News

Current news is the real killer benefit of having your own App. The days of printing off letters, distributing them to each class, and handing them out, (only to be lost at the bottom of schools bags!) are over. The News section of OurSchoolsApp is for all your breaking school news - at any time during the day, direct to your parents' phones.

Adding articles into the news is really easy to do, and will also send an instant push notification to parents letting them know that you have published a new article.

Top Tip

A great way of using OurSchoolsApp News section is to use it like a journal or log of happenings in the school. When it comes to publishing your regular newsletter, you already have much of the work completed.

Step-by-Step Guide

Add a New News Article

1. Click "Add" Button

Click 'add' in the central action panel

2. Enter your Title

Enter your title here - remember to keep it short and concise, as this will be sent to parents as a push notification.

3. Upload an image

Click the 'Upload' button

3.1 Click on "Open" button

Select your image (fig. 1) and click the 'Open' button (fig. 2)

3.2 Adjust Cropping Area

Click the handles in the corners to adjust the cropping area (Fig. 1). When you are happy with the selection click 'crop' (fig. 2).

4. Add Body Text

To add the body text, click into the empty field and simply type your entry into the available field. To make your life a little easier, if you already have the news article somewhere else (such as in a draft newsletter, or on your website) simply copy and paste the text directly into the text field.

4.1 Add live links to body text

OurSchoolsApp also allows you to add links to websites and email addresses. An HTML link can link to anything you wish on the web - whether that's a document, a YouTube video, a website, or a tweet. If it's out there, you can add it to your news articles to compliment them, and add richer content for parents to see.

5. Set display of time and date of post

You have the ability to add the date and time that will be displayed on each post. If you wish, you can edit the date and time, or if you do not need to change this, simply leave the field as it is and it will post the time and date the article was created. You may change the date and time by typing (fig. 1) or click the calendar icon to the right of the field.

Note:

This will not affect the push notification that is sent to users. Notifications will be sent when you publish the article.

5.1 Date and Time Picker - Date

To use the Date and Time Picker, simply choose the month using the left and right arrows in the month selector (fig. 1). Choose the date from the day picker by clicking on the date in the calendar (fig. 2). Finally, if you wish to change the time, click the clock button at the bottom of pane (fig. 3).

5.2 Date and Time Picker - Time

To adjust the displayed time of the news article, click the up chevrons to increase the time (fig. 1). Conversely, to decrease the time, click the down chevrons (fig. 2). Hours are displayed on the left and minutes to the right.

6. Post Your Article

Give your article a final check over and make sure you are happy with the content you have created; then click 'add' in the lower right corner. After a short success message, a push notification will be sent and your news article will be available for all parents to peruse in OurSchoolsApp.

Below is a short video outlining the steps above:

Amend a News Article

If you wish to change anything about a news article that you have already added, you may use the Amend function:

1. Select the Article

Select the item you wish to amend (fig. 1) and select the Amend button in the central control panel (fig. 2)

2. Edit Content

You will now see the edit dialogue window appear to allow you to change all attributes, in exactly the same way as when adding a new article (see Add a New News Article)

Title - Edit or change the title
Upload Image - Replace the image on the article
Body Text - Edit or replace body tyext
Display Date and Time - Change the display date of the post this will change the display oder of the article - News items are displayed in chronological order with the newest at the top.
Make Active/Inactive - This will allow you to hide a news article by un-checking the box
Amend - When you are finished, click the 'amend' button to save your changes.

3. Click Amend

When you are happy with your changes, select the 'amend' button to instantly apply them to the article within OurSchoolsApp.

Note:

Amending an existing item will not send out a push notification. This only happens when a new item is added.

Below is a short video outlining the steps above:

Delete a News Article

1. Select item for removal

From the available list, choose the item you wish to delete, and click on it highlight in blue.

2. Click Delete

Click 'delete' in the central action panel

3. Confirm Delete

To finish the process, simply click 'delete' to confirm, and after a short success message the article will be removed.