Newsfeed
Overview
The Compass News Feed appears on the Home page for all users (staff, students and parents), and is a great way to communicate with your school community.
Each Compass user sees a customised News Feed based on the Audience and Campus options selected when a News Item is created. The most recent News Items sit at the top of the News Feed and they are moved down the feed as other posts are created. A News Item remains on the News Feed until the set expiry date. Administrators of the News Feed module (staff with NewsFeedAdmin permission) have an option to make News Items a Priority, which will hold the News Item post at the top of the News Feed until the set expiry date, and other non-prioritised posts will display underneath as created.
News Feed Permissions
Staff with NewsFeedPower permission can add a News Item for staff and/or students. They can also post an item to a Class News Feed for any class at the school. This also allows the user to post to parents, if this option has been enabled for your school (to enable/disable, staff with NewsFeedAdmin can do so in the Configure Settings option in the Newsfeed module).
Staff with the NewsFeedAdmin permission can also allow staff with the NewsFeedPower permission to post to parents and view content of all past News Feed items by adjusting the settings (click Configure Settings) on the News Feed page.
Staff without either of the permissions listed above will be able to view the News Feed but cannot add News Items, therefore will not see a green '+' add button within the 'My News' light blue heading bar on their Compass homepage.They can however post items to the Class News Feed for any class that they teach.
Please refer to your Compass Sponsor for your school's permission protocol and the Knowledge Base article titled "Permissions" for further information.
Settings - NewsFeed
To manage the default settings for News Feed, click the 'Settings' button on the NewsFeed page (under the 'Community' menu).
To allow staff with the NewsFeedPower permission to post content to parents, tick this setting. Likewise if you want staff with this permission to. beable to view past and current news items they did not create themselves, tick the 'NewsFeedPower View Only access to News Feed Items' setting.
You can edit the default post length by adjusting the days for 'Default post length'. Staff creating news items can adjust this if required when creating a post, this just sets the default.
Adding a News Item
From your Compass Home page click the green '+' add button within the 'My News' light blue heading bar.
Enter the details into 'Add News Item' window that displays.
| Title | Title of the News Item which will appear in bold at the top of the News Item post. |
| Start Date/Time and Expiry Date | Select the publication dates for the News Item. News Items can be entered into Compass ahead of time and will not appear within the News Feed on the Compass homepage until the start date/time. Where you choose to send communications for a post, they will also only be issued once the start date/time of the news item occurs. Once the expiry date has passed the News Item will automatically be removed from the News Feed and listed as an Expired News Item. |
| Priority | Users with NewsFeedAdmin permission will see a Priority tick box. When checked, the News Item will be held at the top of the News Feed on the Compass homepage for the duration of the publication dates. |
| Body | Add details of the News Item in the text area. Use the formatting buttons at the top of the text box to add formatting to text. |
| Attachments | Up to 200MB per file can be uploaded to a News Item for an audience to download. Select the blue 'Browse' button to choose the file(s) from your computer. |
| Audience | The audience determines the users within Compass who will see the News Item on their homepage. Select the black '+' of the Audience Group and check the tick box for each relevant group you would like to view the News Item. A summary of the tick boxes you check are displayed at the bottom right of window in 'Targeted Audience'. Custom Group options are determined by the list of available Custom Groups for your school. For details on how to create/edit Custom Groups, please refer to the 'Custom Groups' article from our Knowledge Base. |
Click 'Save' to add the News Item to the News Feed or click 'Save & Send Communications' to save the item to the News Feed and also send a communication selected from the pop-up window. Communication options include sending Emails, Push Notifications, or a combination of Push Notifications and emails from Compass.
A Communications Log will be available for each News Item that has had 'Save & Send Communications' selected.
Push Notifications allow you to send communications to iPhones, iPads and Android devices, with the Compass App installed. The Compass App is available to download for students, parents and staff for free and Push Notifications (unlike SMS messages) are also free.
When a user receives an email or push notification advising them of the News Item, they can click the 'View News Item' button within their notification to view the item without requiring them to login to their Compass portal.
To access any attachments or action anything further as a result of the information issued in the News Item (ie consent for an event etc), they will be required to login.
Settings - Enable/Disable Class NewsFeed
Staff with the 'SubjectsAdmin' permission are able to manage Class News Feed access.
To enable/disable the Class NewsFeed in bulk, go to the 'Teaching and Learning' menu and select 'Subjects and Classes'.
Click the 'Settings' option and tick or untick the 'Show Class News Feed on Class Pages' option to set your school's preference. Click 'Update' to save.
Class NewsFeed access can also be managed per individual class by going to the class page and selecting the option to 'Hide/Show Class News Feed'.
Adding Class News Items
Each class on Compass has their own Class News Feed as well. This allows News Items to be targeted to just the students in the class. As discussed in the Permissions section above all teachers at the school will be able to post to the Class News Feed for any class that they teach. Staff with higher levels of access (members of either NewsFeedPower or NewsFeedAdmin) will be able to post to the Class News Feed for any class on Compass.Class News Items are created on the class page, and will be visible to the students of the class and their parents. These users will see the News Item both on the Class page, as well as on the News Feed on their Compass homepage. Any staff member who visits the class page will see the News Item as well, but it will not be visible on the News Feed on their Compass homepage.
Managing News Items on the Compass Home Page
Editing or Deleting a posted News Item
Once posted to the News Feed, News Items can be edited or deleted by the author or a staff member with NewsFeedAdmin permission by clicking on the down arrow to the right hand side of a News Item post and selecting the relevant option.
Viewing Other Users' News Feeds
Staff members can view the News Feed for students and parents of students by selecting the down arrow within the 'My News' light blue heading bar. From here you can also select 'View Class Changes' which will show any changes for the day - including lesson coverages, changes, and cancellations.
When a view is selected the 'My News' light blue heading bar will state the view type (e.g. 'News Feed of Year 1 Parents').
Managing News Items on the News Feed Page
The News Feed page can be accessed from the Community menu (people icon) > News Feed. From here you can manage News Items you have posted, and if you have permission, all other News Items posted to the News Feed.
Current News Items tab
On the Current News Items tab under My News Items you can view, edit and delete your own News Item posts. Under All Other News Items you can view a list of all News Items currently on the Compass homepage and if you have the NewsFeedAdmin permission, you can also edit and delete items added by other staff.
Expired News Items tab
Once a News Item has expired it will display in the Expired News Items tab. Your own News Items can be edited and deleted from this screen. Staff with NewsFeedAdmin permission can edit and delete all Expired News Items.Communications Log
A Communications Log will be available from each News Item if it has had 'Save & Send Communications' clicked. The Communications Log lists the Sending User, Message Type and Date/Time of each communication sent. To view the Communications Log click the pencil icon on the row with the posted News Item and click on the grey 'Communications Log' button.TalkingPoints
If your school uses TalkingPoints devices you will also be able to post News Items to your TalkingPoints screens by ticking 'Publish' under the TalkingPoints Digital Signage heading. Here you can also choose whether or not to make any attached images full screen. A count of how many characters will also show under the TalkingPoints Digital Signage section, as Talking Points has a max of 325 characters to ensure content is displayed appropriately.For further information please see the Knowledge Base articled titled "TalkingPoints", or speak with a member of the Compass Support Team for details and a quote.
SchoolFront
SchoolFront allows schools to publish Compass News Items to their school website via an RSS feed, reducing administrative overhead as the News Item will automatically be published on the school's nominated website once the post is Saved to Compass, if 'Publish' is selected under SchoolFront.SchoolFront embeds the title and body of a News Item into an existing website. Please keep in mind that SchoolFront does not support images. For further information on setting up SchoolFront please speak with a member of the Compass Support Team or email support@compass.education.
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