# Your first blueprint

> What each of the three editor steps is for, and what it will not let you skip.

The blueprint editor has three steps. Move between them in any order; only
publishing is gated.

| Step                  | What it is for                                            |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1. Content            | The title, and the tabs. The first tab must be a diagram. |
| 2. Resources & Strata | Strata, further diagrams, and uploaded files.             |
| 3. Publish            | Tags, visibility, and pre-flight checks.                  |

## Step 1: Content

A blueprint is a set of **tabs**. The first is always a diagram; after that,
add Rich Text tabs for prose, Raw tabs for code or config, and further diagram
tabs.

Use tabs for separate views of the same subject: a logical view and a physical
view, or one per environment. Do not use them as chapters of an essay; that is
what [strata](/foliums/blueprintr-user-guide/strata) and [foliums](/foliums/blueprintr-user-guide/foliums) are for.

> \[!TIP]
> Clicking a shape while in step 1 offers to add a stratum to it. You do not
> have to wait for step 2.

## Step 2: Resources & Strata

Everything that sits alongside the diagram:

> \[!FIELDS]
>
> > \[!FIELD Strata|per shape|optional]
> >
> > Detail bound to shapes, on any diagram in the blueprint, including
> > diagrams embedded inside rich text.
>
> > \[!FIELD Diagrams|any engine|optional]
> >
> > Further diagrams that are not tabs, referenced from prose or from a
> > stratum.
>
> > \[!FIELD Files|upload|optional]
> >
> > Images and attachments, organised in folders.

## Step 3: Publish

**Tags** are suggested from your content and can be edited. They drive
discovery and the related-content rail.

**Visibility** is one of three values:

| Value    | Who can read it                              |
| -------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| Public   | Anyone, and it can be indexed                |
| Unlisted | Anyone with the link                         |
| Private  | You, and anyone the blueprint is shared with |

**Pre-flight checks** run last. They catch the things that make a published
blueprint look unfinished: an empty canvas, a tab with no content, a missing
title. Publishing is blocked until they pass.

> \[!NOTE]
> Publishing sets a version. Later edits are drafts against that version, and
> readers keep seeing the published one until you publish again. See
> [versions and history](/foliums/blueprintr-user-guide/blueprints/versions-and-history).