Blog Entries and News

This manual explains how to create, manage, and use the News page in Contact Ground.

News is your organization's announcement board for content that should remain accessible over time—policy updates, training announcements, operational guidance, and member communications that members may need to reference later.

1. Who Can Post to News

You can create a blog entry in News if at least one of the following is true:

1. You hold one of these roles: owner, admin, cfi, cfii, dpe, operations, or accounting.
2. You have the Blog endorsement assigned to your profile.

All members can view entries regardless of their role or endorsements.

2. Viewing News Entries

1. Open News from the sidebar.
2. Select an entry from the Recent Entries list on the left.
3. Read the full content in the viewer pane.

Each entry shows its title, author, and publish date.

3. Creating a New Entry

1. Open News.
2. Click New Entry.
3. Enter a title.
4. Write the body content. Markdown formatting is supported.
5. Save the entry.

The entry appears immediately in the Recent Entries list for all members.

When a new entry is published, members who have News Updates enabled in their notification preferences can receive email, push, and in-app notifications that link directly to that exact entry.

3.1 Markdown support

The body field supports Markdown formatting. You can use:

• # Heading, ## Heading 2 for section headers
• **bold** and *italic* for emphasis
• - item for bullet lists
• 1. item for numbered lists
• Blank lines to separate paragraphs

Keep formatting simple so content is easy to read on all devices.

4. Editing and Deleting Entries

4.1 Editing

1. Open the entry in News.
2. Click the edit icon.
3. Update the title or body.
4. Save your changes.

Who can edit:

• The author of the entry.
• Any owner or admin.
• Any member with a role or endorsement that permits creating blog entries.

4.2 Deleting

1. Open the entry in News.
2. Click the delete icon.
3. Confirm the deletion.

Who can delete:

• The author of the entry.
• Any owner or admin.

Deletion is immediate and permanent.

5. Giving Standard Members Posting Access

If a standard member (without an elevated role) should be able to post in News:

1. Open People and find the member's profile.
2. In the endorsements section, add the Blog endorsement.
3. If the Blog endorsement type does not exist in your organization yet:
   • Go to Organization → Endorsements.
   • Create an endorsement type named Blog.
   • Then assign it to the member in People.

Note: New organizations typically include Blog as a default endorsement type. Older organizations may need to create it manually.

6. Writing Effective News Entries

1. Start with a specific title. Members scan titles to find relevant content. Avoid vague titles like "Update" or "FYI."
2. Lead with the key action. Put the most important information first. Members may not read all the way to the end.
3. Use short paragraphs and bullet points. Dense blocks of text are harder to skim.
4. Include dates in full format. Write March 1, 2026 instead of 3/1 to avoid ambiguity.
5. State if action is required. If members need to do something, say so explicitly and early.

7. News vs. Messaging: When to Use Each

Use Case	Recommended Tool
Announcement members should reference later	News
One-time notification to a specific group	Messaging
Policy change that applies permanently	News
Urgent operational alert	Messaging
Training or safety guidance	News
Personal reply needed from members	Messaging

Use News for durable content. Use Messaging when the goal is distribution and immediate awareness.

8. Maintaining the News Feed

1. Update outdated entries. Members should not act on stale information. Edit or delete entries that are no longer accurate.
2. Do not let old entries dominate. If the Recent Entries list is full of old announcements, new content is harder to find. Archive or delete entries that are no longer relevant.
3. Pin important content by keeping it current. There is no pinning feature—keeping critical entries up to date ensures they remain useful.

9. News Notification Preference

Members control News notifications in Profile → Notification Preferences → News Updates.

Notes:

1. This preference is per organization.
2. Turning it off stops new-entry notifications, but does not remove access to the News page itself.
3. Delivery method still depends on the member's enabled notification methods (email, SMS, push). News notifications currently use in-app, email, and push where available.

10. Related Manuals

1. Organizational messaging for targeted notifications: docs/users/administration/MESSAGING.md
2. Endorsement management (for Blog endorsement setup): docs/features/ENDORSEMENTS.md
3. Administration overview: docs/users/administration/ADMINISTRATION.md