Do you use announcements on your site?

I use the vBulletin FAQ feature to inform members of sitewide forum rules, regulations, and policies. I then use the vBulletin announcement feature to notify members of forum-specific rules. For example, if you enter the Webmaster Marketplace, there will be an announcement indicating there is a ten post minimum to create a new thread in that forum.

My moderators then use forum stickies (I call them read me's) to highlight important helpful tips, resources, etc. that are of use to most people seeking help in the technical support forums.

I use IPB and they have a pretty decent announcement feature but personally I dont like it, I usually prefer mass pming members if I want them to know something because usually only 20 percent of people bother to read the announcements. As far as stikies are concered I use those very regularly but personally I dont like the announcement feature maybe that is one reason I dont bother using it.

What are strikes?

I use IPB and they have a pretty decent announcement feature but personally I dont like it, I usually prefer mass pming members if I want them to know something because usually only 20 percent of people bother to read the announcements. As far as stikies are concered I use those very regularly but personally I dont like the announcement feature maybe that is one reason I dont bother using it.

Mass PM is perhaps a good solution, I don't use though. It gives the members a feeling of getting spammed frequently by unwanted msgs. And instead the important announcements are included or pointed out in the monthly newsletter.

Yes, I've actually never sent out a mass PM. I think the only circumstance that I feel I would resort to that is if something drastic were to happen, where it was very important that I notify all members of an important situation. I can't even think of what type of reason that would be!

I use Announcements in my forums from time to time... normally I define a 1 month lifetime for it. Specially whne I want everyone to know about new rules or additions. In other cases I use the General Forum since in my case its the most visited and normally all users check that one first.

Yes, since my announcements are generally rules and policies, I'll set them up to running for a lifetime. The only time when I've done a temporary announcement is when I wanted to inform people that we have a new forum and not to post certain threads in the old forum anymore.

I use Announcements in my forums from time to time... normally I define a 1 month lifetime for it. Specially whne I want everyone to know about new rules or additions. In other cases I use the General Forum since in my case its the most visited and normally all users check that one first.

Good idea! And thank you for letting me know how you do it.