# Editing a live raffle

**When to use this:** Your raffle is live and you need to fix a typo, update details, or change something important like dates.

**Who can do this:** Admins only.

**Where to find it:** In your raffle's dashboard → **Edit** menu in the sidebar. Pick the section you want to change (Raffle Basics, Operating Details, Prizes, Tickets, Sponsors). For more on the dashboard see Create mode and the raffle dashboard.

Once a raffle is live, its fields fall into three buckets:

1. **Freely editable** — change any time, no notification needed.
2. **Gated** — locked with a lock icon; can be changed by explicitly unlocking, which sends a notification to every ticket holder.
3. **Fully disabled** — cannot be changed on a live raffle at all, with no unlock flow. Your only options are **Revert to Draft** (if no tickets have been sold) or contacting support.

### 1. Freely editable

These you can update at any time — no notification is sent:

* Raffle name
* Raffle description
* Banner image and accent colour
* Additional terms (in Operating Details)
* Sponsors (add, edit, and remove freely)
* **Adding new prizes** (you can always add more prizes to a live raffle)

Use these freely for small fixes, typos, or tweaks to how the page looks.

### 2. Gated (locked) fields

These fields show a **lock icon** and require an explicit unlock before you can change them. Unlocking sends a notification to every ticket holder.

| Step                  | Gated fields                                                                    |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Operating details** | Start date, end date, draw date and time, draw location, adding eligible states |
| **Tickets**           | Ticket capacity                                                                 |
| **Prizes**            | Editing or remove an existing prize (title, description, value, image, tier)    |

Why? If someone bought a ticket expecting a draw on Saturday and you quietly move it to Tuesday, that's not a good experience. Unlocking these fields forces you to preview the change and notify everyone.

#### Unlocking and changing a gated field

1. Click the locked field. A dialog explains: *"Updating locked fields will send a notification to ticket holders."*
2. Click **Continue** to unlock just that field (or section).
3. Make your changes.
4. Go to save. Instead of the usual Save button, you'll see **Save & Preview**.
5. Review the **change notification preview** — this is the exact email ticket holders will receive.
6. Click **Send notification** to save the change and email everyone who's bought a ticket.

If you change your mind before the preview, close the dialog and your unsaved changes are discarded — no notification is sent.

### 3. Fully disabled fields

These fields are **hard-locked** on a live raffle. There's no unlock modal, no notification flow, no way to change them from the dashboard:

{% hint style="info" %}
Raffles operating under state permits have all fields fully disabled as all changes require approval from the state regulating bodies
{% endhint %}

| Step                  | Fully disabled field      | Why                                                                               |
| --------------------- | ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Basics**            | Public URL slug           | The slug is built into every raffle link already shared or printed.               |
| **Tickets**           | Single ticket price       | Changing the price would be unfair to people who already paid a different amount. |
| **Tickets**           | Starting ticket number    | Tickets are issued from this number onwards — can't shift once any are out there. |
| **Operating details** | Removing Operating states | These states might have already had tickets sold to residents there               |

These fields appear greyed out with no lock icon or unlock prompt.

#### What if I need to change a fully disabled field?

Your options:

* **Revert to Draft** — if no tickets have been sold yet, you can send the raffle back to draft, which unlocks every field. See below.
* **Contact support** — for permit-related changes or anything else that can't be reverted, get in touch and we'll help.
* **Operating states with a permit:** if you click into the states field, you'll see a message like *"This raffle is operating under a permit. Changes to regulated fields are not allowed. To request changes, please contact customer service."*

### Reverting a raffle to draft

If you need to make big changes that gated edits won't cover, you can send the raffle back to draft — but only if **no tickets have been sold yet**.

1. Open your raffle and go to **Dashboard** in the sidebar.
2. In the info banner at the top of the page, click **Revert to Draft**.
3. Read the confirmation carefully — reverting takes the raffle **offline immediately** and all fields become fully editable again.
4. Confirm.

After reverting:

* Your raffle is no longer reachable at its public URL.
* Every field is unlocked — including the fully disabled ones above.
* You're back in **create mode** — the raffle opens in the stepper, not the dashboard.
* When you're ready, go through the **Compliance** step and click **Activate** to go live again.
* Any previously-locked fields will re-lock as soon as you're live.

> **Note:** Once a single ticket has been sold, **Revert to Draft** is no longer available. At that point the fully-disabled fields above are effectively permanent for the life of the raffle.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://help.rafflelink.com/guides/editing-a-live-raffle.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.