Summary: News items are powerful tools for sharing detailed 'must read' articles and announcements across your organization. This guide explains how to compose news items, add media, target specific audiences, set publication options, and manage drafts on both desktop and mobile.
1. Composing a news item on desktop
To start a draft from your computer, go to the News homepage and click the +New button in the top right corner to open the News composer.
- Draft a clear title: Enter your headline at the top of the composer. This title will be clearly visible in the article's preview block on the main News homepage.
- Optimize the preview: Roughly the first 30 words of your body text automatically appear as a preview snippet on the homepage. Make these words count by focusing on what you will cover, so readers get a quick overview before opening the full article.
- Rich text and media: The desktop toolbar gives you full creative flexibility. You can insert images (or copy and paste them into the text), add videos, upload document attachments, and include hyperlinks. For all formatting options, see Formatting Options in News Items. For media specifications and file limits, see Images, Videos, and Files in News.
- Cover photo: Add a cover photo to be shown on top of the news item. For an optimal layout, your image must have a resolution of minimum 490x175 pixels. If you don't add one, Speakap uses the default.
Note: Creating News is based on permissions, so you may not see an option to add a news item. If that's the case, ask your administrator for additional permissions. See Why Can't I Post a News Item.
2. Composing a news item on mobile
To draft an article on the go, open the News homescreen and tap the + (plus) icon in the top right corner to launch the composer.
- Add a cover image: Tap the top banner placeholder to add a visual cover image. For an optimal layout, your image must have a resolution of exactly 490x175 pixels.
- Write your content: Type your headline into the Compose news input box and write the body of your article in the Description field.
- Supported media: On mobile you can insert images (including copying and pasting them), embed videos, and upload file attachments.
- Formatting limitations: Rich text formatting (such as bold or underlined text) is currently not supported in the mobile app. If you need advanced styling, compose your news item in a desktop browser instead.
3. Setting publication and interaction options
Both the desktop and mobile composers have a publication settings panel to control how and when your news article is published.
- Audience targeting: Use the standard audience picker to navigate between Business Units, Departments, Locations, Teams, and Groups and precisely choose your target audience.
- Scheduling: Publish your post immediately or schedule it for a future release. If you select scheduling, a calendar tool appears where you pick the date and the exact time you want the news item to go live.
- Interaction toggles: You decide how your colleagues interact with the news post. You can independently enable or disable Comments and Reactions.
- Read acknowledgments: For critical announcements, you can require users to formally confirm they have read the article. You will see who acknowledged and who didn't. Read more in Making News Items Acknowledgeable.
4. Managing drafts
The moment you open the News composer, Speakap starts an automatic draft of your article.
- Auto-save: You can leave the composer page at any time. All text and media changes are saved as a draft in real time.
- Finding your drafts: To resume work on an incomplete article, go to the News homepage and select the Drafts filter.
- Deleting a draft: To scrap an article you are working on, click or tap the Delete draft button in the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Publishing: Once everything looks good, click Publish now to instantly share the news item with your chosen audience.
Still stuck?
Email us at support@speakap.com with your network name and a screenshot of where you get stuck in the composer, and we'll help you out.