Comms Planner App Overview

Plan your entire year of employee communications in minutes with AI-powered presets, drag-and-drop scheduling, and seamless exports.

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What is the Comms Planner App?

The Comms Planner is a free internal communications calendar tool that helps HR, Internal Communications, and Corporate Communications teams plan, organize, and manage their employee messaging throughout the year. No account required—just select your presets, customize, and export.

Core Value Proposition:

• 🎯 Pre-Built Presets — Start with 70+ expertly-crafted events based on 10+ years of corporate communications expertise
• 📅 Drag & Drop Interface — Visual calendar with FullCalendar-powered scheduling
• 🤖 AI-Powered Ideas — Generate smart suggestions based on calendar gaps and best practices
• 💰 100% Free — No account, no credit card, no strings attached

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At a Glance

📊 Preset Events	⏱️ Setup Time	🔗 Export Options	📱 Mobile Ready
70+ events	< 60 seconds	CSV & ICS	✅ Yes

Perfect For:

• 🏢 IC/HR Teams — Plan annual communications calendars with industry-standard events
• 👥 People Managers — Coordinate team announcements with company-wide messaging
• 📈 Corp Comms — Ensure consistent messaging across all channels and audiences

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How It Works

Main Workflow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    COMMS PLANNER WORKFLOW                               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│   ┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐   │
│   │  SELECT      │───▶     │  CUSTOMIZE   │───▶     │   EXPORT     │   │
│   │  PRESETS     │         │  CALENDAR    │         │   & SHARE    │   │
│   └──────────────┘         └──────────────┘         └──────────────┘   │
│         │                        │                        │            │
│         ▼                        ▼                        ▼            │
│   • US Holidays            • Drag & Drop            • CSV Download     │
│   • Town Halls             • Add/Edit Events        • ICS Calendar     │
│   • Benefits               • AI Suggestions         • Shareable URL    │
│   • Compliance             • Backlog Items          • 90-Day Access    │
│   • Safety                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Calendar Ecosystem

                              ┌─────────────────┐
                              │  COMMS PLANNER  │
                              └────────┬────────┘
                                       │
         ┌─────────────┬───────────────┼───────────────┬─────────────┐
         ▼             ▼               ▼               ▼             ▼
   ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐
   │  Outlook  │ │  Google   │ │   Slack   │ │  Teams    │ │ Intranet  │
   │ Calendar  │ │ Calendar  │ │ Channels  │ │ Messages  │ │   Posts   │
   └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘

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Key Features

🎯 Pre-Built Presets

Start with expertly-curated communication events designed for US-based organizations.

Preset	Events	Description
US Core HR + Corp Comms	25	Federal holidays, town halls, open enrollment, benefits reminders, policy refresh
US HR Compliance Lite	12	Benefits enrollment, policy reviews, W-2 season, manager compliance nudges
US Leadership Cadence	16	Monthly leadership notes, quarterly town halls, strategy recaps
US Safety + Ops	15	Monthly safety focus, seasonal readiness, staffing peak comms, manager cascade templates
US Retail Seasonal	10	Peak season, inventory, schedule changes, holiday staffing

Use Case: Select “US Core HR + Corp Comms” and “US Safety + Ops” to instantly populate 40 events covering holidays, compliance, and workplace safety.

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📅 Visual Calendar Interface

A full-featured calendar with drag-and-drop scheduling powered by FullCalendar.

Feature	Description
Month/Week View	Toggle between monthly overview and weekly detail
Drag & Drop	Reschedule events instantly by dragging to new dates
Click to Edit	Click any event to modify title, description, channels, and more
Today Highlight	Current date is highlighted for easy reference
Category Colors	Events color-coded by category for visual organization

Category Color Legend:

• 🟣 HR — Benefits, PTO, payroll, employee lifecycle
• 🔵 CorpComms — Company updates, town halls, leadership messages
• 🟠 Compliance — Policy updates, training requirements, legal notices
• 🟢 Culture — Recognition, celebrations, diversity events, team building
• 🔴 Safety — Workplace safety, health initiatives
• 🟣 Ops — Operational updates, schedule changes, process reminders

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📋 Backlog Management

Not ready to schedule an event? Move it to the backlog.

Feature	Description
Drag to Backlog	Drag calendar events to the sidebar to unschedule
Drag to Calendar	Drag backlog items onto any date to schedule
Backlog Counter	Real-time count of unplanned items
Quick Actions	Edit or delete backlog items directly

Use Case: Keep “nice-to-have” communications in the backlog and schedule them when capacity allows.

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🤖 AI-Powered Suggestions

Generate smart communication ideas based on your calendar gaps and industry best practices.

Feature	Description
Gap Analysis	AI analyzes your existing events to find coverage gaps
Month Targeting	Generate suggestions for specific months
Category Mix	Suggestions span HR, Culture, Compliance, and more
One-Click Add	Select suggestions and add them to your calendar instantly

Available AI Suggestions:

• Team Spotlight campaigns
• Manager’s Corner tips
• Wellness Wednesday initiatives
• Policy reminders
• Safety moments
• Benefits tips
• CEO updates
• D&I spotlights

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✍️ AI Writer Integration (NEW)

Seamlessly create content for any planned communication using AI Writer.

Feature	Description
“AI Write” Button	Every calendar item has a direct link to AI Writer
Pre-filled Context	Item title, description, and audience automatically populate the prompt
Writing Profiles	Apply anyone’s voice to your generated content
Complete Workflow	Plan → Write → Grade → Publish

Workflow: Plan → Write → Validate

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    PLANNER → AI WRITER WORKFLOW                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│   ┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐   │
│   │ PLAN COMMS   │───▶     │  AI WRITE    │───▶     │    GRADE     │   │
│   │  (Calendar)  │         │  (Content)   │         │   (Quality)  │   │
│   └──────────────┘         └──────────────┘         └──────────────┘   │
│         │                        │                        │            │
│         ▼                        ▼                        ▼            │
│   • Schedule item          • Generate draft          • 19 dimensions   │
│   • Set audience           • Apply profile           • PII detection   │
│   • Choose channels        • Refine/rewrite          • AI improved     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use Case: You plan a “Q1 Town Hall Recap” in the calendar. Click “AI Write” to generate a professional recap email. Apply your CEO’s Writing Profile to match their voice, then grade it with the Comms Grader before sending.

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📊 Calendar Health Metrics

Real-time visibility into your communications coverage.

Metric	Description
Scheduled	Number of events with assigned dates
Backlog	Number of unscheduled items
Months Covered	How many months have at least one event
Coverage %	Percentage of year with planned communications

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📤 Export & Import

Take your calendar anywhere with flexible export options.

Export Format	Use Case
CSV Download	Import to Excel, Google Sheets, or project management tools
ICS Calendar	Import directly to Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar
CSV Import	Bulk upload events from your existing spreadsheets
CSV Template	Download a pre-formatted template for easy imports

CSV Columns:

• Title, Category, Date, Description
• Audience, Channels, Send Window

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📣 Multi-Channel Planning

Plan communications across 7 delivery channels.

Channel	Icon	Best For
Email	📧	Detailed announcements, documentation
Push	🔔	Urgent alerts, reminders
SMS	📱	Critical notifications, frontline workers
Intranet	🌐	Persistent content, reference materials
Slack	💬	Team discussions, quick updates
Teams	💼	Enterprise collaboration, meetings
Manager Cascade	👔	Information that should flow through management chain

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⏰ Send Windows

Optimize delivery timing with predefined send windows.

Window	Timing	Best For
Pre-Shift	Early morning	Frontline workers, operational updates
Lunch	Midday	Non-urgent announcements, culture content
End of Shift	Late afternoon	Weekend reminders, wrap-up communications
Office Hours	Business hours	General announcements, most content

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🔗 Shareable URLs

Share your calendar with stakeholders without requiring logins.

Feature	Description
Unique Token	Each calendar gets a secure, unique URL
One-Click Copy	Copy the shareable link to clipboard instantly
90-Day Access	Calendars remain accessible for 90 days
Auto-Extend	Each edit extends the expiry by 90 more days
No Login Required	Anyone with the link can view and edit

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🛡️ Manager Cascade

Plan communications that flow through your management chain.

Feature	Description
Cascade Toggle	Enable/disable manager cascade per event
Timing Options	Same day, 1 day before, 1 week before
Brief Template	Suggested talking points for managers

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User Roles & Permissions

Role	Capabilities
Anyone	Create, edit, export, and share calendars (no account required)

The Comms Planner is a free public tool with no authentication required.

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How We Compare

See how MangoApps Comms Planner stacks up against leading internal communications planning tools:

Feature	MangoApps Comms Planner	Staffbase Templates	Poppulo	Spreadsheets
Pre-Built Event Presets	✅ 70+ events	✅	❌	❌
Drag & Drop Calendar	✅	❌	⚡ Limited	❌
AI Suggestions	✅	❌	❌	❌
CSV/ICS Export	✅	✅	✅	✅
Shareable URLs	✅	❌	💰	❌
No Account Required	✅	❌	❌	✅
Multi-Channel Planning	✅ 7 channels	✅	✅	❌
Cost	FREE	💰 Paid	💰 Paid	FREE

Legend: ✅ Included

❌ Not Available

💰 Paid Add-on

⚡ Limited

Why MangoApps Comms Planner?

• 🔗 Zero Friction — No signup, no login, no credit card
• 🎯 Industry-Tested Presets — Based on 10+ years of corporate communications expertise
• 🤖 AI-Native — Built-in AI suggestions for calendar gaps

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Getting Started

Step 1: Select Your Presets

1. Visit the Comms Planner at /bots/comms-planner
2. Check the presets that match your organization (multiple selections allowed)
3. Enter your email and timezone
4. Click “Generate My Comms Plan”

Step 2: Customize Your Calendar

1. Drag events to reschedule them
2. Click events to edit details (title, description, channels)
3. Use the backlog for items you’re not ready to schedule
4. Generate AI ideas to fill gaps in your calendar

Step 3: Export & Share

1. Export to CSV for spreadsheet analysis
2. Export to ICS to import into Outlook/Google Calendar
3. Copy the shareable link to collaborate with your team

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Best Practices

• ✅ Start with Core HR + Corp Comms — This preset covers the essentials most organizations need
• ✅ Add industry-specific presets — Safety + Ops for manufacturing, Retail Seasonal for retail
• ✅ Use the backlog — Don’t force-schedule everything; keep a healthy backlog of ideas
• ✅ Generate AI suggestions monthly — Let AI identify gaps and suggest timely communications
• ✅ Export regularly — Download CSV backups to preserve your planning work
• ✅ Share with stakeholders — Use the shareable URL to get buy-in from leadership

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I access my calendar after I close the browser?
A: Bookmark the URL or check your email—we’ll send you a link. Your calendar is accessible for 90 days, and each edit extends that window.

Q: Can multiple people edit the same calendar?
A: Yes! Anyone with the shareable URL can view and edit the calendar. Changes are saved immediately.

Q: What happens after 90 days?
A: If there’s no activity, the calendar expires. However, each edit resets the 90-day timer, so active calendars never expire.

Q: Can I import my existing communications plan?
A: Yes! Use the CSV import feature. Download our template for the correct format, fill it in, and upload.

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Related Resources

• AI Writer Overview — Generate content with voice profiles
• Writing Profiles Overview — Capture anyone’s writing voice
• Internal Comms Grader — Analyze your internal communications for clarity and engagement
• Workforce Bots Overview — Full AI toolkit ecosystem
• Apps Overview — Explore all MangoApps Workforce applications

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Plan smarter, communicate better—with MangoApps Comms Planner.