What is the News & Announcements section on the Homepage

News & Announcements are posts by vol-staff users with permission to share official updates with others. They can be clicked for details and have two priorities: Standard (shown in a list) and Alert (shown in a popup when logging in). Posts can be made to show immediately or be scheduled to show and disappear automatically. You can also include attachments, categorize, apply restrictions by program assignments/permissions, and even link to calendar events!

Legacy News and the new Homepage News & Announcements don't work together. Users of the new Homepage won't see old News posts, and users of the old Homepage won't see new posts or Alerts. To help with this change, iCarol will show the legacy News box within this card, to help ensure everyone can access old posts while everyone works to migrate to the new Homepage.

• Standard messages show in the News & Announcement card, and can be clicked on at any time for details.

1. Alert messages show:
   

1. In the News & Announcements card, and can be clicked on at any time for details
2. In a popup when users first login to iCarol
3. In the header Alert button at the top of the page on newly modernized pages

How to create a News & Announcement:

1. As a Vol-Staff user with permission, click on the "+ Add" button under the News and Announcements card title

2. In the popup News & Announcement window, enter:
1. Title
2. Priority

                                                               i.      Standard is shown in the list

                                                             ii.      Alert is shown in the list, the alert button in the header and when logging in

3. Category options include Event, News, Inspiration, Fun, Training
4. Program, available if you use Programs (Note: Choosing a Program will limit the access to this News & Administration post to those within those Programs.)
5. Date to Appear (In your time zone, these dates/times will display in the Vol-Staff users time zone when viewing)
6. Date to Expire (In your time zone, these dates/times will display in the Vol-Staff users time zone when viewing)
7. Description
8. Add Linked calendar event on save (optional; after you click save, a new popup will allow you to schedule an Event.)
9. Attachments (optional)
2. Click Save

4. If you selected "Add linked calendar event on save", a new popup will appear with some fields prepopulated from the News & Announcement post
1. Update any additional fields, choose the event Start and End date/time
   
5. Click Save

Dates and times for News & Announcements and Events are shown in the user's time zone based on their computer time. For example, if you set a post to display from April 15, 2025, at 1:00 pm to May 2, 2025, at 2:00 pm MST, a vol-staff in EST will see it in their own time zone. 

How to manage/edit/delete an existing News & Announcement:

1. As a Vol-Staff user with permission, click on the "Manage" button under the News and Announcements card title

2. All News & Announcements will appear in the Manage News Items popup.

1. Sort columns by clicking the column Header, the sort icon will show if the column is sorted ascending  or descending 
   
2. Filter columns by clicking the filter icon  in the column Header
3. Navigate pages using the First, Last, Next, Last arrows
   
4. Edit a News Item by clicking the pencil icon , which will open the item in a new popup

Edit/Update a News Item

1. From the News & Announcements card, click on "Manage"
2. In the Manage News Item popup, navigate to the item and click the pencil icon to edit
3. In the News Item popup, make any changes
1. Click "+ Event" to add an event to an existing News Item
4. Click Save

Delete a News Item

1. From the News & Announcements card, click on "Manage"
2. In the Manage News Item popup, navigate to the item and click the pencil icon to edit
3. In the News Item popup, make any changes
4. Click Delete, then confirm