Write an update

An update is news that you send to residents. Every update starts as a draft. Nothing is sent until someone chooses to send it. Drafts never cost anything.

Start a draft

1. Select New update at the top of the page.
2. Enter a title. The title is also the email subject. It can have up to 200 characters.
3. Write the message under "What do residents need to know?"
4. Select Continue to review to choose who gets it and when.

The draft saves while you type. The status at the top shows "saving…" and then "saved". To stop for now, select Save and close.

The sidebar shows the length, for example "182 words · about 1 minute to read".

Format the message

The toolbar has these tools:

• Heading and subheading
• Bold, italic, underline and strikethrough
• Bulleted list, numbered list and quote
• Link
• Divider
• Image
• Attach file
• Undo and redo

Add images

• Use a JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF file up to 10 MB.
• You can drag an image into the message, or paste it.
• Every image needs alt text. Residents who use screen readers hear this text. An image without alt text has a warning outline, and you cannot send until you add the text.

Attach files

Select Add image or file under Attachments.

• You can attach up to 10 files.
• Files must be PDFs up to 20 MB. Images can be up to 10 MB.
• Images show in the email and on the public page. Files show as links.
• A phone call tells the resident that a document is attached and that they can read it on your resident site.

Delete a draft

Select Delete draft and confirm. You cannot undo this. You can delete only a draft or an update with changes requested.