--- title: "Editing, archiving or deleting a working agreement" description: "How to change the content of a working agreement in Talkspirit, publish the new version, and archive or permanently delete one you no longer need." category: structure-governance section: policies-and-publications type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/how-to-edit-or-delete-a-publication --- # Editing, archiving or deleting a working agreement ## Editing, archiving or deleting a working agreement Working agreements are the documents your circles and roles keep: policies, charters, ways of working. They live in **Structure** > **Working agreements**. What older help pages called a *publication* is the same thing under its converged name, and [Working agreements overview](/structure-governance/publications-overview) explains the vocabulary. This article covers changing an existing agreement, publishing the new version, and taking one out of circulation. ## Who can change a working agreement? In the interface, the **Edit** button appears if you belong to the circle or role the agreement belongs to, if you created it, or if you were given Contributor or Admin access to it. Publishing, archiving and deleting are gated more tightly than editing. Talkspirit accepts them only from the person who created the agreement, from someone granted **Admin** access to that document, or from an administrator. Belonging to the circle is not enough on its own. If **Publish** returns an error, that is why: ask the agreement's creator or an administrator to publish it, or to give you Admin access to the document. One more rule depends on the agreement's **type** rather than on you. A type can be set to require a governance proposal, in which case publishing goes through your circle instead of happening straight away. Administrators set that per type, in [Managing working agreement types](/structure-governance/manage-publications-types). ## How do I edit a working agreement? 1. Go to **Structure** > **Working agreements**. 2. Click the row of the agreement you want to change. It opens in a preview panel; the expand control (**Full page**) gives you the whole screen. 3. Click **Edit**. If the agreement is published and already carries unpublished work, the button shows a **Pending draft** badge. 4. Write in the body. Talkspirit saves as you go and the header shows **Saved**. 5. Click **Stop editing** when you want to leave the editor without publishing. Your changes stay as a draft. ![The Support rota working agreement open in edit mode, with the Saved indicator, Stop editing and Publish in the header](/images/structure-governance/how-to-edit-or-delete-a-publication/02-editing-a-working-agreement.png) Editing is not a live shared session: see [Editing a working agreement with others](/structure-governance/publications-collaborative-edition). ## How do I publish my changes? Click **Publish**. On an already published agreement the button appears once there are draft changes to publish. If the agreement's type requires a proposal, you get **Submit for governance** instead. Talkspirit creates a governance proposal carrying your draft, and the agreement shows the status **In review** until the circle decides. It cannot be edited while it is in review, and only decision makers of the governing circle can submit it or open a published one for a new revision. To throw unpublished work away instead of publishing it, open the three-dot menu in the header and choose **Discard draft changes**. On an agreement that was never published, the same menu offers **Delete draft**, which removes the whole document. ## How do I archive a working agreement? Retiring a published agreement is done from the list, not from the agreement's own page. 1. Go to **Structure** > **Working agreements**. 2. At the right end of the row, click the three dots. 3. Choose **Archive**. ![The row menu of a working agreement, offering Copy URL and Archive](/images/structure-governance/how-to-edit-or-delete-a-publication/01-row-actions-archive.png) The agreement leaves the list. To find it again, click **Filter** and switch on **Archived**. **Archiving cannot be undone from the interface.** Working agreements have no unarchive control, so archive an agreement only when you are willing to rewrite it from scratch if you change your mind. ## How do I delete a working agreement? **Delete permanently** is offered only on an agreement that is already archived, so deleting is always a two-step job: archive first, then delete. 1. Click **Filter**, then switch on **Archived**. 2. At the right end of the row, click the three dots and choose **Delete permanently**. ![The row menu of an archived working agreement, offering Copy URL and Delete permanently](/images/structure-governance/how-to-edit-or-delete-a-publication/03-archived-delete-permanently.png) Talkspirit asks you to confirm. In the **Delete document** dialog, click **Delete permanently**. ![The Delete document dialog asking to confirm permanent deletion, with Cancel and Delete permanently](/images/structure-governance/how-to-edit-or-delete-a-publication/04-delete-confirmation.png) The agreement then disappears from the list, from the **Archived** filter and from everywhere else in Talkspirit. Nothing in the interface brings it back. ## What's Next? - [Working agreements overview](/structure-governance/publications-overview) - [How do I create and publish a working agreement?](/structure-governance/how-to-add-and-publish-a-publication) - [How do I see earlier versions of a working agreement?](/structure-governance/publications-version-history) - [How do I create a proposal?](/structure-governance/how-to-create-a-proposal)