"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.

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Announcer dashboard

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

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General configuration step

Here is an overview of which General configuration parameters you can set:

Styling

Here is an overview of which Styling parameters you can set:

Scope

Here is an overview of which Scope parameters you can set:

Review

Review gives you the general overview of your template, before enabling it.

Here is an overview of which Review parameters you can set:

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