- For organizations
- Owners, co-leaders and class organizers; teachers for the classes they're assigned to
Announcements
An announcement is one message that goes to many families at once: everyone in your organization, or everyone registered for one class. Families get it in their Famlo inbox and by email. Announcements are on every Famlo plan.
There is one announcement system with three places to write one. Where you write it decides who can receive it.
| Where you write it | Who it can go to |
|---|---|
| Announce on Classes or Messages | Members of this organization, Everyone registered for any activity, or Both |
| A class's Messages tab | Everyone registered for that class |
| The class's row in your own inbox (famlo.co/messages) | Everyone registered, or Registered + interested |
Announce to your whole organization
Use this for news that isn't about one class: a new meeting place, a closed day, the next term's schedule.
- Open Classes or Messages in your console, then select Announce.
- Under Subject (optional), add a short headline if you like. It becomes the email's subject.
- Write your Message. This is the only field you must fill in.
- Choose who gets it under Send to (1).
- To add photos, select the photo button. You can add up to four.
- Select Send announcement (2), then confirm.
A message confirms how many people it went to, for example "Announcement sent to 14 people."
What each Send to choice means:
| Choice | Who receives it |
|---|---|
| Members of this organization (the default) | Everyone who has joined your organization, including your staff who have Famlo accounts |
| Everyone registered for any activity | Every family with a current booking for any of your classes, whether or not they've joined |
| Both | Everyone in either group |
Each person gets the announcement once, even if they're in both groups. Families whose booking was canceled or refunded don't count as registered. You never receive your own announcement.
When you send from Classes, the window also lists what was sent before under Already sent, so you can check that nobody has already covered it.
Announce to one class
Use this for news about one class: a reminder to bring something, a room change, a note from the teacher.
- Open Classes, then open the class.
- Select the Messages tab (1). You can also get there with Message families at the top of the class page.
- Add a Subject (optional) and write your Message. Add photos with the photo button if you like.
- Select Send to N registrants (2), where N is the number of families registered. Then confirm.
The panel says how many families it will reach, for example "Goes to 8 registered families". It reaches everyone registered for the class, across all its dates and sections. If nobody is registered yet, the send button is turned off.
On the same tab, Sent lists the class's past announcements with the date and who sent each one. Questions from families shows the private conversations families have started about the class.
From your own inbox
You can also announce to a class from your own inbox at famlo.co/messages. Open the class's row under You run these. Write your announcement, choose who gets it, then select Announce:
- Everyone registered: the families registered for the class.
- Registered + interested: those families, plus people who saved the class and people who have already written to you about it. This is useful for news like a spot opening up.
This composer has no subject line. If nobody has booked the class yet, you see "Nobody's booked yet" and a Copy class link button instead, so you can share the class.
What families receive
Each family who receives an announcement gets:
- In Famlo: the announcement in their inbox, on the class's row or your organization's row, with a notification.
- By email: an email from your organization. The subject is your organization's name followed by your subject. If you left the subject empty, it uses the class name, or "An update" for an organization-wide announcement. The email links to the class or your organization's page.
Photos show only inside Famlo. The email doesn't include them. It says how many photos there are, for example "This announcement has 2 photos. Open it on Famlo to see them." Only the people who received the announcement and your team can see its photos.
Families control announcements with Activity updates in their notification settings. A family who turns off Activity updates email still sees the announcement in Famlo, and the reverse is true too. The email's unsubscribe link turns off Activity updates email for that person. See Notifications.
Families can't reply to everyone. When a family answers in Famlo, the reply is private between them and your organization and arrives in your team inbox. See Your team inbox and quick replies.
Photos
You can add up to four photos to an announcement from any of the three places. Each photo can be up to 10 MB. JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC photos all work.
You can't edit, delete or schedule an announcement
An announcement sends as soon as you confirm it, and it can't be changed afterwards. Read it over before you select send. If something was wrong, send a short correction as a new announcement.
There's no way to schedule one for later.
Who can send
| Who | Organization-wide | One class |
|---|---|---|
| Owners and Co-leader | Yes | Any class |
| Class organizer | Yes | Any class |
| Teacher | No | The classes they're assigned to |
| Front desk, Bookkeeper, Profile only | No | No |
In detail, sending to the whole organization needs Classes set to All classes or School settings set to Edit settings. Sending to one class also works for anyone whose Messages access covers that class. See What staff can do: roles and access.
Where to find announcements you've sent
- Messages lists your announcements under Announcements, with when each was sent and which class it was for, or "Organization-wide". Open one to see the full message and who it went to.
- A class's Messages tab lists that class's announcements under Sent.
- When you send from Classes, Already sent shows your organization-wide announcements.
Pin an announcement to your page
You can pin an organization-wide announcement to the top of your famlo.co page so visitors see it first. Only announcements sent to Both can be pinned, and only owners and co-leaders can pin. While signed in, open your organization's page, select Pin something, open the Updates tab, choose the announcement, then select Pin it. You can pin up to three things in total. Pins show at the top of your Famlo page. See Your organization profile.
When you change a booked class
When you move or remove a class date that families have booked, the review screen offers Save and tell N families. That sends an announcement to exactly the families affected, with your optional personal note, and it appears in the class's Sent list. See Dates, repeats and moving meetings.
Troubleshooting
The Send to N registrants button is gray. Nobody is registered for the class yet. To reach people who saved the class or asked about it, use Registered + interested from your own inbox.
I don't see the Announce button. Organization-wide announcements need All classes or Edit settings access. Ask an owner to change your access, or announce to a class you're assigned to from its Messages tab.
A family says they didn't get the email. They may have turned off Activity updates email. The announcement is still in their Famlo inbox. Ask them to check their spam folder and their notification settings.
I need to send a regular newsletter. Famlo doesn't send newsletters for you. Use announcements for news families get in Famlo. To send your own email campaigns, see Your mailing list.