Author Delegation (Ghost Authoring) 📝

Author delegation (often referred to as ghost authoring) allows designated team members to write and publish content on behalf of someone else in Haystack.

This feature is designed to simplify workflows for HR, Internal Comms, Marketing, and Leadership teams. For example, a communications manager can draft and publish an important company update under an executive's name, or a department manager can share an announcement on behalf of a team lead—ensuring critical messages come from the right voice without burdening busy leaders with manual posting tasks.

With this update, admins can now extend ghost authoring privileges to Group Owners, giving them flexibility within their groups without requiring full admin status.

🔑 Setup Prerequisites & Permissions

Required permission is in place for this feature. User Roles & Capabilities:

Post Admins and higher: Have author delegation capabilities enabled by default workspace-wide (these are designated within the Admin Console under "Manage Roles").
Group Owners: Can assign alternative post authors for posts created within their assigned groups once the admin setting is toggled on.

🚀 How to Use Author Delegation

Follow these steps to write and publish a post on behalf of another team member.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Group

Open Haystack and select the Groups tab. Choose the specific group where you are a Group Owner and want to publish content.

📌 Note: Group Owners are not restricted to members of their group. They can search for and select any active member across the entire workspace as a delegated author.

Step 2: Create a New Post

Click Create Post or New Announcement inside the group to launch the editor. Draft your content, title, attachments, and formatting as you normally would.

Step 3: Open Post Settings & Assign an Author

In the post editor sidebar or settings tab, locate the Author field:

Click the dropdown or edit icon next to your name in the Author field.
Type the name of the person you want to set as the author.
Select their profile from the workspace-wide search list.
Hit SAVE.

Step 4: Publish or Schedule

Review your post details. When you hit Publish (or set a scheduled date), the post will appear in feeds, group timelines, and notifications under the delegated author's name and profile picture. ✨

Retroactively Setting Up Author Delegation

Looking to set up author delegation for a post that is already live? No worries- it's very simple!

📌 Note: To reassign the author of a published post, you must be either the author of that post, a group admin or have "Post Admin" or above role permission within the workspace.

1. Go to the post you'd like to reassign the author of.

2. Click "Edit" in the upper right hand corner.

3. Make any adjustments to the post (if necessary). Click "Continue".

4. On the Post Preview page, locate the Author field:

Click the dropdown or edit icon next to your name in the Author field.
Type the name of the person you want to set as the author.
Select their profile from the workspace-wide search list.
Hit SAVE.

💡 Best Practices

🤝 Coordinate First: Always notify and get approval from the intended author before publishing content under their profile.
👔 Empower Executive Visibility: Work with company leaders to schedule periodic updates published on their behalf to keep leadership communication steady and active.
🔍 Double-Check Selected Profiles: Quickly confirm the Author field in the post settings menu before publishing to avoid accidentally posting under your own profile.
🔒 Audit Group Owners: Regularly review who holds Group Owner permissions so ghost authoring capabilities remain with trusted team leads.

🙋‍♀️ Need More Help?

We're always here to assist you! If you have questions about permissions, workspace settings, or setting up author delegation:

💬 In-App Support Chat: Click the Support Chat icon located in the bottom-right corner of your Haystack screen to chat live with our support team.
✉️ Email Us: Send your questions or feedback directly to our support inbox at support@haystackteam.com, and we'll be happy to help!

Keyword Tags: Ghost authoring, author delegation, publishing permissions, internal comms, post settings, group settings