Before creating your first newsletter, set up the main details that make Ecko work for your school. This includes your branding, term dates, newsletter links, Groups, Sections and any calendar feed your school wants to use for diary dates.
You do not need to complete every optional setting before publishing, but setting up the basics first will make it easier to create Stories and publish Editions.
Add your school branding
Start by personalising Ecko for your school by adding your school name, main logo and accent colour. These make published Editions feel like official school communications.
Add you term dates
Adding your schools term dates and inset days will allow you to display the Term Timeline in your newsletters. This also allows families to add all of these dates to their own calendar with a couple of taps. Once they’ve subscribed to your Term Dates calendar feed, their calendar will automatically update if you make any changes, or when you add next year’s dates.
Add a previous newsletters URL
If your school published newsletters somewhere else before using Ecko, add the previous newsletters URL. This gives readers a route to older newsletters from the front-end archive page.
Set up Groups
Groups let readers filter your newsletters to content that is relevant to them. Schools often use Groups for year groups, classes, key stages or staff audiences. You can set-up your groups in whatever way works for your school.
Set up Sections
Sections organise Stories. They appear above Story titles and determine the default order of Stories when Ecko creates a new Edition. You can add or remove Sections whenever you like, but it’s a good idea to set-up a few right away so you can start organising you Stories.
Connect a calendar feed if you have one
If your school already manages events in another calendar system, you can connect an iCal feed. This lets users add Diary Dates to Stories more easily, without duplicating information.
Create your first newsletter
Once the basic setup is complete, you’re ready to start writing Stories and creating your first Edition.