Cancel an event

The goal is that the event stops appearing as upcoming, its dead pages redirect instead of 404ing, and anyone who lands on it sees why.

The site filters events with cancel: "true" out of the upcoming, all-events and TBD listings. The value is a case-sensitive string in quotes.

There is no script for this. Work through it by hand.

1. Trim the pages

Keep three: welcome.md, contact.md, conduct.md (plus translated conduct pages if the event has them). Delete the rest from content/events/<YYYY>-<city-slug>/:

cd content/events/2026-ponyville
rm -f location.md propose.md registration.md sponsor.md program.md speakers.md talks.md
rm -rf program speakers

2. Redirect the deleted pages

Anyone with a bookmark should land on the welcome page, not a 404. Add aliases to welcome.md's frontmatter, one per page you deleted:

+++
Title = "devopsdays Ponyville 2026"
Type = "welcome"
Description = "devopsdays Ponyville 2026 has been cancelled."
aliases = [
    "/events/2026-ponyville/",
    "/events/2026-ponyville/location/",
    "/events/2026-ponyville/propose/",
    "/events/2026-ponyville/registration/",
    "/events/2026-ponyville/sponsor/",
    "/events/2026-ponyville/program/",
    "/events/2026-ponyville/speakers/"
]
+++

Then replace the body with the cancellation notice. Say what happened, and whether people should expect the event to return, and how to reach the team. This is the page everyone will see.

3. Edit the data file

In data/events/<YYYY>/<city-slug>/main.yml:

cancel: "true"

startdate:
enddate:
cfp_date_start:
cfp_date_end:
cfp_date_announce:
registration_date_start:
registration_date_end:

location:
location_address:

sponsors_accepted: "no"

description: "devopsdays Ponyville 2026 has been cancelled."

nav_elements:
  - name: contact
  - name: conduct

Blank the dates rather than deleting the keys. Trim nav_elements to the pages that still exist — leaving a nav entry for a deleted page produces a dead link.

Leave the sponsors: list alone. Sponsors who supported the event stay credited.

4. The build trap

If location.md used {{< event_map >}} and you blank coordinates, the build breaks. The shortcode reads coordinates before checking whether there is an address, so a blank value is a hard failure, not a graceful skip.

Deleting location.md in step 1 avoids this entirely. If the event keeps a location page for some reason, remove the {{< event_map >}} shortcode from it.

5. The redirect

Leave the city's line in static/_redirects pointing at this event. When the city runs again, new-event bumps the year. Pointing /ponyville/ at a cancelled event is better than pointing it at nothing.

6. Verify

• cancel: "true" is quoted, lowercase true, and spelled cancel not cancelled
• The event is gone from the front page and /events/ after a rebuild
• Every alias you added corresponds to a page you actually deleted
• Every remaining nav_elements entry has a page
• No {{< event_map >}} survives with blank coordinates
• Preview /events/<YYYY>-<city-slug>/ and try one of the old URLs

7. Submit

Follow .claude/skills/submit-changes/SKILL.md.

PR title: [PONY-2026] Cancel Ponyville 2026.

This is a visible change affecting people who bought tickets or submitted talks. Make sure the organizers have actually announced it before the PR merges.