Fully automated

We have a flexible system that generates puzzles in the background and schedules them to be used on a daily basis. Every puzzle has a stock that puzzles get generated into, and an agenda that takes puzzles from the stock and schedules them for a specific date.

There are a few types of puzzles:

  • Topical puzzles: based on news articles via RSS feeds
  • Non-topical puzzles: these can be generated in bulk
  • Manual puzzles: uploaded by editors or 3d party creators

When describing the inner workings, keep in mind that the numbers are configurable per puzzle and/or per implementation. The default numbers are used here.

Non-topical puzzles

The generation process always keeps the stock of the puzzles to at least 20. 7 days in advance the puzzles are scheduled. Puzzles are picked on a first-in-first-out principle.

Topical puzzles

The generation process tries to create a puzzle for each article in the RSS feed. For some articles it’s not possible to create a puzzle, for instance because there are too few words (Wordfind) or the title is too long (Headline). Every puzzle that is created ends up in the stock.

Puzzles are scheduled 2 days in advance, so the news is relevant, but the client’s editorial team can manually intervene if necessary. When scheduling, the most recent article is picked.

Manual puzzles

These puzzles are not generated by the Puzzle Studio, but manually uploaded or created via the Puzzle Studio Content. For more information, see Publishing puzzles from 3rd party suppliers.

Manual intervention

At the Puzzle Studio dashboard, an editor can see what puzzles will be scheduled for the coming days. If you want to replace a puzzle for whatever reason, this is possible and you can pick a different puzzle from the stock. Optionally you can reject the current puzzle so it won’t get published on a different date.

Screenshots

When entering the Puzzle Studio, you immediately see the puzzles scheduled today, and can also view the coming days. The agenda

If a puzzle needs to be replaced, you can pick a different puzzle from stock, and optionally reject the current puzzle. Replacing a puzzle in the agenda

When viewing a puzzle detail page via “Content” in the main navigation, you see the agenda for that specific puzzle. Viewing the agenda of puzzle