Announcement templates are great when you need to send the same announcement to multiple sessions. Instead of creating them from scratch, you can create the announcement as a template that you can re-use throughout the event.
All templates will remain in the Templates tab even after you have sent them so you can resend them as many times as you like throughout the duration of your Pigeonhole.
How to create an announcement template?
Admin Panel
1. On the Admin Panel, go to Controls.
The control button in the Admin Panel
2. Next, click on the Announcement tab, select Compose and type your message into the Announcement message box.
Note: Links added as part of an Announcement will be hyperlinked on the Audience Web App.
Compose tab for drafting and create announcement templates
3. Select the session you want the message to be sent.
Note: Announcements sent to parent sessions will also be sent to their respective nested sessions.
Compose tab with the “Send announcement to” drop down showing sessions in the Pigeonhole
4. To Redirect attendees to a specific session using the announcement, specify the location of the redirect from the drop-down list.
Compose tab with the “Direct attendees to” drop down showing sessions in the Pigeonhole
5. If you would like to pin the announcement, check the Pin box. The announcement will be pinned to the session that it is being sent to.
Compose tab with the “Pin” announcement option selected
6. Under the Schedule section, select Send now (to send the announcement instantly) or Schedule for later (to schedule the announcement for a later time).
Compose tab with the “Send now” option selected
7. Click on the drop-down menu next to Send now, and select Save as template.
Compose tab with the “Save as template” option displayed
8. You will receive a confirmation message that the announcement has been successfully saved as a template and the announcement will be instantly moved to the Templates tab (as shown below).
Templates tab showing an announcement template
Templates tab
1. The Templates tab will indicate how many announcement templates you have at the top.
2. You can send or schedule an announcement from an existing template directly from the Templates tab.
How to send an announcement from a template?
1. To send the announcement instantly click Send now.
Templates tab showing an announcement template
2. You will see a confirmation prompt as shown below. Select Confirm to confirm your selection and send the announcement instantly.
Confirmation prompt to send an announcement instantly
3. You will receive a confirmation message to inform you that the announcement has been sent and you will find a copy of the announcement in the Sent tab.
Sent tab showing an announcement that has been sent to the attendees
How to schedule an announcement for later from a template?
1. To schedule the announcement for later, click Schedule for later.
Templates tab showing an announcement template
2. Then, select the date and time to send the announcement on the pop-up calendar.
Note: The date and time options available to you will be limited to the duration of your Pigeonhole.
Compose tab with date and time picker
3. Select Schedule to schedule the announcement for later.
Note: You will not be able to select Schedule before setting a date and time for your announcement.
Compose tab with the schedule function selected
4. You will find a copy of the announcement in the Scheduled tab. Scheduled announcements will be sent automatically at their scheduled date and time without any action from your end.
Scheduled tab showing a scheduled announcement
5. Once it has been sent, the announcement will be moved to the Sent tab.
How to edit an announcement template?
1. To edit an announcement template, click on More and select Edit. Make sure to save the announcement after you’ve made the necessary changes.
Templates tab showing an announcement template with a drop down for more functions
Note: For accounts with multiple users, if one user is editing an announcement and another user deletes it, the first user will be notified that the saved announcement has been deleted.
How to duplicate an announcement template?
1. To duplicate a template, click on More and select Duplicate in the dropdown menu.
Templates tab showing an announcement template with a drop down for more functions
2. You will be redirected to the Compose tab with the following fields of the announcement duplicated:
- Announcement message
- Sent announcement to
- Redirect attendees to
- Schedule
3. Make the required changes to the fields.
4. Click on the dropdown next to Send now, and select Save as template.
Compose tab with the “Save as template” option displayed
How to delete an announcement template?
1. To delete an announcement template, click on More and select Delete on the dropdown menu.
Templates tab showing an announcement template with a drop down for more functions
2. You will see a confirmation prompt (as shown below). Select Delete to confirm your selection and delete the template instantly.
Confirmation prompt to deleted an announcement
You will also see a pop-up to indicate that the template has been successfully deleted.
Note: Deleting a template will not delete announcements that have already been sent and scheduled from the template.
Test Mode
1. You will be able to create announcement templates in Test Mode. All saved templates will be retained even after Test Mode is switched off.
2. However, any announcement that you sent or scheduled during Test Mode will be deleted once Test Mode is switched off.