signals are immediate, but Google/Bing discovery and ranking can still take time because external engines control crawl and indexing schedules.
Best practice: Search for the article first using MYCDIC Global Search. If it appears there and the public URL opens, the internal publishing chain is working correctly.
How to feature an Insight on the Observatory
- Open the Insight in the dashboard.
- Find the Youth Diplomacy Observatory panel in the editor sidebar.
- Enable Feature this Insight in the Observatory.
- Optionally set Observatory order. Lower numbers receive priority.
- Save or Publish the Insight.
Only public Insights can appear on the public Observatory. Featured public articles are shown first. If fewer than six articles are explicitly featured, the Observatory fills remaining positions with the latest published Insights.
Public Observatory: https://www.mycdic.org/youth-diplomacy-observatory.aspx
Insights hub: https://www.mycdic.org/insights/
All live Insight URLs: https://www.mycdic.org/insights/all/
If something does not appear
| Problem | Check |
|---|---|
| No Open live button | Confirm the article status is Published, Updated, Performance Monitoring, Needs Update, or a Scheduled article whose scheduled time has arrived. |
| Publish fails | Read the publication control card. Complete the missing author, reviewer, image, alt, credit, focus query, related authority page, SEO title, meta description and at least one source. |
| Article not in MYCDIC Search | Use Sync public search on the Insights dashboard. Also confirm the article itself is actually public. |
| Article not on Observatory | Publish it first. Then enable Feature this Insight in the Observatory and save. |
| Image disappears after edit | The system retains the existing image automatically. Do not upload it again unless you want to replace it. |
| Article is public but not yet on Google | Verify the public page, sitemap and internal search first. External indexing is controlled by the search engine and is not instantaneous. |