Communication

Messages to providers is for two-way threads with each home. Answer unread threads daily.

Broadcast is for one-way announcements. Rate changes, policy updates, weather closures. Choose Send to: Everyone (parents + providers), Providers, or Parents, then narrow it to a region or a home if needed. Save as draft, then Publish. Parents see it in their app and get an email; providers get it in their message thread. Keep them factual and short.

Newsfeed is for community posts visible to providers and families. Photos, videos, and PDF attachments all work.

New posts. A red number on Newsfeed counts the posts you have not seen yet. Opening the Newsfeed clears it. On a phone, Newsfeed is on the bottom bar (Dashboard, Newsfeed, Providers, Children, Menu) with the number on it. Menu has the other day-to-day pages, Calendar, Provider closures and Sleep checks among them. The finance pages (provider pay, parent invoices) are left to a computer; on a phone, find them with the search at the top.

Turn off comments on posts that are announcements rather than conversations. The post then shows Comments off.

Formatting. The newsfeed post box, the post editor and the Broadcast message box share one toolbar. Font (Sans Serif, Serif or Fixed width), size (Small, Normal, Large or Huge), Bold, Italic, Underline, Text colour, Align (left, center, right or justify), Numbered list, Bulleted list, Indent less, Indent more, Quote, and Strikethrough. Remove formatting is in the ▾ menu at the end.

Pasting. Text pasted from Word, Google Docs or a web page keeps its formatting. Line breaks are kept, so paragraphs and lists show as typed. Broadcast emails show the same formatting.

Polish with AI. Type a few words and press Polish with AI for a draft. An announcement may open with a short greeting and end with a short thank-you, with key details like a date or a deadline in bold. Adjust it with Try again, Shorter or Longer, Warmer or Plainer, or press My words to go back. Always read it before posting.

Phone notifications. Providers get a notification on their phone when you send them a message or a broadcast.

Reactions. Tap the heart to love a post. Hold it, or tap the smiley, for Love, Like, Haha, Aww and Star, plus a pumpkin in October. Double-tap a photo to love it.

Reactions, comments and views. Under each post: the reactions on the left, the number of comments and views on the right. Views count the people the post went to who have opened their newsfeed since. Tap the reaction number to see who reacted (or on a computer rest the pointer on it), and the views number to see who viewed. Each family shows with its child and home. You can do this on any post; families see the totals but never the names.

Finding a post. The agency team sees every post in the network: posts by agency staff and by every provider home. Providers see only posts addressed to them, and their own. Photos a provider uploads on their Photos & Videos page also appear as posts, seen only by the families of the tagged children. To find a post, use the author filter above the feed. Type to search, then pick My posts, a staff member, or a provider home. Add a from and to date to narrow it further.

All parent-facing email goes out under the agency name. Home names never appear as the sender.