Which products does your school or district have?
This article covers how news publishing works when you have the Edlio CMS (website) and how it connects if your school also licenses the Edlio Mobile App or Mass Communication (voice, SMS text, and email). The options that appear on your dashboard after publishing depend on which products are active for your account.
Create News Across Platforms
Edlio gives you several ways to reach your school community with a news story: your school website (via the CMS), your school mobile app (via the Edlio App's newsfeed and push notifications), and outbound Mass Communication broadcasts (email, SMS text, and voice call). Depending on which products you have, you can publish from one place without retyping the story in multiple systems.
The three news surfaces
Before you publish, it helps to understand how the three distinct communications surfaces function:
CMS News & Alerts (Website) — Stories and announcements displayed on your public school website (homepage news block, dedicated news landing page, and optional Homepage Alert pop-up banners).
App Newsfeed (Mobile App) — Stories that display in the news stream on mobile phones for parents, students, and staff using the Edlio Mobile App, with optional push notifications.
Mass Communication (Broadcasts) — Direct multi-channel broadcast messages sent directly to subscriber phones and inboxes via email, SMS text message, and automated voice calls.
1. If you have CMS only (Website)
If your school uses only the Edlio CMS website product without mobile app or mass communications add-ons, news publishing is focused entirely on your public site:
In the CMS dashboard, navigate to Announce > News and click + Add News (see Add a news story).
Write your story, select your display categories, set publish dates, and click Publish.
Your story immediately displays on your website's news page and homepage news block (if configured).
Optional urgent alert: On the post-publish share screen, click Homepage Alert if you want this story to display as an immediate pop-up alert banner on your website homepage.
Skip the remaining share tiles (Mass Communication, Push & Social), as those apply to additional products.
2. If you have CMS + App
When your school licenses both the Edlio CMS website and the Edlio Mobile App, news created in the CMS website automatically syncs into your school mobile app feed. You do not need to create the story twice.
The workflow:
Create and publish the news story in the CMS (Announce > News).
Once published, the story appears on your website AND automatically syncs into your school's mobile app newsfeed.
Optional Push Notification: On the post-publish share screen, click Push & Social if you also want to dispatch an instant mobile app push alert to app subscribers or share to connected social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, X).
💡 When to create news inside the App instead: If you want an announcement to display only inside the mobile app for families and staff without appearing on the public website, create the story directly inside the Edlio App dashboard under Features > News (see App Newsfeed Overview).
3. If you have CMS + Mass Communication
If your school has the Edlio CMS and licenses Edlio Mass Communication, you can transfer published website news directly into an outbound multi-channel message without re-typing any content.
The workflow:
Create and publish your news story in the CMS.
On the post-publish share screen, click the Mass Communications tile.
Your story's headline, summary, and website link are automatically pre-populated into the Mass Communication message composer (pre-formatting the email subject, SMS text body, and voice script).
Select your target recipients (such as school-wide groups or specific grade levels), review the channels, and click Send.
For complete channel-by-channel formatting details, see Cross-Posting CMS News to Mass Communications.
4. If you have CMS + App + Mass Communication (Full suite)
With the complete Edlio communications suite active, a single story created in the CMS website serves as your single source of truth while reaching every channel:
Create and publish the news story once in the CMS (Announce > News).
✅ Public website news page and homepage news block (automatic).
✅ School mobile app newsfeed (automatic 1-to-1 sync).
On the post-publish share screen, activate any additional outreach channels you need:
Homepage Alert: Trigger an urgent pop-up banner on your website homepage.
Mass Communications: Dispatch the announcement out as direct Email, SMS Text, and Voice calls to parent/staff phone lists.
Push & Social: Send an app push notification and cross-post to connected social media accounts.
5. If you only have the App (No CMS website)
If your organization uses only the standalone Edlio Mobile App without the Edlio CMS website product, all news management takes place directly within the Edlio App admin console:
Log in to your app dashboard at edlioapp.com.
Navigate to Features > News and click + New (see App Newsfeed Overview).
Your post publishes exclusively to your mobile app newsfeed for app subscribers.
District vs. schools: Publishing across websites vs. mobile apps
When coordinating communication across a central district office and multiple school campuses, website content and mobile app feeds operate on two completely separate distribution architectures. Here is how each system functions:
A. Across websites (District CMS site to school CMS sites)
In the Edlio CMS, each school website has its own completely independent database. Publishing a news story or homepage alert on the district website does not automatically syndicate, push, or copy that story down to child/secondary school websites:
Content Independence: News stories, news categories, and Homepage Alerts remain strictly local to the specific website where they were created.
Publishing to School Sites via Multisite Access (MSM): District administrators who have Multisite Access (MSM) can quickly switch between school campuses using the Navigate to another site dropdown in the header to publish content directly onto child school websites without logging in again.
District-Wide Broadcasts: If an announcement must reach all school communities simultaneously, use Edlio Mass Communication rather than manually re-creating articles across every individual school website.
B. Across mobile apps (District app to school apps)
In the Edlio Mobile App platform, streams are organized around user subscriptions:
District App Feeds: Announcements published in the district app dashboard display in the district stream for families following the district.
School App Feeds: Announcements created in a specific school's app dashboard display in that individual school's feed.
Multi-School Following: Families with students across multiple schools can follow both the district and their specific schools within the same app to receive combined updates.
C. What to expect if you are a CMS + App district client
If your district licenses both Edlio CMS and the Edlio Mobile App, here is exactly how publishing from the district website behaves across your web and mobile channels:
1-to-1 Automatic Sync: When you publish a news story on the District website, it automatically syncs into the District mobile app feed. It does not automatically cascade into individual child school app feeds.
Child School Websites & Apps Remain Untouched: Because the district CMS news story does not copy down to the child school websites, those child schools' mobile app feeds will not display the district story automatically.
How to make a district story appear on all school websites AND their mobile apps:
1. An administrator with Multisite Access (MSM) switches to each child school site via the admin header and posts the story on that school's website.
2. Once published on that school's website, the story will automatically populate that school's corresponding mobile app feed without any duplicate work in the app.Faster alternative for district-wide outreach: If an announcement is urgent and intended for families across all schools, use Edlio Mass Communication to send a district-wide push notification, email, or SMS text message to every school community in a single dispatch.
Decision summary
What you want to reach | Where to start |
Website only | CMS > Announce > News > + Add News. Skip share tiles. |
Website + School App newsfeed | CMS > Announce > News > + Add News. (App sync is automatic 1-to-1.) |
Website + School App + push notification | CMS > Add News > publish > share screen > Push & Social. |
Website + Email / SMS Text / Voice | CMS > Add News > publish > share screen > Mass Communications. |
Urgent banner alert on website homepage | CMS > Add News > publish > share screen > Homepage Alert. |
All channels at once (Web, App, Push, Email, SMS) | CMS > Add News > publish > use share tiles for Mass Comms & Push. |
App newsfeed only (no website post) | Edlio App dashboard > Features > News > + New. |
Across all district schools & apps at once | Dispatch via Edlio Mass Communication. |
Frequently asked questions
Why don't I see the Mass Communications tile after publishing?
The tile only appears if your school has the Mass Communications product. If you expect it and don't see it, your account may not have Mass Comms active. To check what products are on your account, email [email protected].
Does cross-posting from CMS to Mass Comms send to everyone automatically?
No. The story transfers to Mass Comms pre-filled with content and pre-selected channels, but you still review recipients, adjust settings, and click Send.
If I edit the news story in the CMS after sending to Mass Comms, does Mass Comms update?
No. Cross-posting is a one-time transfer at the moment you click the Mass Comms tile. Later edits to the CMS story do not retro-update an already-sent Mass Comm message. (Edits to the CMS story will update the website and the App newsfeed, since those pull live from the same source.)
Do I need to do anything to make a CMS news story appear in the App?
No — CMS news stories appear in your school's mobile app newsfeed automatically as soon as they're published on the website. The pickup is automatic for any school with both products active.
Need help?
For technical questions about cross-posting or the share screen, open a ticket with Edlio Support's Eddy AI assistant — see How to submit a support ticket. For questions about which products are on your account or to add Mass Communications or the App, email [email protected].
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