Content Planning System

What is the Content Planning System?

The Content Planning System is a comprehensive feature for planning, organizing, and executing content campaigns. It consists of three integrated phases that work together to help you manage your content creation workflow from research to planning to execution.

A campaign is a container for organizing related content. Each campaign has its own directory structure and planning files, making it easy to manage content projects separately from your main content collections.

Three Integrated Phases

The Content Planning System consists of three fully implemented phases:

• Phase 1: Campaign Management — Create and manage campaigns, organize content projects
• Phase 2: Plan Management — Visual plan editor, import/export, validation, and timeline view
• Phase 3: Research Management — Import, convert, and edit research materials

Relationship to Content Mode

The Content Planning System works alongside Content Mode but serves a different purpose:

• Content Mode: Manages published content files and generates pages
• Content Planning: Organizes planning, research, and drafts before they become content

The planning system helps you organize and plan content before it's ready to be published through Content Mode.

Getting Started

Enabling Content Plan Mode

Before you can use the Content Planning System, you need to enable Content Plan Mode in your site settings:

1. Open your site in Hammer
2. Navigate to Site Settings
3. Find the "Enable Content Plan Mode" toggle
4. Turn on Content Plan Mode

When you enable Content Plan Mode, Hammer automatically:

• Creates a content-plan/ directory in your site root
• Creates a content-plan/campaigns/ directory for your campaigns
• Adds content-plan/ to .hammer-ignore to exclude planning files from builds

Understanding the Directory Structure

When Content Plan Mode is enabled, your site structure will include:

your-site/
  ├── content/                    # Content Mode content files
  ├── content-plan/              # Content Planning files (excluded from builds)
  │   └── campaigns/            # Campaign directories
  │       └── campaign-slug/    # Individual campaign
  │           ├── plan.json     # Campaign plan file
  │           ├── research.txt  # Raw research text (optional)
  │           ├── research.md   # Converted markdown research (optional)
  │           └── drafts/       # Draft content (for future use)
  ├── templates/                 # Content Mode templates
  └── content.config.json       # Content Mode configuration

The content-plan/ directory is automatically excluded from builds via .hammer-ignore, ensuring planning files don't interfere with your published site.

Accessing the Content Planning System

Once Content Plan Mode is enabled, you can access the Content Planning System:

1. Open your site in Hammer
2. Navigate to the Content tab
3. Use the segmented control to switch to "Planning" mode
4. The Campaign Management interface will appear

Phase 1: Campaign Management

Campaign Management is the foundation of the Content Planning System. It allows you to create and organize campaigns that contain your planning, research, and content structure.

Creating Campaigns

To create a new campaign:

1. Navigate to the Content tab and switch to Planning mode
2. Click the "Create Campaign" or "+ New Campaign" button
3. The create campaign dialog will open

Campaign Fields

When creating a campaign, you'll need to provide:

• Campaign Name: A descriptive name for your campaign (e.g., "Q1 Product Launch", "Holiday Content Series")
• Campaign Slug: A URL-friendly identifier (auto-generated from the name, but editable)
• Campaign Description: Optional description explaining the campaign's purpose or goals

Slug Generation

The campaign slug is automatically generated from the campaign name:

• Converts to lowercase
• Replaces spaces with hyphens
• Removes special characters
• You can edit the slug if needed

Campaign List View

The Campaign List View displays all campaigns for the current site. Each campaign is shown as a card with:

• Campaign Name: The name you assigned to the campaign
• Campaign Description: Brief description of the campaign
• Creation/Update Dates: Timestamps showing when the campaign was created and last modified
• Quick Actions: Buttons to view, edit, or delete the campaign

Viewing and Editing Campaigns

To view or edit a campaign:

1. Click on a campaign card, or
2. Click the "View" or "Edit" button on a campaign card

The campaign detail view provides access to all three phases: Plan, Research, and Drafts tabs.

Deleting Campaigns

To delete a campaign:

1. Click the "Delete" button on a campaign card
2. Confirm the deletion in the confirmation dialog

Warning: Deleting a campaign is permanent and removes:

• The campaign directory and all its contents
• All planning files (plan.json)
• All research materials (research.txt, research.md)
• All drafts (if any)

Phase 2: Plan Management

Plan Management provides a visual interface for creating and editing content plans. You can organize campaigns into phases, plan posts with titles and hooks, and manage your content timeline.

Plan Editor Interface

The Plan Editor provides a structured, form-based interface for editing your campaign plan. Access it by:

1. Opening a campaign from the campaigns list
2. Clicking on the "Plan" tab

Campaign Information

At the top of the Plan Editor, you can edit:

• Campaign Name: The campaign title
• Campaign Slug: URL-friendly identifier
• Description: Campaign description and goals

Phases

Organize your campaign into phases. Each phase represents a stage or theme in your content campaign:

• Add Phase: Click to add a new phase to your campaign
• Phase Name: Give each phase a descriptive name (e.g., "Problem Framing", "Solution Introduction")
• Phase Description: Describe the goals or focus of this phase
• Delete Phase: Remove a phase (this also removes all posts in that phase)

Planned Posts

Within each phase, you can create planned posts:

• Drag to Reorder: Posts can be reordered by dragging them within a phase
• Post Title: The working title for the planned post
• Hook: The opening hook or value proposition for the post
• Schedule: Option to schedule the post (future feature)
• Delete Post: Remove a planned post from the phase

Edit and View Modes

The Plan Editor supports two modes:

• Edit Mode: Make changes to the plan structure, phases, and posts
• View Mode: View the plan in a read-only dashboard/timeline view

Toggle between modes using the "View" button to see a visual overview of your campaign progress.

Plan Import

You can import plans from external sources:

1. Click the "Import" button in the Plan Editor
2. Choose your import source:
   • Raw Text: Import from AI chat output or plain text
   • JSON: Import from a previously exported plan
3. Paste or upload your content
4. The system will parse and structure the imported content

Plan Export

Export your plan for backup or sharing:

1. Click the "Export" button in the Plan Editor
2. Choose export format:
   • JSON: Machine-readable format for backup or import elsewhere
   • Formatted Text: Human-readable format for sharing or documentation
3. Save the exported file

Plan Validation

The system validates your plan structure to ensure:

• Required fields are present (campaign name, at least one phase)
• Plan structure is valid JSON
• No duplicate phase names

Validation errors are shown in the editor to help you fix issues.

Open in Editor

For advanced editing, you can open the plan.json file directly in your external editor:

1. Click the "Open in Editor" option
2. The plan.json file will open in your default editor
3. Make manual edits if needed
4. Return to Hammer to see your changes reflected

Phase 3: Research Management

Research Management allows you to import, convert, and edit research materials that inform your content planning. This is especially useful for importing research from AI tools like OpenAI Deep Research.

Research View Interface

Access Research Management by:

1. Opening a campaign from the campaigns list
2. Clicking on the "Research" tab

Card-Based Interface

Research files are displayed in a simplified card-based interface. Each research file appears as a card showing:

• File Type: Research Text or Research Markdown
• Filename: The name of the research file
• Actions: Open or Delete buttons

Importing Research

To import research materials:

1. Click the "Import" button in the Research tab
2. Paste or upload your research content:
   • Raw Text: Import from AI research tools, notes, or plain text files
   • Markdown: Import already-formatted markdown content
3. The system will create a research.txt file in your campaign directory

Converting Research to Markdown

After importing raw research text, you can convert it to Markdown format:

1. Import your research as raw text (creates research.txt)
2. Use the conversion feature to automatically format the text as Markdown
3. The system creates a research.md file with properly formatted content

Markdown format makes research easier to read, edit, and reference when creating your content plan.

Editing Research

To edit research content:

1. Click the "Open" button on a research file card
2. The Research Editor will open
3. Make your edits in the Markdown editor
4. Changes are saved automatically

The Research Editor provides a full Markdown editing experience with syntax highlighting and formatting support.

Viewing Research

Research files can be viewed alongside your plan for reference:

• Switch between Plan and Research tabs to reference materials while planning
• Research content is available for context when creating planned posts
• Use research to inform post titles, hooks, and phase organization

Managing Research Files

You can manage multiple research files:

• Research Text: Raw imported text (research.txt)
• Research Markdown: Converted and formatted Markdown (research.md)
• Delete: Remove research files you no longer need

Research Workflow

A typical research workflow:

1. Import raw research from AI tools or notes (creates research.txt)
2. Convert to Markdown for better formatting (creates research.md)
3. Edit and refine the research content as needed
4. Reference research while creating your content plan
5. Use research insights to inform post titles, hooks, and phase structure

Integration and Workflow

Content Plan Mode and Content Mode

Content Plan Mode and Content Mode work together:

• Content Plan Mode: Organizes planning, research, and drafts
• Content Mode: Manages published content files
• Both can be enabled simultaneously
• Planning files are excluded from builds automatically

Unified Content Tab

The Content tab provides a unified interface with a segmented control:

• Content Mode: Switch to manage published content entries
• Planning Mode: Switch to manage campaigns and planning

This unified view makes it easy to move between content management and content planning workflows.

Complete Workflow

A typical content planning workflow:

1. Create Campaign: Set up a new campaign for your content project
2. Import Research: Add research materials from AI tools or notes
3. Convert Research: Convert raw research to Markdown for easier editing
4. Create Plan: Use the Plan Editor to organize phases and planned posts
5. Reference Research: Switch between Plan and Research tabs to inform your planning
6. Export Plan: Export your plan for backup or sharing
7. Future: Generate drafts from planned posts (coming soon)

Hammer-Ignore Integration

The content-plan/ directory is automatically added to .hammer-ignore when Content Plan Mode is enabled. This ensures:

• Planning files don't interfere with builds
• Campaign directories aren't processed as content
• Research and draft files remain private

Directory Structure

The complete campaign directory structure:

content-plan/
  └── campaigns/
      └── campaign-slug/
          ├── plan.json          # Campaign plan (phases, posts)
          ├── research.txt       # Raw research text (optional)
          ├── research.md        # Converted markdown research (optional)
          └── drafts/            # Draft content (for future use)

Reference

Campaign Model

Campaigns are stored with the following structure:

{
  "id": "uuid",
  "name": "Campaign Name",
  "slug": "campaign-slug",
  "description": "Campaign description",
  "directoryPath": "content-plan/campaigns/campaign-slug",
  "createdAt": "2025-12-31T00:00:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2025-12-31T00:00:00Z"
}

Plan.json Structure

The plan.json file contains the campaign structure:

{
  "campaignName": "Campaign Name",
  "campaignSlug": "campaign-slug",
  "description": "Campaign description",
  "phases": [
    {
      "name": "Phase Name",
      "description": "Phase description",
      "posts": [
        {
          "title": "Post Title",
          "hook": "Post hook or value proposition"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Research Files

Research files are stored directly in the campaign directory:

• research.txt — Raw research text (plain text format)
• research.md — Converted Markdown research (Markdown format)

Directory Structure Reference

Full campaign directory structure:

site-root/
  content-plan/
    campaigns/
      campaign-slug/
        plan.json              # Campaign plan file
        research.txt           # Raw research (optional)
        research.md            # Markdown research (optional)
        drafts/                # Draft content (for future use)

Known Limitations

As an early preview feature, the Content Planning System has some limitations:

• Draft Generation: Generating drafts from planned posts is not yet implemented
• Campaign-to-Content Linking: Direct linking between campaigns and published content is not yet implemented
• Plan Validation: Validation is basic (structure validation, not content validation)
• Scheduling: Post scheduling within plans is not yet functional

Best Practices

Campaign Organization

• Use descriptive campaign names that clearly indicate the campaign's purpose
• Include dates or timeframes when relevant (e.g., "Q1 2025 Launch")
• Create separate campaigns for distinct content projects
• Use descriptions to provide context about campaign goals

Research Management

• Import research early in your planning process
• Convert raw research to Markdown for easier editing and reference
• Keep research files organized and up-to-date
• Reference research when creating phases and planned posts

Plan Structure

• Organize campaigns into logical phases
• Use phase descriptions to clarify goals and focus
• Create clear, descriptive post titles
• Write compelling hooks that communicate value
• Use drag-and-drop reordering to optimize post sequence

Workflow Optimization

• Start with research, then create your plan
• Export plans regularly for backup
• Use the visual editor for most edits, manual JSON editing only when necessary
• Switch between Plan and Research tabs to maintain context
• Validate plans before finalizing

Next Steps

Now that you understand the Content Planning System:

• Enable Content Plan Mode in your site settings
• Create your first campaign to organize a content project
• Import research materials and convert them to Markdown
• Use the Plan Editor to create phases and planned posts
• Experiment with import/export functionality
• Provide feedback on the preview feature to help shape future improvements

Learn more about related features:

• Content Mode Introduction to understand how published content works
• Publishing & Scheduling for content visibility controls
• UI Management for managing content through Hammer's interface