Announcement Bar
The announcement bar is a strip across the very top of every page, above the top bar and header, with a short message and an optional button. You can schedule it to appear and disappear on set dates, and let visitors close it.
When to use it
Section titled “When to use it”- Site-wide notices with an end date: an office closure, a registration deadline, a sale.
- An urgent alert everyone must see, with Allow Visitors to Dismiss turned off.
For a notice that belongs on one page, add a section to that page instead. For a notice that interrupts the visitor, use a modal.
How to set it up
Section titled “How to set it up”- In WordPress admin, go to Appearance → Customize.
- Open Announcement Bar, then Announcement Bar Settings.
- Tick Enable Announcement Bar.
- Write the Message.
- Optionally add CTA Button Text and CTA Button URL, and set the dates.
- Check the bar in the preview, then select Publish.
Options
Section titled “Options”| Option | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Announcement Bar | Turns the bar on. Nothing shows while this is off, whatever else is filled in. | Off |
| Message | The announcement. Basic HTML is allowed: bold, italic and links. Keep it to one sentence. | Empty |
| CTA Button Text | The button label. | Empty |
| CTA Button URL | Where the button goes: a site path such as /sale, or a full URL. | Empty |
| Theme | Light or Dark, using your palette’s light or dark colours, the same as a section’s theme variant. | Dark |
| Allow Visitors to Dismiss | Shows a close button. | On |
| Start Date / Time | The bar shows from this moment. Empty means straight away. | Empty |
| End Date / Time | The bar stops showing at this moment. Empty means no end. | Empty |
The button uses your site’s button style from Global Settings. It only appears when both CTA Button Text and CTA Button URL are filled in.
Scheduling
Section titled “Scheduling”Dates use your site’s timezone, set in Settings → General. The server decides whether to show the bar on each page load, so it never flashes up and disappears, and a visitor’s own clock does not matter. After the end date the bar stays configured but hidden; clear or move the dates to show it again.
Dismissing
Section titled “Dismissing”When a visitor closes the bar, it stays hidden for them for a year, or until the message changes. Editing the Message shows the new version to everyone, including people who closed the old one. Changing only the button or dates does not.
Using the connector
Section titled “Using the connector”An AI assistant connected through the Promptless connector can read the current settings and change any of them, for example “Put up a closure notice from 24 December to 2 January”. It changes only the fields you mention. Through the connector the message is limited to 500 characters, the button text to 80, the start must be on or before the end, and unsafe link addresses are refused. See Connector Tools.
Limits and common problems
Section titled “Limits and common problems”- The bar does not appear. Check, in order: the site uses the Promptless theme; Enable Announcement Bar is ticked; the message is not empty; the current time is inside the scheduled dates; and you have not closed the bar yourself in this browser.
- The bar still shows after a change, or still hides. A page cache may be serving an older copy of the page. Clear it after changing the bar.
- Reusable element shortcodes show as typed. Promptless theme 1.4.0 and earlier do not replace
[re:KEY]shortcodes in the bar, although the Message help text says they are supported. The next theme release replaces them. Until you update, type the text directly. - One bar for the whole site. There is a single message, shown on every page. It cannot be limited to some pages.