"Announcer" module in Data Protection and Security Toolkit for Confluence
Overview
Using Confluence, you leave some personal information in the system: names, e-mails, and so on … Users have to know exactly what the data is used for and have to agree with a privacy policy agreement. The company has to keep track of it as well. So, we’ve built this module for that purpose. You have also the possibility to create multiple announcements, in relation to other subjects. Enable your admins to inform users of upcoming events, or other information that affects projects, all without any coding!
Read our guide and find out how to easily create announcements, agreements, and other privacy notifications in Confluence step-by-step.
Announcer Dashboard
Open the Confluence administration section using the settings button at the right top corner and choose any item in the dropdown menu. After that, you will see the sidebar – find the Announcer module and click on it. Now, you’ll see the AnnouncerDashboard. It is the main page where an admin can manage all announcements.
How to create an announcement
You can create an announcement with a template. To do so, pick one of two predefined templates (Private Policy or Cookie Policy). Alternatively, you can create a new announcement by clicking the Create button. After that, you’ll see the Configuration page. The configuration of a new announcement consists of four steps: General, Styling, Scope and Review.
Let’s take a look at it in detail.
General configuration
Here is an overview of which General configuration parameters you can set:
Name | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Template name | Empty | Enter the name of the template. It’s an internal name which will be visible for Jira administrators only. |
Dialog title | Empty | Enter the title of the announcement. The title will be visible for all users. |
Dialog body | Empty | Enter the content which will be visible for users. You can use a toolbar for text formatting. Set the text type, size, selecting by bold, italics, underlined etc. |
Styling
Here is an overview of which Styling parameters you can set:
Name | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Display type | Dialog in the screen center | Define the visualization of the announcement, whether it will be the dialog window in the screen center, or banner in the footer (for cookie notifications mostly), or the block login form. |
Window size | Small | Choose the suitable window size:
You can see examples when you set cursor at “i“ sign. |
Allow user’s feedback | Disabled | Check the checkbox when you need to get some short feedback from users. |
Button count | 1 button | Choose between 1 or 2 button options. With 1 button, your announcement can only be Accepted. With 2 buttons, users have an option to decline your announcement. |
Text for accept button | Accept | Define the text that users will see when clicking on the accept button, for example “Accept“ or “Yes“. |
Text for decline button | Decline | Define the text that users will see when clicking on the decline button, for example “Decline“ or “No“. |
Scope
Here is an overview of which Scope parameters you can set:
Name | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Spaces | Empty | You can define spaces for which the announcement will be displayed. If any space is selected, only users from this space will be able to see the announcement, e.g. Bug fixes project, Help project, etc. Leave empty to show to all the users. |
Can view | Logged in users | Define who will see the announcement: authenticated users only or users who are not authenticated yet:
|
Groups | Empty | Define who will see the announcement: all users or a specified group only. If any group is selected, only users from this group will be able to see the announcement, e.g. confluence-administrators group, confluence-users group, etc. Leave empty to show to all the users. |
Displaying time frames | Always | You can choose between two options:
|
Review
Review gives you the general overview of your template, before enabling it.
Here is an overview of which Review parameters you can set:
Name | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Status | Disabled | You can enable or disable template before saving it. |
How to create an announcement from a template
Navigate to the Announcer Templates page and click on the Use Template button for any template you would like.
We have two predefined templates for the most popular announcement types:
Privacy Policy template, an optional announcement with some predefined title and body. An administrator should change it before publishing! It is just an example.
Cookie Policy template, an optional announcement with some predefined title and body for most popular cookie policy examples. It will be shown at the bottom of the page.
You can change the parameters of these templates if it’s necessary.
Set the status Enabled and click on the Save button after all your changes.
Announcement Actions menu
Status quick definition
At your Dashboard, you see all your created announcements.
You can quickly enable or disable the announcement using settings in the Actions menu. For an enabled announcement, you will see the status Enabled highlighted in green. This announcement is active and displayed for users now.
You can check if the announcement is shown correctly. Open any ticket and see the announcement with the display type you have created.
ou can check who contributed to the template by clicking on the contributors field:
You can see Versioning of the template at the end of the name, and unpublished drafts by looking at the Unpublished Changes tag:
Statistics
You can see the announcement accepting/declining statistics at the Dashboard in the Accepted/Declined column. More statistical details can be found in the Actions/Statistics menu. Click on it and see who accepted or rejected the announcement, their IP addresses, and when it happened. If you have checked the Feedback checkbox, you will also see the responses.
You can export the statistics report to CSV format with the Export button at the top of the page.
If you want to clear the statistics and display the announcement again for users after they have accepted or rejected it, find Clear Statistics in the Actions menu on the Dashboard and click it. This announcement will then be shown again for everyone who has already accepted or declined it.
You can delete this announcement if needed with the Actions menu/Delete option.
Recycle bin
Deleted templates will be transferred to the recycle bin first, where after 30 days, they will be permanently deleted.
Before the 30 days, you can restore one or every template from the Recycle bin page:
Use cases
Various policies and agreements to be shown to users:
Privacy policy
Information security policy
Cookie policy
Notifications (including maintenance notifications):
Major changes in the application
Upcoming maintenance
Rules of conduct
Information about pandemic regulations
Deadlines and friendly reminders
Different news for different groups of users (divide audiences by selecting the “Show for group” or “Show for project/space“ option)
For example, show your US employees some love for Independence Day
Free Privacy Policy Generator
Still looking for the perfect text for your privacy policy? Then we suggest this free tool to you, without any obligation: https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/free-privacy-policy-generator/
The generator can help you to fulfill the requirements of GDPR, CCPA, and Co.
After creating the text, however, you should get a professional review to ensure that it is legally secure.
The finished text is also provided to you as HTML code, which you can insert on any page of your website.