Publishing announcements to learners
An announcement is a short update in the right-hand rail of the learner home page. It is for things with a date on them — a deadline, a shutdown, a new course everybody should know about — rather than for standing information, which belongs in hub content.
Where it is
Section titled “Where it is”Choose Admin, then Engagement and Announcements.
Announcements appear only if they are switched on under Engagement features on the settings screen beside it.
Creating one
Section titled “Creating one”- Choose New announcement.
- Write a title and a short body. The rail is narrow — this is a sentence or two, not a page.
- Pick an icon.
- Set when it appears and when it stops.
- Choose who sees it.
Dates do the tidying for you
Section titled “Dates do the tidying for you”An announcement carries a date it goes live and a date it expires.
Set both when you create it. An announcement about a deadline that outlives the deadline is worse than no announcement, and expiry is the difference between a rail people read and a rail people learn to ignore.
Leaving the expiry blank means it stays until somebody removes it, which is a decision rather than a default — make it deliberately.
Who sees it
Section titled “Who sees it”Announcements are targeted. An announcement for the warehouse does not appear for head office, so you can be specific without filling everybody’s rail.
Where an announcement genuinely is for everybody, say so by targeting everybody rather than by leaving targeting empty and assuming.
The rail disappears when there is nothing in it
Section titled “The rail disappears when there is nothing in it”With no live announcements, the rail is not shown at all — the learner home page simply has no right-hand column.
This is worth knowing for two reasons. A layout that looks wrong is often just an empty rail. And an announcement nobody sees may have expired rather than failed: check the dates before checking the targeting.
Ordering
Section titled “Ordering”Announcements have a display order, so the most important one can sit at the top rather than the most recent.
Where an announcement is the wrong tool
Section titled “Where an announcement is the wrong tool”Three things get put in announcements and should not be.
Anything permanent belongs in hub content, which is built to be read rather than dismissed. Anything requiring action from one person should be an assignment or a reminder, both of which chase. Anything urgent and individual is an email — the rail is seen when somebody next visits, which may be next week.
What happens when you save
Section titled “What happens when you save”A live announcement appears the next time somebody loads their home page. Nobody is emailed — an announcement is seen by people who visit, which is exactly why it suits information that is useful rather than urgent.