The Feed is one of the most flexible communication tools in your center. It carries everything from a quick nap update to a center-wide announcement, and it can be set up to work for staff conversations as well as family ones. Getting the settings right up front saves a lot of confusion later. This article walks through how to set up the Feed, how to use custom posts well, and best practices for everyday use.
Set up visibility from the start
Two settings shape who sees what on the Feed. One controls what teachers can see on shared classroom posts. The other controls who can see your custom post types. Both are stricter than people expect, so it helps to know how they actually work.
How teacher visibility works
When a teacher posts to a classroom, other teachers can only see that post if:
They are clocked into the same classroom, AND
They were clocked in at the time the post was made
This is strict by design. A teacher who clocks in for an afternoon shift will not see the morning teacher's posts unless they were also clocked in during the morning.
Most "I can't see this post" questions trace back to clock-in times. Before assuming something is broken, check the timestamps.
Use Display Activities for a snapshot across shifts
Teachers don't need to see every post to know how a child's day is going. The roster can show the most recent fluid, potty, and nap for each child right on the screen.
To set it up:
Tap into the Students roster from the app.
Tap the display settings icon in the top right.
Pick Tile view or List view.
Tap Display activities and select Fluid, Potty, and Nap.
Tap Done.
Custom posts visibility means what it says
When you build a custom post type, Post visibility decides exactly who can see that post. The options are:
Everyone (this includes guardians)
Admin roles only
Staff roles only
If you want families to see the post, choose Everyone. Anything else hides it from guardians.
🚨 Visibility changes only apply going forward. If a post was created with restricted visibility and you later widen it, the people who were excluded will not see those older posts. They will see new ones from that point on.
Decide How Approvals Should Work
Approvals control what goes out before families see it. There is one main setting, plus one important exception.
The Require post approval setting
In your Communication settings, find Require post approval. When this is on, every post a teacher creates is held until an admin reviews and approves it. When this is off, teacher posts go straight to families.
Default injury posts always require approval
Even if Require post approval is off across your account, the default injury post still needs admin approval before it goes out. There is no toggle to turn this off. The check is built into the default injury post type, and it is there to protect everyone.
When you want more control, use custom posts
If you want different approval rules for different post types (some need a check, others don't), the path is:
In Post Settings, turn off the default post types you want to control.
Rebuild them as Custom Post Types.
Toggle Requires admin approval on or off for each custom post.
💡 If Require post approval is on across your account, your custom posts will follow that same rule.
Who gets the approval notification
When a post is waiting on approval, an email goes out so an admin knows to take action. Where that email lands depends on the post type:
Default posts: the notification goes to the Reply-to email addresses listed in your account settings.
Custom posts: you choose the email when you build the post type.
The notification email is just a heads-up. Any user with admin permissions can approve a post, no matter whose email received the notification. So if you have multiple admin, it might be the case that someone admin will approve the feed posts before whoever is being notified, get a chance to.
Use custom posts the right way
Custom posts give you flexibility, but a few things about them are worth knowing before you build a bunch.
When a custom post is the right call
Use a custom post when you want:
A parent signature on the post
Photos or videos attached
Custom fields that staff fill in
Different approval rules from the default
Common examples are a center-specific injury post with a parent signature, a "Highlight of the Day" post, or a daily reading log.
Custom posts are not a parent survey
A common misread: people think custom posts let families fill out a form. They don't. Staff create the post, and any custom fields on the post are filled in by staff. Families see the finished post on their feed. If you need real feedback from families, that lives in a different tool, not the Feed.
What Schedule activity posts for check-out includes
In your Communication settings there is a toggle called Schedule activity posts for check-out. When it's on, all activity posts (except announcements) are grouped together and sent to families when their student is checked out, instead of in real time.
This is a great setting if you don't want families getting a notification for every potty or nap throughout the day. But "all activity posts" includes the default injury post.
If you want this setting on, and you also want injury posts to send right away, here's the workaround:
Build a custom injury post that fits your center's needs.
In the post settings, toggle off the Activity post option for that custom post.
Turn off the default injury post type so staff aren't choosing between two versions.
Now your custom injury post will send the moment it's created, even when the rest of the day's activity posts are held until check-out.
Day-to-day best practices
A few small things to know once you're posting.
Use full URLs, not hyperlinks
The rich text editor only renders on the web. In the app, in emails, and in SMS messages, rich text shows up as plain text. That includes hyperlinks. If you link the words "click here" in your post, those words won't be tappable for families reading on the app. Most families read the Feed on the app, so paste the full URL into your post.
You can add or remove recipients after a post is live
If you sent a post and realized you missed someone, you can add them as a recipient after the fact. They will get access to the post once added. There is no need to duplicate or repost. The same works in reverse. If someone was on the recipient list and you need to take their access away, you can remove them and they will no longer see the post on their feed.
Feed posts are designed for one-way communication
The Feed was built to send updates out to families and staff, not to host back-and-forth conversations. If you do want a way to get a reponse from a post, you can turn on comments, or use Contextual Post Replies to pull the post into a chat thread. Both are great options for quick reactions or follow-ups.
For an actual two-way conversation, chat tends to be the better fit. It is set up for sending messages back and forth with families or staff in real time.
The same one-way pattern applies if you send a feed post as SMS. Recipients cannot reply back through that text message. To respond, they will need to open the app or start a chat.