Add Alert Banner

Alert items are very similar to regular news items but when an alert is published, it will create a floating alert banner to warn visitors to the website. This allows you to highlight emergency information or other events of high importance, e.g., COVID-19 information.

Add an alert banner

To add, delete or modify an alert banner, you follow the same instructions as adding, editing, and deleting a news item. Make sure to click on the “Alert” news category in the Template dropdown menu instead of “News.”

You can share alert banners to social media, and visitors are able to subscribe to the feed to receive email updates. Alert banners are also more time-sensitive. View add a news item to adjust the publishing and expiry date appropriately.

Video training: Creating News Articles and Alert Banners

Tips for alert banners

You can create as many alerts as you like, although we recommend keeping the number as low as possible. Too many alerts may cause visitors to see them as a nuisance rather than a useful source of information. If you overuse alert banners, your community may stop reading alerts, which will make it hard for you to communicate an alert during emergencies.

Alert banner appearance

Banners are displayed in chronological order with the newest alert appearing first. Once an alert banner is closed it will not appear again in the same browsing session. This prevents visitors from being repeatedly “spammed” by the message. To see the message again, visitors will need to close all browser windows and return to the website.

Testing new alerts

When testing newly created alerts for the first time, you must shut down your browser and then revisit the website.

Colour

This option will appear only when you create an alert banner. Select the colour of the alert pop-up that will appear on the public website.

Available colours are:

• Blue
• Green
• Grey
• Red

Hide an alert banner

When you are editing a news or alert page, there is a checkbox available to “Hide Emergency Alert.” You can check this off if you don't want the alert banner to appear when someone visits the page.