# Create mode and the raffle dashboard

**When to use this:** You want to understand why the raffle interface looks completely different before and after you activate.

The short version:

* **Before activation** — your raffle is a **draft**, and you work on it in **create mode**: a guided, step-by-step setup screen.
* **After activation** — your raffle is **live**, and you're taken to the **raffle dashboard**: a sidebar-driven management interface where you can view orders, run the draw, edit things, and more.

The change happens the moment you click **Activate** for the first time.

### Create mode (drafts)

When you click **Create raffle**, we create a draft for you with sensible defaults and open it in create mode. As long as your raffle's status is **Draft**, every visit to it opens back into create mode — even if you leave and come back weeks later.

Create mode is designed for first-time setup:

* The screen is a **stepper**: Basics → Operating Details → Prizes → Tickets → Sponsors → Compliance.
* You save progress one step at a time.
* The **Activate** button on the Compliance step stays disabled until every required step has been completed.
* You can edit anything — nothing is locked yet, because no-one has bought a ticket.
* A **mobile preview** sits on the right so you can see what supporters will see.

You can leave a draft and come back any time from your **raffles list**. Drafts are private — they don't appear on your public org page and can't be reached by supporters.

### What happens when you activate

On the Compliance step, when you click **Activate** and confirm:

1. Your raffle moves to *Active* status and goes live once the start date passes at its public URL.
2. A success dialog appears with two buttons: **Review Compliance** and **Manage Raffle**.
3. Either button takes you to the **raffle dashboard**.

From this point on, the stepper is gone — clicking into the raffle from your raffles list now opens the dashboard instead.

### The raffle dashboard (live raffles)

The dashboard is a sidebar-driven interface organised into three sections:

**Raffle**

* **Dashboard** — at-a-glance overview of the raffle
* **Edit** — expandable menu with all the setup sections: Raffle Basics, Operating Details, Prizes, Tickets, Sponsors (this is where you make changes — see below)
* **Draw & Timeline** — run the draw, view results, publish winners (see Drawing winners)

**Ticket Orders**

* **Orders** — every ticket purchase
* **Analytics** — sales performance and trends
* **Emails** — emails sent to supporters

**Admin**

* **Reports**
* **Payouts**
* **Compliance** — permits and regulatory info

Most of the dashboard is for **viewing** data. Editing only happens through the **Edit** menu, which reopens the old step screens — but now behaving differently, because the raffle is live.

### Editing a live raffle from the dashboard

Clicking **Edit → \[any section]** opens that step in a stripped-back editing view. It looks similar to create mode, but:

* There's no stepper — you jump straight to the section you clicked.
* Some fields are **locked** to protect people who've bought tickets (dates, prices, prizes, etc.).
* Changing a locked field requires an explicit unlock and sends a notification to ticket holders.

Full details in Editing a live raffle.

### Can I go back to create mode?

Not directly — once a raffle has been activated, it doesn't return to create mode.

However, if **no tickets have been sold yet**, you can use **Revert to Draft** from the dashboard to send the raffle back to draft status. This takes it offline, unlocks every field, and next time you open it you'll be back in the stepper. See Editing a live raffle → Reverting a raffle to draft.

Once even one ticket has been sold, Revert to Draft is no longer available — from that point on, live edits always go through the dashboard's Edit menu.


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