Every contest moves through a series of statuses. Understanding these helps you manage your contests effectively.
Statuses
Draft
When you create a contest, it starts in Draft status.
- The contest is not visible to customers
- The contest page URL returns a "not found" page
- You can freely edit all fields
- Theme blocks won't display draft contests
Actions available: Activate, Edit, Delete
Active
Activating a contest makes it live and available to customers.
- The contest page is publicly accessible at its URL
- The entry form accepts submissions
- Theme blocks (popup and form) can display the contest
- The contest is synced to Shopify metaobjects so your theme can access it
- Analytics tracking begins (page views, entries)
Actions available: End contest, Preview, Copy link, Archive
Ended
A contest ends when you manually end it or when the end date passes.
- The contest page is no longer accepting entries
- Existing entries are preserved
- You can still view entries and select winners
- Theme blocks stop displaying the contest
- The contest metaobject is kept in Shopify in draft mode so existing block selections stay connected
Actions available: Archive, View entries, Select winners
Archived
Archiving a contest removes it from your active view.
- Hidden from the contest list by default (use the filter to see archived contests)
- Not available in theme blocks
- Metaobject remains in Shopify in draft mode to preserve existing block references
- All data (entries, winners) is preserved
Actions available: View entries, View winners
Changing Status
Activating a Contest
- Open the contest you want to activate.
- Click the Activate button.
- The contest immediately goes live.
Before activating, make sure your title, description, prizes, and entry settings are configured — some fields lock after activation.
Ending a Contest
You can end a contest in two ways:
- Manually — Click the End contest button on any active contest.
- Automatically — The contest stops accepting entries when the end date passes. The status updates the next time the contest is accessed.
Archiving a Contest
Click Archive from the contest actions menu. This works from any status (draft, active, or ended).
Status Flow
Draft → Active → Ended → Archived
↓ ↑
└────────────────────────┘
(can archive directly)
Duplicating a Contest
You can duplicate any contest to create a copy with the same settings:
- Go to the Contests list.
- Find the contest you want to copy.
- Click Duplicate from the actions menu.
The duplicate is created in Draft status with a new slug (the original slug with a timestamp suffix to ensure uniqueness). All settings, prizes, and display configurations are copied — entries and winners are not.