Overview
An announcement is a discussion that is fixed at the top of the all discussions list so that it never recedes down the page. Note, however, that newer announcements will appear above older announcements.
Some people may know this is other forum software as a "Sticky" or "Pinned".
An announcement in Vanilla is a way to "announce" a discussion at the top of recent discussions or at the top of a category even as other discussions are added. Ways you can use this include such things as welcome posts, forum rules or other content you want to ensure your community sees.
How to make an Announcement
Announcements can typically only be posted by admins and mods, though this permission can be given to any role for any category (see the Roles and Permissions article)
Admins can unannounce any announcement (click on the cogwheel, then announce, then select the radio button for Don’t Announce).
There are two ways to set set a discussions as an announcement:
You start a discussion with the intent of it being announced. In this scenario, after you finish writing the content, in the editor window you have a choice of radio buttons, which look like the following
You have the choice to not announce, to announce at the top of a category only and finally, you can announce in both a category and in recent discussions. You can set this right away or change it as needed later on by editing the discussion.
The second way you can announce a discussion is to use the gear icon and select your announce option preference.
Reading Announcements
One cool feature, for regular users of your site, is the ability to "dismiss" announcements. This allows users to basically dismiss an announcement from their own personal view after they have read it (does not affect what other users see).
Please note that announcements are not deleted, and can be brought back by clearing one's cookies or clearing the cache.
Communication is key, but don't overdo it
While announcements and messages are important in communicating with your community, you can also easily annoy your members too. A community manager should review messages and "announced" discussions to keep only the most recent/ important ones. There is no worse user experience for a forum than a first page full of messages and announcements.
It's also important to keep them up to date -- an announcement talking about Valentine’s day promos in May is weird.
Who can make an announcement?
Anyone with the announce permission for 'default category' permission for announce. This can also be controlled on a per category basis by enabling 'this category has custom permissions' on any category .
See main article on Permissions for more info on:
Advanced Settings
If you would like to change the verbiage from "Announced" to something else, contact your CSM or Vanilla support.
Announcements also have their own CSS class and can be styled in keeping with your community look and feel.
