What are announcements?

One kind of FAQ doesn't wait to be asked. Set an entry's type to announcement and the AI carries it in context for every conversation, whatever the customer typed. A regular FAQ only comes into play when a question matches it; an announcement lets the assistant bring up this week's shipping delay on its own instead of hoping someone asks about shipping.

What they're for

Urgent, store-wide notices. Carrier delays affecting all orders this week. A warehouse closure pushing fulfillment back. A known checkout or payment issue you're still resolving. A site-wide promotion exception with fixed legal or ops wording.

The dividing line: if silence would mislead customers, it's an announcement. If it's a stable policy that only matters when a shopper asks about that topic, it's a regular FAQ.

Creating one

Set type to announcement when adding the entry in Simple Chat, or in the CSV type column if you're importing. Write the answer as clear, customer-ready language, the same text you'd put on a banner or a support auto-reply.

Retire them when the incident ends

Because announcements are always in context, a stale one means the AI keeps citing a resolved incident. Keep them focused and current, and for time-bound situations set start and end dates in Simple Chat so the notice stops applying when operations return to normal.