Scheduled publication
Learn how the series picker can be used for the scheduled publication of puzzles.
The method for scheduling puzzles for publication within a series is identical to scheduling regular puzzles. The main difference is in how the scheduling mechanism works with the series picker.
You can specify the publication time for a game in any time zone.
By default, the PuzzleMe™ dashboard summary shows the publication time in the UTC time zone for each puzzle. However, on partner request, this can be adjusted to reflect your relevant local time zone.
Scheduling without the series picker
If you're embedding puzzles directly (without the series picker), then the visitors to your website will see a 404 error message if they try to access the puzzle before it has been published. Once the publication time has arrived, the puzzle will function normally.
The above approach is a bit clunky. To prevent your users from experiencing the error message of an unpublished puzzle, you would have to rely on your CMS/website to schedule the publication of the page itself. This adds an extra step to the content cycle, and it may not be desirable for your content management flow.
PuzzleMe throws a 404 error in this case.
Scheduling with the series picker
If you're using the series picker for a set of puzzles, then the puzzle will become visible automatically inside the series picker at the scheduled time of publication. Before the publication time, the puzzle will remain invisible from the series picker.
This is where the series picker truly shines: there is no need to juggle anything on your website after the series picker component has been embedded. Adding new puzzles is simply a matter of creating them and scheduling them for publication at your desired time. PuzzleMe manages everything else.