Create and manage dashboard announcements in Simployer One

Dashboard announcements let Owners and Admins publish messages in the News widget on the Home dashboard. Each Simployer One dashboard announcement can have its own content, design, audience, start date, and end date. 

What can I use dashboard announcements for?

• Share company news with everyone in the company 
• Target a specific audience by employee, team, office, employment type, department, or organization 
• Schedule time-sensitive messages to appear and expire automatically 
• Add richer content through a Read more dialog with formatted text, images, tables, links, and YouTube videos 

Who can manage dashboard announcements in Simployer One?

Owners and Admins can create and manage dashboard announcements in Simployer One. Employees can view active announcements when they are included in the announcement audience. 

Important: The announcement management actions described in this article are for Owners and Admins. 

Where do I find dashboard announcements in Simployer One? 

Dashboard announcements appear in the News card on the Home dashboard under the Personal tab. 

1. Go to Home. 
2. Open the Personal tab. 
3. Find the News card. 
4. Click the pencil icon in the upper-right corner of the News card. 

Simployer One opens the Announcements list. The list shows each existing announcement, its start and end dates, its status (for example Active), and the available Duplicate and Edit actions. 

How do I create a dashboard announcement in Simployer One? 

1. Go to Home > Personal. 
2. Click the pencil icon on the News card. 
3. Click + New announcement. 
4. Choose the announcement design in the Choose a theme section. 
5. Complete the announcement content in the Details section. 
6. Set the audience in the Edit scope panel. 
7. Set the start date and optional end date in the Publishing section.
8. Click Save.
9. Simployer One asks: "Would you like to add a scope to this announcement?" Select Yes, continue to choose the audience in the Edit scope panel, then click Save in the panel and Save on the announcement page.  

Important: The audience can only be set after the first save. The announcement is saved before the scope is chosen. 

Simployer One adds the announcement to the Announcements list. The announcement becomes visible to the selected audience when its start date and time are reached. 

How do I choose the design for a dashboard announcement? 

Use the Choose a theme section to control how the Simployer One dashboard announcement looks. A preview of the News card is shown at the top of the page.

• Preset theme - Choose one of the three available themes, or No theme
• Background color - Pick a color (under Or customize). 
• Text color - Select a preset swatch or enter a HEX color code 
• Background image - Upload an image with a maximum file size of 2 MB 

Important: Choose a text color with enough contrast against the background so employees can read the announcement. 

What content can I add to a dashboard announcement? 

Complete the Details section for each Simployer One dashboard announcement. 

• Title - The headline shown in the News card 
• Description - The main message shown in the News card 
• URL - An optional link target for the announcement 
• Need to fit more content? - An optional expanded body that employees open in a Read more dialog 

The expanded Need to fit more content? area supports: 

• Headings 
• Bold, italic, and strikethrough text 
• Quotes 
• Bulleted and numbered lists 
• Checkboxes 
• Tables 
• Links 
• Images 
• Embedded video from YouTube links only
• Dividers, indentation, inline code and code blocks 

How do I target a dashboard announcement to the right employees? 

Use the Edit scope panel to define who can see a Simployer One dashboard announcement. 

1.    Open the announcement edit screen or choose Yes, continue after the first save. 

2.    Click + Edit scope (in the section Publishing). 

3.    Choose one audience type: 

• Everyone at the company - Show the announcement to all employees. Simployer One disables the filters below when this option is selected. 
• Select people - Build a custom audience with one or more filters. 

4.    When you choose Select people, use any combination of these filters: 

• Individuals - Add specific employees by name 
• Teams - Include employees who belong to selected teams 
• Offices - Include employees in selected office locations 
• Employment types - Include employees with selected employment types 
• Departments - Include employees in selected departments 
• Organizations - Include employees in selected organizations or legal entities 
• Exclude from this scope - Remove selected individuals from the otherwise matching audience

    5.    Review the employees under Added employees. Simployer One shows selected employees as              avatar chips. Before anyone is selected, it shows "0 employees selected".

    6.    To reset the current selection, click Clear filter. 

    7.    Click Save in the Edit scope panel. 

    8.    Click Save on the announcement screen. 

Note: An employee must match the saved audience and the active schedule to see the announcement in the News widget. 

How do I schedule a dashboard announcement?

Use the Publishing section to control when a Simployer One dashboard announcement appears and disappears. 

Start date 

Sets the date and time when the announcement becomes visible on the dashboard. It is set to today by default.

End date 

Optionally sets the date and time when the announcement is removed from the dashboard. Leave this field blank to run the announcement indefinitely (the field then shows "No end date - runs forever"). The overview then shows Ends: Never. 

The Announcements list shows the current start and end values for every announcement, so you can review schedules without opening each announcement. 

Tip: Set an End date for temporary announcements so Simployer One removes them automatically. 

How do I edit an existing dashboard announcement? 

1. Go to Home > Personal. 
2. Click the pencil icon on the News card. 
3. Find the announcement in the Announcements list. 
4. Click Edit. 
5. Update the title, description, expanded content, design, schedule, or audience as needed. 
6. Click Save. 

Simployer One saves the updated announcement settings and returns to the Announcements list.

How do I remove a dashboard announcement? 

You can remove a Simployer One dashboard announcement immediately or schedule it to expire later. 

Delete a dashboard announcement immediately 

1. Open the announcement from the Announcements list by clicking Edit. 
2. Click Delete this announcement under Danger zone at the bottom of the page. 

Simployer One permanently removes the announcement. 

Expire a dashboard announcement automatically 

1. Open the announcement and find the Publishing section.
2. Enter an End date and time. 
3. Click Save. 

Simployer One removes the announcement from the dashboard when the end date and time are reached. 

What do employees see in the News widget? 

Employees see active Simployer One dashboard announcements in the News card under Home > Personal. When more than one active announcement applies to an employee, the employee can use the arrows on the card to move between announcements. Each announcement keeps its own audience, schedule, content, and design. 

Dashboard announcement quick reference

FAQs

Can a dashboard announcement run without an end date? 

Yes. Leave the End date blank. The announcement runs indefinitely ("No end date - runs forever"), and the Announcements list shows Ends: Never. 

Can I show a dashboard announcement to only part of the company? 

Yes. Choose Select people in the Edit scope panel, then filter by individuals, teams, offices, employment types, departments, or organizations. You can also exclude selected individuals from the audience. 

Can I add a video to a dashboard announcement? 

Yes. Add the video in the expanded Need to fit more content? area with the Video button. Embedded video supports YouTube links only.

Video guide: Managing Dashboard Announcements
Managing Dashboard Announcements