--- title: "Adding or editing a policy" description: "A policy is a document attached to a circle or a role. Add one from the Policies section of that circle or role, write it in the editor, then publish it or submit it for governance." category: structure-governance section: policies-and-publications tags: [permissions] type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/how-to-add-or-edit-a-policy --- # Adding or editing a policy ## Adding or editing a policy A policy in Talkspirit is a **document**, not a text field. It is one of the document types available under **Working agreements**, and it hangs off the circle or the role it governs. You add one from the **Policies** section on that circle's or role's page, write it in the document editor, then either publish it or send it through a governance decision. Optionally, a policy is scoped to one of the circle's **domains**. If you leave the scope alone, the policy covers all functions and activities within the circle. > **Note:** Your organisation can rename this vocabulary. An administrator who changes the term in Administration, under Terminology, sees their own word in place of "policy" everywhere in the app. ## Before you start **You need to be a decision maker in the circle**, or in the parent circle of the role. The **Add** control on the Policies section only appears for decision makers, and Talkspirit refuses the creation for anyone else when the policy type goes through governance. Being an organisation administrator does not grant this on its own: see [What is a decision maker of a circle?](/structure-governance/what-is-a-decision-maker-of-a-circle). **Know how your organisation handles policies.** Whether a new policy is published straight away or has to win consent first is a setting on the document type, not a fixed rule. Talkspirit ships the Policy type set to Governance, but organisations migrated from Holaspirit often carry a Policy type set to Direct instead. You do not have to guess. The dialog you use to create the policy tells you: when the type goes through governance, it shows the notice *"Saving this document will create a draft proposal for review by the circle."* An administrator can confirm it in **Structure settings**, under **Working agreements**, in the **Workflow** column: - **Direct** means you publish the policy yourself. - **Governance** means saving it creates a draft proposal that the circle reviews. ![The Document Types table in Structure settings, with Name, Slug, Status, Type and Workflow columns. Three types are listed, two with a Direct workflow and one with a Governance workflow](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-or-edit-a-policy/04-document-type-workflow.png) ## Add a policy to a circle 1. Open **Structure**, then the circle. The **General** tab shows a **Policies** section under Purpose, Domains and Accountabilities. 2. Select **Add** at the right of the Policies heading. ![The General tab of a circle, with the Policies section showing a count, one existing policy and the Add control outlined at the right of the section heading](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-or-edit-a-policy/01-policies-section-on-a-circle.png) In the **Add policy** dialog: 1. Give the policy a **Title**. This is the only required field. 2. Choose a **Domain** if the policy governs one. The list offers the circle's own domains; leave it on **All functions and activities within the circle** to scope the policy to the whole circle. 3. Select **Create**. ![The Add policy dialog, with a required Title field, a Domain selector set to All functions and activities within the circle, and Cancel and Create buttons](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-or-edit-a-policy/02-add-policy-dialog.png) The document opens in the editor straight away, in **Draft**, with an empty body. Write the policy there. The editor saves as you type and shows **Saved** in the header, so nothing is lost if you step away. When the text is ready, use the button at the top right: - **Publish** puts the policy live immediately. This is what you get when the Policy type uses the Direct workflow. - **Submit for governance** appears instead when the type uses the Governance workflow. It wraps your draft in a policy proposal and takes you to that proposal, where you submit it to the circle. The document stays locked and shows an **Under governance review** banner until the proposal is accepted or rejected. Drafts are listed in the Policies section too, so your work in progress is visible there before it goes live. ## Add a policy to a role The role page works the same way. Open the role, find the **Policies** section on its **General** tab, and select **Add**. Two things differ: - The **Domain** list offers the role's own domains rather than the circle's. - The circle that reviews the policy, when the type requires governance, is the role's parent circle. ## Edit a policy 1. Open the circle or role that owns the policy. 2. Hover the policy in the **Policies** section and select the three-dot actions menu at the end of its row. 3. Select **Edit**. The document opens in the editor. ![A policy row in the Policies section with its actions menu open, offering Edit, Copy URL and Archive](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-or-edit-a-policy/03-policy-row-actions.png) The same menu gives you **Copy URL**, to paste a link to the policy in a post or a task. **When the Policy type uses the Governance workflow**, editing a published policy does not touch the live version. Talkspirit copies it into a new draft and opens a new proposal for it, so the published policy stays in force until the circle adopts your change. You will see the new draft in the editor and the original still marked **Published**. You can also reach the editor from **Working agreements** in the Structure sidebar, which lists every document you have access to. Select the row to preview it, expand it to full page, then select **Edit**. ## Remove a policy Use **Archive** in the row's actions menu. Archiving takes the policy out of the circle's Policies section and out of the main list, and Talkspirit asks you to confirm. Nothing is destroyed: you can bring the document back from the Working agreements list. ## What's next? - [Publications Overview](/structure-governance/publications-overview) covers working agreements, document types and version history. - [Understanding Domains](/structure-governance/understanding-domains) explains what a policy can be scoped to. - [Adding a proposal from the Proposals page](/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-proposal-in-the-proposals-app) covers the proposal route, where a **Policy** proposal can carry a policy alongside other changes. - [Managing document types](/structure-governance/manage-publications-types) explains how an administrator sets the Direct or Governance workflow.