Creating Announcements
What Are Announcements
Announcements are in-app messages used to communicate updates, feature releases, maintenance notices, and other information to your users. They appear directly within your application, ensuring users see important messages without relying on email or external channels.
Announcement Types
BreakGround supports four announcement formats. Choose the type that matches the importance and context of your message:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Banner | A bar displayed at the top of the viewport. Visible but non-blocking. Best for maintenance notices, status updates, or promotions. |
| Modal | A centered overlay dialog with a backdrop. Captures full attention. Best for critical updates, feature launches, or messages requiring user acknowledgment. |
| Slideout | A panel that slides in from the side of the screen. Provides more space for content than a banner. Best for changelogs, detailed feature announcements, or multi-paragraph messages. |
| Toast | A small notification in the corner of the screen that auto-dismisses. Least intrusive. Best for confirmations, minor updates, or transient messages. |
Creating an Announcement
- Navigate to Content > Announcements in the dashboard.
- Click Create New Announcement.
- Enter a name for internal reference and select the announcement type.
- Select the site the announcement belongs to.
- Enter the announcement title and optional body text.
- Optionally add a CTA button with a label and destination URL.
- Toggle Allow Dismiss to control whether users can close the announcement.
- Set the Display Frequency for how often the announcement shows per user.
- For Banner type, set the banner accent color.
- Configure the display trigger, targeting, and scheduling from the respective tabs.
- Click Save to create the announcement in
DRAFTstatus, or Publish to make it live immediately.
Content Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Required. The headline text shown to users. |
| Body | Optional supporting text displayed below the title. |
| CTA Text | Optional label for the call-to-action button (e.g., "Learn More"). |
| CTA URL | The URL the button navigates to. Must be an absolute URL (https://) or a relative path (/). |
Display Frequency
Control how often the announcement is shown to each user:
| Option | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Every time | Shown each time the trigger fires. |
| Once per session | Shown at most once per browser session. |
| Once | Shown only once ever per user. Will not re-appear after dismissal. |
Trigger Types
Configure when the announcement appears under the Trigger tab:
| Trigger | Fires when | Key config |
|---|---|---|
| URL Match | The current URL matches a pattern. | pattern, matchType |
| Exit Intent | The user's cursor moves toward the browser chrome, indicating intent to leave. | — |
| Scroll Depth | The user scrolls past a specified percentage of the page. | percentage (0–100) |
| Time on Page | The user has spent a set duration on the page. | delay (milliseconds) |
| Manual | Programmatically via DAP('showContent', announcementId). | — |
Tip: Use Exit Intent for upgrade or trial announcements — they appear just before a user leaves, when conversion intent is highest.
Scheduling
Configure when the announcement is active using the Scheduling tab:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Publish At | Set a future date and time for the announcement to activate automatically. Leave empty to publish immediately when you click Publish. |
| Expires At | Set a date and time after which the announcement is automatically deactivated. Leave empty for no expiry. |
Times are interpreted in your local timezone. An announcement with both fields set is only active during the specified window.
Managing Announcements
From the Content > Announcements list, you can:
- Filter by status (
DRAFT,PUBLISHED,SCHEDULED,ARCHIVED). - Archive a published announcement to deactivate it.
- Preview any announcement to see how it appears to end users.