> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.invaro.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Announcements > Write, publish, and schedule portal announcements with Discord posting and community interactions Announcements is a full portal publishing system. Staff with the right permissions can write rich updates in a markdown editor, schedule them for future publishing, post them to Discord with a custom embed, and allow portal members to comment and react. *** ## The Announcements Feed The main page shows all announcements in reverse-chronological order as a timeline feed. Each card shows the author, tags, status badge, a plain-text preview, and engagement counts for views, comments, and reactions. Pinned announcements always appear at the top and are marked with a pin badge. Staff members see a stats strip showing total, published, draft, and scheduled counts. Non-staff members only see published announcements. Use the **search bar** to filter by title, content, or tag. Use the **status tabs** (All, Published, Drafts, Scheduled, Archived) to narrow the view. *** ## Creating an Announcement Click **New Announcement** in the top-right corner. This opens the announcement form. ### Content Tab The core writing area: | Field | Description | | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Title** | Required. Shown as the announcement heading in the feed and on the detail page. | | **Content** | Required. Supports Markdown — bold, italic, headings, lists, code blocks, and blockquotes. | | **Excerpt** | Optional. A short summary shown in the feed instead of the full content preview. If left blank the feed trims the raw content automatically. | | **Tags** | Optional. Type a tag and press Enter or click the + button. Tags appear as pills in the feed and can be searched. | ### Settings Tab | Setting | Description | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Status** | Draft, Published, Scheduled, or Archived. Switching to Scheduled activates the publish-at date field. | | **Pin announcement** | Pinned announcements appear above all others in the feed regardless of date. | | **Publish at** | Set a future date and time to auto-publish. The form automatically sets status to Scheduled when a date is entered. | | **Auto-archive at** | Set a date for the announcement to automatically move to Archived status. | | **Comments** | Toggle whether portal members can leave comments on this announcement. | | **Reactions** | Toggle whether portal members can add emoji reactions. | ### Discord Tab Configure an optional Discord post alongside the portal announcement. Under **Channel**, pick the Discord text channel where the message will be posted. If a message has been posted there before, the channel and last-sent timestamp are shown. Select **Plain message** (simple text, no styling) or **Rich embed** (coloured bar, title, fields). The choice affects what appears in the next step. Type optional plain text above the embed (or the full message if using plain format). You can reference announcement data using the Discord variables list. The full embed builder expands. Configure accent colour, title, title URL, description, author, thumbnail, image, footer, timestamp, and up to 25 fields. Click **Post to Discord** (or **Update Discord message** if already posted). If there are unsaved changes to the announcement, Invaro saves them automatically before posting. A collapsible **Preview** panel at the bottom of the Discord tab shows a Discord-style render of the message before sending. #### Discord Variables | Variable | Output | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | `{title}` | Announcement title | | `{content}` | Full announcement content | | `{excerpt}` | Short excerpt | | `{authorUsername}` | Username of who created the announcement | | `{authorMention}` | Discord mention of the creator | | `{authorAvatarUrl}` | Avatar URL of the creator | | `{portalName}` | Name of the portal | | `{serverName}` | Name of the Discord server | | `{serverIconUrl}` | Server icon URL | | `{status}` | Current status (draft, published, etc.) | | `{pinned}` | Whether the announcement is pinned (true/false) | | `{date}` | Published date | | `{url}` | Link to the announcement | | `{tags}` | Comma-separated tags | ### Comments Tab The Comments tab is available after an announcement has been saved (not on new unsaved announcements). It shows all existing comments and a text area to post a new one. Comments can be deleted by hovering over them and clicking the X. If comments are disabled, the tab shows an option to enable them from Settings. *** ## Saving and Publishing The **Save** button in the top-right saves the current status (draft, scheduled, etc.) without changing it. The dropdown arrow next to Save reveals: * **Publish** — saves the announcement and sets status to Published immediately (only shown when not already published) * **Save as preset** — saves the current form settings as a reusable preset An **Unsaved Changes** bar at the bottom of the page appears whenever there are edits and offers Save and Discard options. *** ## Presets Presets let you save a set of announcement settings and reuse them on future announcements. When saving a preset you choose which parts to include: title template, content, tags, interaction settings (comments/reactions on/off), and Discord defaults. **Using a preset** — click **Use Preset** in the top-right corner of the form. Select a preset from the list. The form fields are updated immediately; you can still edit everything before saving. *** ## Managing Announcements From the feed, hovering over an announcement card reveals action buttons (for users with the right permissions): | Action | Permission required | | ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Edit** | `CanEdit` | | **Duplicate** | `CanCreate` — opens a new draft pre-filled with the same content, tagged as a copy | | **Delete** | `CanDelete` | *** ## Access Control The Announcements page supports granular access via the Permissions system. `CanView` lets staff see all statuses (not just published). `CanCreate` allows creating new announcements and duplicating. `CanEdit` allows editing existing ones. `CanDelete` allows deletion. Portal members without any Announcements permission only see published announcements.