Sending Announcements
Announcements can be sent using the online admin portal or in the app by tapping the plus button in the top right corner. Only admins have access to create an announcement.
Create Announcement
To send an announcement, navigate to Connect > Announcements on the menu, and click "Add Announcement"
Create a title and announcement body then set the "announcement viewable until" field to the desired date. Once this date passes, the announcement will no longer be visible in the app.
Notification message
The "notification message" box is the 255 characters of text that will be sent in the push notification to users' phones. You can create custom text, or click the "Copy Announcement" button to send the first 255 characters of the announcement.
Add image, link, or contact info
Click the "add image, email or phone, or action URL" button to add additional info to the announcement.
Publishing options
Send immediately - to send an announcement immediately, click "Publish"
Schedule - to schedule an announcement to automatically go out in the future, click "Schedule"
Save for later - to save the announcement and come back to it later, click "Save draft"
Pinning Announcements
You may pin any announcement to the top of the list by clicking the pin icon.
Quick notifications vs. announcements
There is a "quick notification" option under Connect > Quick Notification. Sending a quick notification does not create an announcement in the app. It is a one time push notification send to users' phones, and they cannot view the message again under the announcements tab. This is best suited for quick notifications such as "church is live!" to alert your members that they can tune into the service.