Push Notifications allow you to send a message to everyone who has your app installed, for example to remind them of an event, or that your live stream is starting. These appear on user’s phone screens even if the app is closed.

A Push Notification appears on users’ devices in a similar way to a text message, offering a very cost effective replacement to expensive messaging solutions.

Watch the video for an overview of what needs to be achieved in this step, and then follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Part One: Create Notification Topics

1. Login to the EzyStream Dashboard (admin.ezystream.com).
2. Click the ‘Cog’ icon next to your name in the top right of the screen.
3. Select ‘Notifications’
4. Click (+) Add Category
5. Name your first notification topic. This could be something like ‘General Annoucements’, or ‘Youth Group Updates’
   • We suggest creating a handful of these topics, however at least 1 must be created to use this feature.
   • Users are able to turn off topics that are irrelevant to them in the settings of your app. For example, this means you can send notifications about Youth Events and those who don’t have Young People can turn these off.

Part Two: Send your First Push Notification:

1. Click Notifications in the Top Blue nagivation menu on your screen.
2. Click (+) Add Notification.
3. Type the Title and Message of your notification. Idea: For a first test message, you could send a ‘Welcome to our app’ type message. This will show in Notification History for 7 days.
4. Select the Topic you’d like to send your notification under.
5. Select if you’d like your notification to link to an event, or media when tapped.
6. Decide whether you’d like to Send Now, or schedule your Push Notification.
7. Click Send

Understanding Statistics

You can easily see how many devices your notification was sent to under the # Sent column after sending is complete.

Editing Scheduled Notifications

You can change a scheduled notification by clicking Edit, where you’ll get the option to edit its schedule if it hasn’t already been sent.

Important! Consider your notification frequency!

None of us like to receive too many notifications from an app. If we do, we tend to deactivate them entirely.

We want notifications to be a powerful tool in your community, with everyone allowing them. So consider your usage and frequency so that when people receive them, they take notice!

The Baptist NZ comms team is able to help you configure your app to get the most out of it. You can give us a call, or email support here.

We suggest your app is configured to do at least the following:

• Send Push Notifications,
• Display events,
• Offer digital giving,
• Publish sermon media
• Publish weekly newsletters
• A full feature list is available here.

If you’re stuck getting these operating, please get in touch. We want your app to be an effective tool for your community.