To put a short announcement across the top of your Editor 2.0 website, such as a rainout notice or a registration deadline, create a Top Bar Message personalization rule in the Site Editor and then republish your site. You choose the message, the pages it appears on, and when it starts and stops.
Applies to: Org admins with Site Editor access · All plans, for organizations with Editor 2.0 (the CMS module) · Editor 2.0 (CMS)
Where: Content > Site Editor > More > Personalize
A Top Bar message suits short, time-sensitive notices that visitors should see without being interrupted: rainouts and field closures, registration opening soon or closing, schedule changes, tryout or evaluation reminders, and temporary changes to your hours.
Create a Top Bar message
- On your admin site, go to Content > Site Editor.
- In the editor's left side panel, click More, then click Personalize.
- Click Add Rule and choose Top Bar Message.
- Under Trigger configurations, choose who sees the message and when. You can combine conditions to narrow it down:
- Device used: desktop or mobile.
- Visitor Location: a city, region or country.
- Timing: a date range and a repeat schedule.
- Number of visits: how many times someone has visited your site.
- Campaign URL: visitors who arrive through a tracked marketing link.
- From the action options, choose Show Top Bar Message.
- Type the message you want visitors to see.
- Choose the page or pages the message appears on.
- Set when the message starts showing and, if it should end, when it stops.
- Click Preview to check how it looks, then click Next.
- Enter a Rule name you'll recognize later.
- If returning visitors shouldn't see the message again, turn on Show once per visitor.
- Click Activate to turn the rule on, or Save as Draft to finish it later.
- Click Republish. Visitors don't see the message until you do.
What you'll see
After you republish, visitors who match the rule see your message in a bar across the top of the pages you chose. It doesn't interrupt their browsing.
Keep the text short enough to read at a glance. For example: "RAINOUT NOTICE: All games scheduled for Saturday have been canceled due to weather. Please check your schedule for updates."
The rule is listed in the Personalize panel. The three-dot menu next to it is where you preview, edit, pause or delete it.
Change, pause or remove a Top Bar message
- Go to Content > Site Editor.
- In the left side panel, click More, then click Personalize.
- Click the three-dot menu next to the rule.
- Choose Edit to change it, Activate/Deactivate to turn it on or off, or Delete to remove it.
- Click Republish. Until you do, your live website keeps showing the message as it was.
Test a rule before visitors see it
Rules don't run while you look at your site in the editor's preview. To see a rule in action, click the three-dot menu next to it in the Personalize panel and choose Preview.
If it doesn't work
- The message isn't on your live website. Republish after you create or change a rule. Then check that the rule is active (not a draft or deactivated), that the current date and time fall inside its start and stop times, and that your device, location and number of visits match its triggers.
- You can't see the message in the editor's preview. Rules don't trigger there. Use Preview from the rule's three-dot menu instead.
- A cookie banner covers the message. When your site's Cookie Notification banner is on, it takes priority and may cover the Top Bar message. Turn off the Cookie Notification if the message needs to be seen right away.
- You saw the message once and now it's gone. A visitor who has seen a rule doesn't see it again for 30 minutes, or until they clear their browser cache, even if they still match its triggers. If you turned on Show once per visitor, returning visitors don't see it again at all.
- A different message shows instead of yours. If more than one active rule shows a Top Bar message on the same page at the same time, only one appears: the rule listed highest in the Personalize panel. Drag the rules to change their order, or deactivate the one you no longer need.
- An old message is still showing. Change the rule's stop time, or deactivate or delete the rule, and then republish.
Good to know
- Top Bar or pop-up? A Top Bar message is best for a short notice. For something more important or detailed, especially with an image or a button that takes visitors somewhere on your site, use a pop-up instead: see CMS: Show a pop-up message on your website (replaces the legacy Splash Page).
- Coming from the legacy content editor? Content > Home Page Banner and Content > News Items belong to the legacy content editor and aren't on the Editor 2.0 Content menu. A Top Bar message with a start and stop time is the quickest way to post a dated notice on Editor 2.0.
- It changes your website only. A Top Bar message doesn't change your schedule or send email or text messages. To reach families directly, use Communications > Send Communication.
- Who can create rules. Any admin who can open the Site Editor can create rules and republish. If Site Editor isn't on your Content menu, see CMS: How to open the Site Editor (and what to do if you can't).
- Changing the large image at the top of your home page? That's your page's header image, not a Top Bar message. See CMS: New Content Editor: Editing Text, Images, Buttons and Icons.