Understand the outcome
Announcements can be drafted, scheduled, published, pinned, and targeted, and can require acknowledgement.
Core is the required foundation of every Station Clipboard department. It provides sign-in, personnel records, roles and permissions, general settings, Dept Communications (announcements and department email), the department calendar, Workflows automation, notifications, the activity log, module management, and the Support Hub. It is always enabled, and every optional module relies on it for identity, department isolation, and access control.
This guide focuses specifically on “Publish, target, and track an announcement.” Complete it from an account with the appropriate Core access, verify it from the affected member or operational view, and preserve existing records rather than repurposing historical configuration.
Before you begin
Make the decision before changing the screen. Record the current configuration when the department already uses this feature, and use a test record or test account when the change can affect active members.
- Prepare the message and audience.
- Decide priority, pinning, acknowledgement, and timing.
- Confirm the department timezone for scheduled posts.
Do not work around it from another member’s account. Confirm that Core is enabled, its dependencies are active, and your role grants the exact management action required for this task.
Where to work and what access you need
Start from the portal destination named in the procedure. Administrators normally need permission to view Core plus the specific create, edit, manage, approve, report, or all-record action used by the task. Visibility alone does not grant management access.
- Dashboard
/dashboard - Dept Communications
/announcements - Scheduled emails
/announcements?view=scheduled-emails - Calendar
/calendar - My Profile
/profile - Personal settings
/settings/appearance - Personnel
/settings/users - Add personnel
/settings/users/new - Certification Hub
/settings/users/certifications - Roles & Permissions
/settings/roles - General settings
/settings/general - Modules
/settings/modules - Workflows
/settings/automations/workflows - Workflow approvals
/settings/automations/workflows/approvals - Activity Log
/settings/logs - AI Assistant
/settings/ai-assistant - Support Hub
/support-hub
If your department uses custom roles, test the procedure with that role—not only with a full administrator account. This confirms the people responsible for daily operations can complete the workflow without receiving unrelated access.
Complete the task
- Step 1Create the announcement
Open Dept Communications and start a new announcement with a title and body.
- Step 2Choose the audience
Target everyone, specific roles, or specific members.
- Step 3Set options
Choose priority, pinning, and whether acknowledgement is required.
- Step 4Publish or schedule
Publish now or schedule it for a department-local date and time.
- Step 5Track acknowledgement
Open the announcement’s acknowledgement view to see who has and hasn’t confirmed.
- Step 6Follow up
Contact members who haven’t acknowledged, or rely on the Time Clock required-reads gate if your department uses it.
Operational safeguards
Apply these module-level controls while completing the procedure. They prevent a technically saved configuration from becoming an operational or access problem later.
- Control point
Confirm the department timezone before scheduling messages or importing dated records. - Control point
Define stations and apparatus before configuring modules that use those lists. - Control point
Create roles around job responsibilities; avoid giving broad administrator access for one missing action. - Control point
Grant own-record permissions when a member should not see department-wide records. - Control point
Disable departed members instead of deleting them so their history stays intact. - Control point
Run every new workflow as a test run before publishing it.
Verify the result
Do not consider the setup complete merely because the save action succeeded. Confirm the behavior from the user-facing or operational view, then retain evidence of the test when department policy requires it.
- A targeted test member sees the announcement.
- Priority and pinning look right.
- Acknowledgement tracking lists the expected members.
If any verification fails, return to the source configuration and correct it there. Do not edit a report or downstream record to conceal an incorrect setup.
Troubleshooting
Scheduled time was unexpected
Check the department timezone and the time entered.
A member didn’t get an email
Check the in-app announcement and the member’s email address. Email is best-effort.
The wrong people received it
Review the audience and publish a corrected announcement.
Connected modules and downstream effects
A change here can alter what members see, what data appears in reports, or how another module completes its workflow. Review the connected areas below before making a department-wide change.
- Time ClockPortal and kiosk clock-in with password, PIN, or face, plus corrections and reports.
- SchedulingAvailability, rotations, schedule building, trades, time off, and callouts.
- TrainingEvents, attendance, hours and CE, certificates, self-logged training, and compliance.
- ResourcesVersioned documents with acknowledgement and signature tracking (formerly Policies).
- ChatRole-controlled department channels with replies, reactions, files, and push.
- RecruitingApplication Hubs, reviews, interviews, references, and conversion (formerly Applications Flow).
After deployment, test one complete workflow from the originating module through every connected destination your department uses. Document the final configuration so another administrator can audit or reproduce it later.
Continue in Core
Return to the Core module guide for connected workflows, dependencies, portal destinations, and additional procedures.