❗ This feature is coming soon! If you are a current TalkingPoints partner with a AFC+, School Engagement or District Engagement package, look for this new functionality in September 2026.
Creating a Newsletter
This article walks you through building a newsletter from the ground up: where to find the newsletter tool, how blocks work, and how to style your newsletter.
Where to find Newsletters
Newsletters live in the Shared Content space. You'll find this in the left navigation bar.
From there, you can open the newsletter list. This list shows every newsletter your school or district has, whether it's a draft, already sent, or a template. You can search this list by name.
Each newsletter in the list shows:
Name
Last updated (if it's been sent, this shows the last time it was sent)
Actions you can take, like edit, duplicate, send, or delete
Starting a new newsletter
You can start from scratch, or use a template someone already built. To use a template:
From the main list, choose Use template from a template's action menu, or
Open a template and click Use Template
Either way, this makes a new draft you can start editing right away.
Building your newsletter with blocks
A newsletter is made of blocks. Each block is one piece of content, like a paragraph of text or a picture. You can add as many blocks as you'd like, in any order.
To add a block, click + Add a block at the bottom of the newsletter, or click the plus icon next to any existing block.
Here are the blocks you can use:
Block | What it does |
Text | A paragraph of text |
Heading | A section title (large, medium, or small) |
List | A bulleted or numbered list |
Divider | A simple line to separate sections |
Image | A picture you upload |
Button | A button that links somewhere |
Banner | A large title area, with an optional button and background picture |
Event | A callout with an event's date, location, and RSVP link |
Callout | A highlighted note (info, warning, or success) |
Quote | A quote, shown in italics |
Stat | One big number with a short label, great for sharing a highlight |
Social / Footer | Your social media links, website, and footer text |
Columns | Puts two or three blocks side by side |
A few tips:
Each block has a menu (look for the six dots) where you can move it up, move it down, or delete it. Some blocks can also be changed into a different type, like turning a text block into a heading.
Your newsletter saves automatically as you work. If you make a change you don't like, you can undo it.
Styling your newsletter
You can set colors and fonts once, and they'll apply across your whole newsletter. This saves you from setting the same style over and over on every block. You can still customize any single block if you want it to look different.
Settings you can adjust include:
Background color
Heading and body text colors, fonts, and sizes
Link, accent, and divider colors
Button colors and shape
Banner colors
Here is a list of all the settings available in a newsletter:
Setting | Description |
Newsletter background | Background color for the entire newsletter |
Headings | Colors for headings |
Body text | Colors for standard text blocks |
Captions & fine print | Colors for captions, dates, and other fine print |
Links | Colors for link text |
Heading font | Font used for all headings |
Heading size | Adjust size as small, medium, large for all headings |
Body font | Font used for all standard text blocks |
Body text size | Adjust size as small, medium, large for all standard text blocks |
Accents | Colors used for accents |
Dividers & borders | Colors used for dividers & borders |
Buttons - background | Color for background of buttons |
Buttons - text | Color for button text |
Buttons - corner radius | Adjust curve of button (rectangle to oval) |
Banner - background | Background color of banners |
Banner - text | Text color in banners |
Banner - button background | Background color of buttons within banners |
Banner - button text | Text color of buttons within banners |
If your district or school has already set up a brand theme, your new newsletters will start with those colors already applied. Learn more in Templates & Themes.
A note on translation
Family members see newsletters in their own TalkingPoints language. Text is automatically translated, so you don't need to write it more than once. Just a heads-up: only automatic translation is available for newsletters (not a human translator), so it's a good idea to keep your wording simple and clear.
Next steps
Once your newsletter looks the way you want, you can save it as a template for next time, or send it right away. Check out Templates & Themes or Sending a Newsletter to learn more.