Announcements
Post an update to everyone at the event — in the app, on their phone's lock screen if they opted in, and personal to each attendee when it needs to be.
What it is
A feed attendees can open at any time, and — for anyone who turned notifications on — a push that reaches a closed phone. One composer does both.
When to use it
Room changes, delays, 'the keynote starts in ten minutes'. Anything where waiting for someone to open the app is too slow.
Before you start
- A published event. Announcements on a draft event reach nobody.
- Announcements to hand. It is an add-on: open it from Apps at the end of the bar of apps on the left, and click Add beside it to keep it on your bar.
Try it — this is a sandbox, nothing here is real
Post a room change fifteen minutes before a session. One path sends it to nobody, which is the failure worth meeting in a sandbox.
The composer. Note the device count — that is who a push would actually reach.
412 devices have notifications turned on.
Attendee phone
Nook Summit
Keynote moved to Hall B — one floor up.
New
everyone
In the feed
412 devices
Notified
1,088
Not notified
You cannot enrol someone
An attendee turns notifications on themselves: when the app asks them once after they sign in, or later from the Notifications screen or their Me screen. On iPhone they must first add the event to their Home Screen — Apple allows web notifications no other way.
Nobody was notified
Send a notification was off. For a room change fifteen minutes out, that is the difference between a full hall and an empty one.
Scheduled
13:45 in the event's timezone. If you are working from another country, that is not 13:45 where you are.
Click a control above. One of them is the mistake people actually make — take it on purpose.
Step by step
- 1
Write itAnnouncements
Title and body, with formatting, links and an image. The preview beside the composer is what the attendee feed will actually render.
Tip. Put the important half in the title — a push notification often shows little else.
- 2
Decide whether it pushes
The Send a notification switch is per post. The number beside it is the real audience: devices that opted in, not attendees on your list.
Careful. A push is not recallable. Editing the post afterwards changes the feed entry; the notification that already landed stays as it was sent.
- 3
Now, or later
Publish immediately, or pick a time. Scheduled times are in the event's timezone, not your browser's.
- 4
Make it personal (optional)Announcements → Message → Insert field
Click Insert field above the message to drop in a field such as First name, Lucky draw number or Ticket ID — or one of your own attendee fields. Each attendee sees their own value: *Your lucky draw number is 0427*. Fields work inside links too: link *Take the survey* to
https://forms.example.com/s?tid={{ticket_id}}and every attendee gets a link carrying their own ticket ID.Tip. Preview shows the post with sample details, and the list marks a personal post Personal. For your own NookPass surveys you need no field — the survey already knows who is signed in.
Careful. Fields go in the message only — not the title, and not the notification text, which every device receives alike.
- 5
Check it landed
Published posts appear in the list straight away. Scheduled ones sit there marked as scheduled until their time — you can edit or delete them until then.
When it goes wrong
Every one of these has happened to someone. Symptom first, because that is what you will have.
Announcements is not on the bar of appsgotcha
Posted without a notificationwarning
The notification reached far fewer people than you have attendeesgotcha
Announced on an unpublished eventblocker
A personal post shows a dash instead of a valuegotcha
Can't post: a personal field is in the title or the notification textgotcha
The announcements block on your website now says to open the appgotcha
Scheduled post went out at the wrong timewarning
What people ask
Kept in the words people use, because that is what you are about to type.
Can I send to only some attendees?
No. An announcement goes to the whole event. A personal post can say something different to each person — their own number, their own link — but everyone receives it. For one group, use a session or a chat instead.
Does a personal post send personal notifications?
No. The notification is the same on every device — it cannot carry one person's details — and tapping it opens that attendee's own copy of the post. Leave the notification text empty and it says there is an update just for them.
Can I show announcements on my own website?
Not any more. The website embed was removed when posts could become personal. Link to the event app's announcements instead.
Can I delete a post after sending?
Yes — it leaves the feed. A notification already delivered to a phone cannot be recalled.
Where does tapping a notification take people?
To the announcements in the event's app, in the browser or home-screen app they turned notifications on from — so they land signed in. If the app is already open, it switches to the announcements; if that tab can't be moved, a new one opens.
Where do attendees turn notifications on?
Three places: the one-time ask after they sign in (Settings → Features → Ask attendees to allow notifications), the Notifications screen — reachable from a top-bar button (Navigation → Top bar) or a tab or menu item you add — and the switch on their Me screen.