Alerts
Display important messages to pilots in Phoenix and Pegasus.
Alerts are banner messages displayed to pilots in Phoenix and/or Pegasus. Use them for announcements, warnings, or important information that pilots should see when they log in.
Accessing Alerts
In Orwell, go to Communications → Alerts. You need the View Alerts permission.
Creating an Alert
Each alert requires:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Title | Bold heading shown at the top of the alert (max 255 characters) |
Type | Visual style: Success (green), Danger (red), Warning (amber), Info (blue), Secondary (grey) |
Content | Message body with basic markdown formatting (bold, italic, links) |
Start Showing | When the alert becomes visible (Zulu time). Defaults to now if left empty. |
Stop Showing | When the alert expires (Zulu time). Leave empty for a permanent alert. |
Show Alert In | Where to display: Phoenix (web dashboard) and/or Pegasus (ACARS client) |
Alert Types
Choose a type that matches the message importance:
Type | Colour | Use For |
|---|---|---|
Success | Green | Positive news, completed updates, achievements |
Danger | Red | Critical issues, service disruptions, urgent warnings |
Warning | Amber | Scheduled maintenance, upcoming changes, cautions |
Info | Blue | General announcements, new features, tips |
Secondary | Grey | Low-priority notices, background information |
Where Alerts Appear
Phoenix: Alerts display in an Alerts component on the dashboard. You control where this component appears via Orwell → Pages → Phoenix Dashboard. Position it wherever suits your VA - top of the page for maximum visibility, or elsewhere in the layout.
Pegasus: Alerts appear on the first page after airline selection, mirroring the dashboard behaviour in Phoenix.
You can choose to show an alert in one or both locations.
Managing Alerts
Ordering
Alerts can be reordered by dragging rows in the table. The order determines display sequence - alerts at the top show first.
Stopping an Alert Early
Use the Stop Showing action to immediately hide an alert. This sets the end time to now, so the alert won't be deleted and remains in your history.
Permanent Alerts
Leave the Stop Showing field empty to create a permanent alert that doesn't expire. Use the table filter to show or hide permanent alerts.
Discord Integration
If you have Discord notifications configured with an alert channel, new alerts are automatically posted to Discord.
When editing an existing alert, enable Resend Notification to Discord to post it again (useful after significant edits).
Alerts vs NOTAMs
Both features display messages to pilots, but they serve different purposes:
Feature | Alerts | NOTAMs |
|---|---|---|
Display | Banner on dashboard/Pegasus | Dedicated page with read tracking |
Read tracking | No | Yes - tracks who has read each NOTAM |
Can block booking | No | Yes - Must Read NOTAMs require acknowledgement |
Best for | Quick announcements, system status | Important notices requiring acknowledgement |
Tips
Keep alerts concise - Pilots scan quickly. Get to the point.
Use appropriate types - Reserve Danger for genuine emergencies.
Set expiry dates - Time-sensitive announcements should auto-expire so you don't forget to remove them.
Schedule ahead - Use Start Showing to prepare alerts for future events.
Don't overuse - Too many alerts leads to alert fatigue. Alerts that don't apply to most pilots cause general disinterest - soon all alerts get ignored. For example, a permanent "Welcome to our VA" alert isn't relevant to existing pilots; use the welcome email instead, or a Must Read NOTAM that new pilots acknowledge once. Avoid permanent alerts; if information needs to persist, consider NOTAMs or a custom page.
Related
NOTAMs - Notices requiring pilot acknowledgement
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