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Topical event pages published before 24 April 2026

Topical event pages are used to communicate government activity about high-profile events or in response to a major crisis.

If you want to request a new topical event page, see our guidance for new topical event pages. This page only covers topical event pages created before 24 April 2026 that you need to update.

This guidance is temporary. In the coming months, all topical event pages will follow the newer guidance.

To create or update this content type, you’ll need a Signon account with access to Whitehall Publisher.

Edit a topical event page

  1. Go to Whitehall Publisher.
  2. Select the ‘More’ tab.
  3. Select ‘Topical events’.

Search for the name of the group and select ‘Edit’ next to it.

Once you’ve done this, you can edit the details of the page.

Note:

When editing an older topical event page, be aware that it will publish or update as soon as you select ‘Save’ – there’s no draft state or peer review.

Add or edit details

Each topical page has a number of fields to fill in.

Name

Use the name of the event and the year (for example ‘D5 London 2014’) and state if it’s a government response to a crisis or event (for example ‘Ebola virus: UK government response’).

Names must be unique and cannot be changed once published. They do not need a full stop. When you save your page this will become its ‘slug’, which users will see as the last section of the page URL.

Summary

Give a summary of the topical event. Write it as a complete sentence with a full stop.

Description

Keep the description short and use it to briefly explain:

  • what the event is
  • how the government is involved
  • what users will find on the page

You can also use it to link to related policies, statements of action or presentations.

Do not repeat the title or summary.

Add a logo if you have one. You do not need to provide alt text. If you add a logo it will show at the top of the page, next to the title and summary text.

Duration

Topical event pages are only relevant for a specific period of time, so you can set a start date and an end date.

Social media accounts

Select any services being used for the event and add the URL. You can add a maximum of 7.

Publish the draft

Select ‘Save’ to publish the topical event. The draft will go live immediately.

If you’re creating a new topical event, you can now tag organisations, add an ‘About’ page and feature content.

Tag an organisation

  1. Select the ‘More’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Organisations’.
  3. Find the organisation you want to tag and select ‘View’ next to it.
  4. Select the ‘Edit’ link next to the ‘Details’ heading.
  5. Go to ‘Topical events’ and select the topical event from the drop down menu.
  6. Select ‘Save’.

You can make some of the tagged organisations ‘leads’. This means their name and logo will show up on the topical event page under a ‘Who’s involved’ heading.

  1. Go back to the topical event page.
  2. Select the ‘Organisations’ tab.
  3. Select ‘Make lead’ next to the relevant organisations.

Add or edit an ‘About’ page

Use this page to give more detailed information on what the government is doing about the event.

  1. Select the ‘About page’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Create new about page’.
  3. Add a name for the ‘About’ page. The name of the topical event page will automatically appear as the ‘About’ page title, so do not repeat this.
  4. Add some ‘Read more link text’, following the guidance for writing link text. The link text will appear below the summary on the main topical event page and direct users to the ‘About’ page.
  5. Complete the ‘Summary’ field using a maximum of 140 characters. Write it as a complete sentence with a full stop.
  6. Complete the ‘Body’ section.
  7. Select ‘Save’. The draft will be published immediately.

Tag a piece of content to the topical event page

You can tag content by adding an association to the topical event. You can do it for these content types:

Content tagged to the topical event will automatically appear in the ‘Latest’ feed.

Feature tagged content

You can feature up to 6 pieces of content. Any items you feature must include an image. Read the guidance on formatting images for help with picking an image.

If the content is published through Whitehall Publisher:

  1. Select the ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select the ‘GOV.UK content’ tab.
  3. Search for the document you want to feature using the filters on the left hand side. Only content tagged to the topical event will show in the list.
  4. Select the ‘Feature’ link next to the document you would like to feature.
  5. Select an image to be shown on your topical event page with this feature. You do not need to provide alt text.

If the content is not published through Whitehall Publisher:

  1. Select the ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select the ‘External websites’ tab.
  3. Select ‘Add an external link’.
  4. Complete the title, summary, type and URL fields and select ‘Save’.
  5. Select the ‘Feature’ link next to the external page you would like to feature.
  6. Select an image to be shown on your topical event page with this feature. You do not need to provide alt text.

Change the order of featured content

You can change the order of featured content.

  1. Select the ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Reorder pages’ and then drag items up or down in the list.
  3. When you’re done setting the order, select ‘Update order’.

Unfeature content

  1. Select the ‘Featured’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Unfeature’ to remove featured content from your topical events page.