🗓️ Launching November 11: This article covers features launching on November 11. Admins can opt in early.
Getting a message in front of a frontline team is rarely the hard part. Getting it read, and getting your team to care about what shows up, is where most rollouts stall: announcements get buried under routine posts, group threads turn into noise, and recognition ends up in a Manager's personal texts where nobody else sees it.
Newsfeed and Messages give you three tools for this:
Newsfeed for posts to everyone or to a set audience,
Group Messages for team and Location conversations,
and Direct Messages for one-on-one conversations.
This guide covers how to match each tool to the job, set a posting rhythm, and build recognition in, so your team keeps checking.
✅ Before you start: Your business needs the new Newsfeed and Messages, shown as Newsfeed and Messages in the left nav.
Posting needs the Send Posts permission, and starting a conversation needs Start Messages. Admins have both by default.
Table of Contents:
When to Use Each Tool
Newsfeed: announcements, recognition, and wins that a whole business, Location, or Role should see.
Group Messages: shift coordination, Role-based conversations (all Cooks, all Shift Leads), and back-and-forth at one Location.
Direct Messages: one-on-one conversations, like a Manager checking in with a Trainee.
💡 Rule of thumb: If it's for everyone, post it on Newsfeed. If it's for a specific team or Role, use a Group Message. If it's for one person, send a Direct Message.
Decide Who Can Post and Message
Before launch, decide who gets each permission. Set them under Preferences in the left nav: Newsfeed's Preferences has Send Posts, and Messages' Preferences has Start Messages. You can turn each on for Admins, Managers, and Trainees by Role, or for individual team members.
Each Role posts to a different audience:
Admins: anyone in your business.
Managers: everyone, or the Locations and Roles they manage.
Trainees: everyone, or their own Locations.
Managers have Start Messages by default. Managers and Trainees can only message team members at their Locations.
💡 Let Trainees post: Giving Trainees Send Posts turns Newsfeed into something your team owns instead of a top-down channel. A Trainee sharing a guest compliment costs you nothing to produce and often reads as more genuine than an official post.
Posts That Get Read
Keep a steady rhythm
Consistency matters more than volume. A predictable rhythm builds a habit; a flood of posts teaches your team to stop checking.
✅ Good: A weekly recap every Monday, plus recognition as it happens.
❌ Avoid: Five posts in one day, then two quiet weeks.
To keep the rhythm without posting live, turn on Schedule for later when you write the post.
Be specific
A specific post gets read. A generic one gets scrolled past.
✅ Good: "Maria covered two extra shifts this week with no notice and kept the kitchen running during Saturday's rush. Thank you, Maria!"
❌ Too vague: "Great job team this week!"
Send it only to the team members it's for
Click Select recipients and choose Locations, Roles, groups, or individual team members. Save Send to everyone for posts the whole business needs. Posting only to the team members a post affects keeps Newsfeed from feeling like noise to everyone else.
✅ Good: A new fryer procedure sent to Cooks only.
❌ Avoid: Every post sent to everyone, whoever it's for.
Use @mentions for whoever must act
An @mention notifies that person directly, on top of the post itself. Use it when someone specific needs to see the post and act on it.
✅ Good: @mention the Shift Lead in a post about a schedule change.
❌ Avoid: @mentioning the whole team on every post.
Decide whether a post takes comments
Not every post needs to be a conversation. Turn off Enable comments for notices, and leave it on for recognition and team updates.
✅ Good: Comments on for a shoutout, off for a compliance notice.
❌ Avoid: Leaving comments on everywhere without thinking about it.
Follow up on what must be read
For time-sensitive posts, Admins and Managers can turn on Notify recipients once a day and pick a Stop notifying on date. Until then, Opus reminds anyone who hasn't read the post yet, once a day.
Group Messages That Stay Useful
Group Messages work best when they mirror how your team actually works, not one giant thread with everyone in it.
✅ Good: A Group Message for each Location, one for all Shift Leads across Locations, and one for an upcoming event.
❌ Avoid: One business-wide thread where a schedule question gets lost between fifty other messages.
Keep day-to-day coordination here, and save Newsfeed for things the wider team should see.
Recognition and Shoutouts
Recognition is the easiest content to get right, and it's the exception to "less is more": shoutouts rarely feel like noise, even when they're frequent. Build a habit around it.
Give it a home: a regular spot for shoutouts, like a Friday recognition post, makes them easy to find and easy to add to.
Be specific: name the person and what they did. "Went above and beyond for a guest" lands better when it says what happened.
Mix it up: recognition from peers often feels more genuine than recognition only from Managers. Encourage both.
Tie it to what matters: a shoutout that connects to a brand standard or value reinforces more than the moment itself.
🎯 Example: A multi-location coffee brand gives Trainees Send Posts for their own Locations. Anyone can post a shoutout for a coworker, and each Manager features a favorite in the Monday recap.
Make Sure Your Team Gets Notified
Messages arrive by push notification only, with no text message, so every team member needs the Opus app with notifications on. Notifications are on by default.
Each team member chooses their own: in the app under their profile > Notifications, or on the dashboard under Preferences > My Notifications. For New Posts, Post Activity, Group Messages, and Direct Messages, they can pick every update, @ mentions only, or Muted.
Keep It Respectful
Anyone can report: any team member can report a message or a comment on a post, and add a note. Reported content is hidden from everyone except Admins right away.
Admins review reports: open Newsfeed > Reported Content to see what was reported, then restore it or leave it hidden.
Group Messages are visible to Admins: Admins can read every Group Message in your business, and each one shows a banner about who can view it.
💡 Name an owner: Put one Admin in charge of checking Reported Content, ideally once a day.
Roll Out to Your Team
Newsfeed and Messages succeed on adoption, and adoption follows the Manager, not the Admin team.
Before launch:
Decide who gets Send Posts and Start Messages.
Brief Managers on the questions their team is likely to ask before everyone else sees it.
Pick a few well-liked Trainees at each Location to use it early. They don't need to be the most tech-savvy.
In the first few weeks:
Get Managers posting, liking, and commenting first. Trainees take their cue from their own Manager, not a business-wide announcement.
Post recognition early and often. It's the fastest way to show your team it's worth checking.
Keep volume light. It's easier to build up a rhythm than to walk back too many posts.
⚠️ Watch for silent Managers: If a Manager doesn't use Newsfeed and Messages, their team usually won't either. Check in with them early.
➡️ Learn more: The Newsfeed & Messages Folder in your Library has a starter kit: the Newsfeed & Messages 101 Module, Post Templates, a Content Calendar Playbook, and a quick guide for Managers.
Use Cases
Weekly recap
A short Monday post with last week's wins, schedule notes, and one shoutout. It works because it's predictable: your team knows when it's coming and what's in it.
Shift Group Messages
A Group Message for the closing shift at each Location, for handoff notes and same-day questions. It reaches only the team members who need it and keeps Newsfeed clear.
Peer shoutouts
A Trainee posts a quick thank-you to a coworker who picked up a last-minute shift. Peer recognition reads as genuine, and it costs Admins nothing to produce.
Urgent updates
A same-day closure or safety update, posted only to the affected Location with Notify recipients once a day on until the end of the day. Anyone who hasn't read it gets a reminder.
FAQ
Why don't I see Newsfeed?
Your business may not have the new Newsfeed and Messages yet. Message our team through chat or email support@opus.so.
Can Trainees post on Newsfeed?
Yes, if you give them Send Posts under Newsfeed's Preferences. Trainees can post to everyone or to their own Locations.
Who can Managers and Trainees message?
With Start Messages, Managers and Trainees can start Direct and Group Messages with team members at their Locations. Admins can message anyone.
Can I schedule a post?
Yes. Turn on Schedule for later when you write the post and pick a date and time.
Can Trainees send daily reminders on their posts?
No. Reminders are for Admins and Managers.