Generate the Next Editorial Period

Overview

Generate calendar (sometimes labeled Generate the next editorial period or Generate plan) asks CntX to propose a new set of dated slots and briefs from your active content strategy: pillars, channels, content types, funnel mix, and planning horizon. The output lands on the Strategy layer of the unified calendar.

Generation is single-strategy: even if you display multiple plannings for reading, the action runs only on the generation focus strategy shown beside the planning selector. Campaign briefs come from campaign plan generation; opportunity briefs come from signals—not from this action.

When to use

• The current strategy period is ending and you need the next month or quarter planned.
• You refined pillars, channels, or context and want fresh proposals aligned with the new setup.
• Home recommends Generate editorial plan or the calendar is empty for your evergreen strategy.
• You cleared low-quality items and want a clean regeneration (consider purge options first).

Before you start

• Complete or update Context (products, ICPs, brand platform) so proposals are specific.
• Verify Strategy settings: pillars, channels, content types, funnel stages, and planning horizon.
• Select the correct workspace and set that content strategy as the generation focus in Calendar.
• Decide whether to purge existing strategy-layer drafts before regenerating—published or in-review content should not be bulk-deleted without review.

Steps

1. Open Calendar from the sidebar.
2. In the planning selector, click the content strategy you want to extend. Confirm Generation: {strategy name} appears when multiple plannings are selected.
3. Review Strategy settings if the last batch felt off-topic—adjust pillars or channel frequency first.
4. Click Generate calendar (or Generate plan from Home).
5. Wait for the job to finish. A spinner or progress state may appear on the focused strategy; you can stay on the page or return later.
6. Open Week, Month, or Briefs view and filter to the Strategy layer to isolate new items.
7. Walk the To do now counts or open Quick review to validate new briefs—most arrive as Draft or Needs review.
8. Edit, approve, or remove items before running Generate first drafts.

Expected result

• New dated items appear across your configured horizon on the Strategy layer.
• Each item includes a draft brief with persona, pillar, channel, and funnel metadata.
• Campaign, opportunity, and manual items remain visible when their plannings are selected—they are not replaced by strategy generation.
• Home onboarding or recommended steps advance once a populated period exists.

Tips

• Horizon too large — Start with four weeks if the first batch overwhelms review; widen the horizon in strategy settings once the rhythm works.
• Duplicates with campaigns — Strategy generation does not know campaign slots unless anti-collision ran during campaign generation; manually remove overlaps or adjust dates.
• Regenerate after context enrichment — Adding products or ICPs mid-period helps the next generation more than retroactive magic on old briefs.
• Parent campaign strategy selected — Generation is disabled or targets the child focus; switch to the workspace’s editorial strategy for evergreen periods.
• Purge with care — Calendar purge by editorial status removes content items and linked briefs; use it to reset a botched first run, not to delete live work.

Next step

Create and Edit a Content Brief to refine the new batch, then Understand Brief and Editorial Statuses to track items through production.