# Announcements

> Put a short notice at the top of your booking page - a closure, a change of plan, or news - and take it down again in a click.

Who can do this: admins only.

An announcement is a single line of text across the top of your booking page, above your sessions. Use it for things customers need to know before they book: you're closed on Tuesday, the sauna's running late, there's a new session on Fridays. You can have one announcement at a time, and you manage it from your [sessions page](/go/admin/sessions).

<Screenshot shot="booking-page-announcement" alt="A booking page on a phone with an announcement band below the header reading 'Closed for maintenance on August 30', with a More details button and a dismiss cross" caption="The announcement sits above everything else on your booking page." />

## Write an announcement

<Steps>
  <Step>Go to your [sessions page](/go/admin/sessions) and select **Add announcement** in the top right. On a phone, tap **+** and choose **Add announcement**.</Step>
  <Step>Write your **Message**. Keep it to a sentence - there's a 200 character limit.</Step>
  <Step>Set a **Start** date if you want it to begin later. It defaults to today.</Step>
  <Step>Select **Publish**, or **Save draft** to keep it without showing anyone.</Step>
</Steps>

An end date, a button, a colour and letting customers dismiss it are all optional.

To emphasise part of the message, select some text and use the **Bold** and **Italic** buttons above the message box. Selecting a button again removes that formatting. Emoji work too.

## Schedule it

**Start** is when the announcement goes live. **End** is optional - leave it blank and the announcement runs until you take it down.

Both are dates in your venue's timezone, and an end date runs to the close of that day, so "ends 29 August" means it disappears at midnight on the 29th. A scheduled announcement isn't visible to customers before its start date, not even in the page's source, so you can write next month's notice today.

## Add a button

Turn on **Add a button** to put a link beside your message when there's more to say than fits in a sentence. Give it a **Label** (what the button says, like "Read more") and a **Link**. The link opens in a new tab so customers don't lose their place.

## Choose a colour

Pick a **Background** from the preset swatches, or use the colour picker for an exact shade. Grey is the default. The text colour is set for you so it stays readable on whatever background you choose.

## Let customers dismiss it

Turn on **Let customers dismiss it** to add a small **×** to the corner. A customer who dismisses the announcement won't see it again on that device.

<Callout variant="warning" title="Leave dismissal off for anything they must see">
Once someone dismisses a notice, you have no way of knowing whether they read it. For a closure or a safety message, leave this off so it stays on the page.
</Callout>

## Check and change what's live

While an announcement is live or scheduled, it appears at the top of your [sessions page](/go/admin/sessions) exactly as customers see it, with a label above it:

- **Showing now** - live on your booking page. If you set an end date, the label says so.
- **Scheduled for 29 Aug** - written and waiting for its start date.

Select **Edit announcement** to change anything, then **Save changes**.

## Take it down

On your [sessions page](/go/admin/sessions), select **Edit announcement**, then **Stop showing**. Your text is kept, so you can publish it again later.

## Common questions

1. **Can I have more than one announcement at a time?** No, one per venue. If you have two things to say, combine them into a sentence and use a button to link to the detail.

2. **Why can't I see the Add announcement button?** Either you already have an announcement live or scheduled, in which case the strip at the top of your sessions page has an **Edit announcement** button instead, or you're signed in as staff. Announcements are admin-only, and staff can't open the sessions page.

3. **Does the announcement show on my session pages, or just the main booking page?** Just the main booking page, above your sessions.

4. **What happens to a dismissed announcement if I edit the wording?** Changing the message brings it back for everyone, including people who dismissed the old one. Even correcting a typo counts as a new message.

5. **What happens when the end date passes?** The announcement comes off your booking page and its strip disappears from your sessions page at the same time, so there's nothing to tidy up. To run it again, select **Add announcement**: your last wording is still there, with a fresh start date.