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

1. Open the contest you want to activate.
2. Click the **Activate** button.
3. 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:

1. Go to the **Contests** list.
2. Find the contest you want to copy.
3. 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.