feat: improve Wagtail admin editor experience for articles

- Add published_date field to ArticlePage with auto-populate from
  first_published_at on first publish, plus data migration backfill
- Surface go_live_at/expire_at scheduling fields in editor panels
- Reorganise ArticlePage editor with TabbedInterface (Content,
  Metadata, Publishing, SEO tabs)
- Add Articles PageListingViewSet to admin menu with custom columns
  (author, category, published date, status) and category/author filters
- Add Articles summary dashboard panel showing drafts, scheduled,
  and recently published articles
- Update all front-end queries and RSS feeds to use published_date
- Add 10 unit tests and 4 E2E tests for new admin features

Closes #39

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

apps/blog/feeds.py

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class AllArticlesFeed(Feed):
         return None
 
     def items(self):
-        return ArticlePage.objects.live().order_by("-first_published_at")[:20]
+        return ArticlePage.objects.live().order_by("-published_date")[:20]
 
     def item_title(self, item: ArticlePage):
         return item.title
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class AllArticlesFeed(Feed):
         return item.summary
 
     def item_pubdate(self, item: ArticlePage):
-        return item.first_published_at
+        return item.published_date or item.first_published_at
 
     def item_author_name(self, item: ArticlePage):
         return item.author.name
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class TagArticlesFeed(AllArticlesFeed):
         return f"No Hype AI — {obj.name}"
 
     def items(self, obj):
-        return ArticlePage.objects.live().filter(tags=obj).order_by("-first_published_at")[:20]
+        return ArticlePage.objects.live().filter(tags=obj).order_by("-published_date")[:20]
 
 
 class CategoryArticlesFeed(AllArticlesFeed):
@@ -59,4 +59,4 @@ class CategoryArticlesFeed(AllArticlesFeed):
         return f"No Hype AI — {obj.name}"
 
     def items(self, obj):
-        return ArticlePage.objects.live().filter(category=obj).order_by("-first_published_at")[:20]
+        return ArticlePage.objects.live().filter(category=obj).order_by("-published_date")[:20]

apps/blog/migrations/0003_add_published_date.py

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.11 on 2026-03-03 13:59
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('blog', '0002_category_articlepage_category'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='articlepage',
+            name='published_date',
+            field=models.DateTimeField(blank=True, help_text='Display date for this article. Auto-set on first publish if left blank.', null=True),
+        ),
+    ]

apps/blog/migrations/0004_backfill_published_date.py

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.11 on 2026-03-03 13:59
+
+from django.db import migrations
+
+
+def backfill_published_date(apps, schema_editor):
+    schema_editor.execute(
+        "UPDATE blog_articlepage SET published_date = p.first_published_at "
+        "FROM wagtailcore_page p "
+        "WHERE blog_articlepage.page_ptr_id = p.id "
+        "AND blog_articlepage.published_date IS NULL "
+        "AND p.first_published_at IS NOT NULL"
+    )
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('blog', '0003_add_published_date'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RunPython(backfill_published_date, migrations.RunPython.noop),
+    ]

apps/blog/models.py

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
 from modelcluster.contrib.taggit import ClusterTaggableManager
 from modelcluster.fields import ParentalKey
 from taggit.models import Tag, TaggedItemBase
-from wagtail.admin.panels import FieldPanel, PageChooserPanel
+from wagtail.admin.panels import FieldPanel, ObjectList, PageChooserPanel, TabbedInterface
 from wagtail.contrib.routable_page.models import RoutablePageMixin, route
 from wagtail.fields import RichTextField, StreamField
 from wagtail.models import Page
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class HomePage(Page):
             .public()
             .select_related("author", "category")
             .prefetch_related("tags__metadata")
-            .order_by("-first_published_at")
+            .order_by("-published_date")
         )
         articles = list(articles_qs[:5])
         ctx["featured_article"] = self.featured_article
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class ArticleIndexPage(RoutablePageMixin, Page):
             .live()
             .select_related("author", "category")
             .prefetch_related("tags__metadata")
-            .order_by("-first_published_at")
+            .order_by("-published_date")
         )
 
     def get_category_url(self, category):
@@ -191,21 +191,46 @@ class ArticlePage(SeoMixin, Page):
     tags = ClusterTaggableManager(through="blog.ArticleTag", blank=True)
     read_time_mins = models.PositiveIntegerField(editable=False, default=1)
     comments_enabled = models.BooleanField(default=True)
+    published_date = models.DateTimeField(
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+        help_text="Display date for this article. Auto-set on first publish if left blank.",
+    )
 
     parent_page_types = ["blog.ArticleIndexPage"]
     subpage_types: list[str] = []
 
-    content_panels = Page.content_panels + [
-        FieldPanel("category"),
-        FieldPanel("author"),
-        FieldPanel("hero_image"),
+    content_panels = [
+        FieldPanel("title"),
         FieldPanel("summary"),
         FieldPanel("body"),
+    ]
+
+    metadata_panels = [
+        FieldPanel("category"),
+        FieldPanel("author"),
         FieldPanel("tags"),
+        FieldPanel("hero_image"),
         FieldPanel("comments_enabled"),
     ]
 
-    promote_panels = Page.promote_panels + SeoMixin.seo_panels
+    publishing_panels = [
+        FieldPanel("published_date"),
+        FieldPanel("go_live_at"),
+        FieldPanel("expire_at"),
+    ]
+
+    edit_handler = TabbedInterface(
+        [
+            ObjectList(content_panels, heading="Content"),
+            ObjectList(metadata_panels, heading="Metadata"),
+            ObjectList(publishing_panels, heading="Publishing"),
+            ObjectList(
+                Page.promote_panels + SeoMixin.seo_panels,
+                heading="SEO",
+            ),
+        ]
+    )
 
     search_fields = Page.search_fields
 
@@ -215,6 +240,8 @@ class ArticlePage(SeoMixin, Page):
                 slug="general",
                 defaults={"name": "General", "description": "General articles", "colour": "neutral"},
             )
+        if not self.published_date and self.first_published_at:
+            self.published_date = self.first_published_at
         self.read_time_mins = self._compute_read_time()
         return super().save(*args, **kwargs)
 
@@ -239,14 +266,14 @@ class ArticlePage(SeoMixin, Page):
             .filter(tags__in=tag_ids)
             .exclude(pk=self.pk)
             .distinct()
-            .order_by("-first_published_at")[:count]
+            .order_by("-published_date")[:count]
         )
         if len(related) < count:
             exclude_ids = [a.pk for a in related] + [self.pk]
             fallback = list(
                 ArticlePage.objects.live()
                 .exclude(pk__in=exclude_ids)
-                .order_by("-first_published_at")[: count - len(related)]
+                .order_by("-published_date")[: count - len(related)]
             )
             return related + fallback
         return related

apps/blog/tests/factories.py

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ class ArticlePageFactory(wagtail_factories.PageFactory):
     summary = "Summary"
     body = [("rich_text", "<p>Hello world</p>")]
     first_published_at = factory.LazyFunction(timezone.now)
+    published_date = factory.LazyFunction(timezone.now)
 
 
 class LegalIndexPageFactory(wagtail_factories.PageFactory):

apps/blog/tests/test_admin_experience.py

@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+import pytest
+from django.test import override_settings
+from django.utils import timezone
+
+from apps.blog.models import ArticleIndexPage, ArticlePage, Category
+from apps.blog.tests.factories import AuthorFactory
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_published_date_auto_set_on_first_publish(home_page):
+    """published_date should be auto-populated from first_published_at on first publish."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+    article = ArticlePage(
+        title="Auto Date",
+        slug="auto-date",
+        author=author,
+        summary="summary",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=article)
+    article.save_revision().publish()
+    article.refresh_from_db()
+    assert article.published_date is not None
+    assert article.published_date == article.first_published_at
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_published_date_preserved_when_explicitly_set(home_page):
+    """An explicitly set published_date should not be overwritten on save."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+    custom_date = timezone.now() - timezone.timedelta(days=30)
+    article = ArticlePage(
+        title="Custom Date",
+        slug="custom-date",
+        author=author,
+        summary="summary",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+        published_date=custom_date,
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=article)
+    article.save_revision().publish()
+    article.refresh_from_db()
+    assert article.published_date == custom_date
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_homepage_orders_articles_by_published_date(home_page):
+    """HomePage context should list articles ordered by -published_date."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+
+    older = ArticlePage(
+        title="Older",
+        slug="older",
+        author=author,
+        summary="s",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+        published_date=timezone.now() - timezone.timedelta(days=10),
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=older)
+    older.save_revision().publish()
+
+    newer = ArticlePage(
+        title="Newer",
+        slug="newer",
+        author=author,
+        summary="s",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+        published_date=timezone.now(),
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=newer)
+    newer.save_revision().publish()
+
+    ctx = home_page.get_context(type("Req", (), {"GET": {}})())
+    titles = [a.title for a in ctx["latest_articles"]]
+    assert titles.index("Newer") < titles.index("Older")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_article_index_orders_by_published_date(home_page, rf):
+    """ArticleIndexPage.get_articles should order by -published_date."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+
+    old = ArticlePage(
+        title="Old",
+        slug="old",
+        author=author,
+        summary="s",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>b</p>")],
+        published_date=timezone.now() - timezone.timedelta(days=5),
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=old)
+    old.save_revision().publish()
+
+    new = ArticlePage(
+        title="New",
+        slug="new",
+        author=author,
+        summary="s",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>b</p>")],
+        published_date=timezone.now(),
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=new)
+    new.save_revision().publish()
+
+    articles = list(index.get_articles())
+    assert articles[0].title == "New"
+    assert articles[1].title == "Old"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_feed_uses_published_date(article_page):
+    """RSS feed item_pubdate should use published_date."""
+    from apps.blog.feeds import AllArticlesFeed
+
+    feed = AllArticlesFeed()
+    assert feed.item_pubdate(article_page) == article_page.published_date
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@override_settings(ALLOWED_HOSTS=["testserver", "localhost", "127.0.0.1"])
+def test_articles_listing_viewset_loads(client, django_user_model, home_page):
+    """The Articles PageListingViewSet index page should load."""
+    admin = django_user_model.objects.create_superuser(
+        username="admin", email="admin@example.com", password="admin-pass"
+    )
+    client.force_login(admin)
+    response = client.get("/cms/articles/")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@override_settings(ALLOWED_HOSTS=["testserver", "localhost", "127.0.0.1"])
+def test_articles_listing_shows_articles(client, django_user_model, home_page):
+    """The Articles listing should show existing articles."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+    article = ArticlePage(
+        title="Listed Article",
+        slug="listed-article",
+        author=author,
+        summary="summary",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=article)
+    article.save_revision().publish()
+
+    admin = django_user_model.objects.create_superuser(
+        username="admin", email="admin@example.com", password="admin-pass"
+    )
+    client.force_login(admin)
+    response = client.get("/cms/articles/")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert "Listed Article" in response.content.decode()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@override_settings(ALLOWED_HOSTS=["testserver", "localhost", "127.0.0.1"])
+def test_dashboard_panel_renders(client, django_user_model, home_page):
+    """The Wagtail admin dashboard should include the articles summary panel."""
+    admin = django_user_model.objects.create_superuser(
+        username="admin", email="admin@example.com", password="admin-pass"
+    )
+    client.force_login(admin)
+    response = client.get("/cms/")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    content = response.content.decode()
+    assert "Articles overview" in content
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@override_settings(ALLOWED_HOSTS=["testserver", "localhost", "127.0.0.1"])
+def test_dashboard_panel_shows_drafts(client, django_user_model, home_page):
+    """Dashboard panel should list draft articles."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+    draft = ArticlePage(
+        title="My Draft Post",
+        slug="draft-post",
+        author=author,
+        summary="summary",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=draft)
+    draft.save_revision()  # save revision but don't publish
+
+    admin = django_user_model.objects.create_superuser(
+        username="admin", email="admin@example.com", password="admin-pass"
+    )
+    client.force_login(admin)
+    response = client.get("/cms/")
+    content = response.content.decode()
+    assert "My Draft Post" in content
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@override_settings(ALLOWED_HOSTS=["testserver", "localhost", "127.0.0.1"])
+def test_article_edit_page_has_tabbed_interface(client, django_user_model, home_page):
+    """ArticlePage editor should have tabbed panels (Content, Metadata, Publishing, SEO)."""
+    index = ArticleIndexPage(title="Articles", slug="articles")
+    home_page.add_child(instance=index)
+    author = AuthorFactory()
+    article = ArticlePage(
+        title="Tabbed",
+        slug="tabbed",
+        author=author,
+        summary="summary",
+        body=[("rich_text", "<p>body</p>")],
+    )
+    index.add_child(instance=article)
+    article.save_revision().publish()
+
+    admin = django_user_model.objects.create_superuser(
+        username="admin", email="admin@example.com", password="admin-pass"
+    )
+    client.force_login(admin)
+    response = client.get(f"/cms/pages/{article.pk}/edit/")
+    content = response.content.decode()
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert "Content" in content
+    assert "Metadata" in content
+    assert "Publishing" in content
+    assert "SEO" in content

apps/blog/wagtail_hooks.py

@@ -1,7 +1,17 @@
+from django.utils.html import format_html
+
+import django_filters
+from wagtail import hooks
+from wagtail.admin.filters import WagtailFilterSet
+from wagtail.admin.ui.components import Component
+from wagtail.admin.ui.tables import Column, DateColumn
+from wagtail.admin.ui.tables.pages import BulkActionsColumn, PageStatusColumn, PageTitleColumn
+from wagtail.admin.viewsets.pages import PageListingViewSet
 from wagtail.snippets.models import register_snippet
 from wagtail.snippets.views.snippets import SnippetViewSet
 
-from apps.blog.models import Category, TagMetadata
+from apps.authors.models import Author
+from apps.blog.models import ArticlePage, Category, TagMetadata
 
 
 class TagMetadataViewSet(SnippetViewSet):
@@ -22,3 +32,74 @@ class CategoryViewSet(SnippetViewSet):
 
 
 register_snippet(CategoryViewSet)
+
+
+# ── Articles page listing ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+class ArticleFilterSet(WagtailFilterSet):
+    category = django_filters.ModelChoiceFilter(
+        queryset=Category.objects.all(),
+        empty_label="All categories",
+    )
+    author = django_filters.ModelChoiceFilter(
+        queryset=Author.objects.all(),
+        empty_label="All authors",
+    )
+
+    class Meta:
+        model = ArticlePage
+        fields = []
+
+
+class ArticlePageListingViewSet(PageListingViewSet):
+    model = ArticlePage
+    icon = "doc-full"
+    menu_label = "Articles"
+    menu_order = 200
+    add_to_admin_menu = True
+    name = "articles"
+    columns = [
+        BulkActionsColumn("bulk_actions"),
+        PageTitleColumn("title", classname="title"),
+        Column("author", label="Author", sort_key="author__name"),
+        Column("category", label="Category"),
+        DateColumn("published_date", label="Published", sort_key="published_date"),
+        PageStatusColumn("status", sort_key="live"),
+    ]
+    filterset_class = ArticleFilterSet
+
+
+@hooks.register("register_admin_viewset")
+def register_article_listing():
+    return ArticlePageListingViewSet("articles")
+
+
+# ── Dashboard panel ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+class ArticlesSummaryPanel(Component):
+    name = "articles_summary"
+    template_name = "blog/panels/articles_summary.html"
+    order = 110
+
+    def get_context_data(self, parent_context):
+        context = super().get_context_data(parent_context)
+        context["drafts"] = (
+            ArticlePage.objects.not_live()
+            .order_by("-latest_revision_created_at")[:5]
+        )
+        context["scheduled"] = (
+            ArticlePage.objects.filter(go_live_at__isnull=False, live=False)
+            .order_by("go_live_at")[:5]
+        )
+        context["recent"] = (
+            ArticlePage.objects.live()
+            .order_by("-published_date")[:5]
+        )
+        return context
+
+
+@hooks.register("construct_homepage_panels")
+def add_articles_summary_panel(request, panels):
+    panels.append(ArticlesSummaryPanel())