What's Happening Widget

The "What's Happening" widget serves to notify users of tasks requiring their attention, such as approval requests, onboarding tasks, and new applicants. Users can manage notifications by dismissing them or by completing tasks directly through the widget. The widget also allows users to create and manage company announcements, which can be sent to selected employee groups via email. Users can format announcements, attach files, and upload images. Notifications within the widget do not expire but will disappear once tasks are completed. Users with Pro or Elite packages will have access to additional features, including an Employee Community tab. This guide provides detailed instructions for utilizing the widget effectively.

Jun 9, 2026
Knowledge

Title

Article Text

What is the What's Happening widget?

Purpose: This guide teaches you how the What's Happening widget functions and how to create and send company announcements.

Table of Contents

What's Happening
Complete tasks
Manage and create company announcements
- Create a new announcement
- A published announcement example
  - Email
  - View the announcement in BambooHR

What's Happening

The What's Happening widget includes notifications for items that need a user's attention. This widget customizes information based on the user and their responsibilities outlined in their access level(s).

The notifications include:

Time off requests that need the user's approval.
Information change requests that need the user's approval.
Custom approval requests that need the user's approval.
Signature requests that need the user's signature.
Assigned onboarding tasks to the user.
New applicants who have applied for a position for which the user is a collaborator.
Peer feedback requests.***
Self-assessments that are due.***
The user has a new paystub.**
A company announcement posting is removed from the widget once viewed or after 30 days. The user can access them by clicking Announcements in the top corner. Here they can find a history of all company announcements. Additionally, this is where the user will post announcements if they have access.
When BambooHR releases something new and exciting (Full Admins only).
Timesheets that are awaiting the user's approval.**
Time & Attendance is enabled and ready for setup.**
Performance is enabled and ready for setup.***

**Add-on feature only.

***Pro and Elite packages only

Some important things to note:

Notifications do not expire. They will automatically disappear from the What's Happening widget if actions are completed through the widget. If actions are completed outside the What's Happening widget, the notification for that task remains in the widget until manually cleared by clicking the 'X' next to the item. We recommend that employees regularly clear the notifications from the What's Happening widget to ensure that they see the most updated information.
Users can dismiss a notification individually by clicking the 'X' to its right.
Notifications are individual until the fourth notification of the same type, and then they will group within a summary (except for announcement and self-assessment notifications).
The What's Happening widget always displays at the top of Home, and the user cannot remove it.

If you have the Pro or Elite package, you will also see a tab for Employee Community. Click here to learn more about that tab.

Complete tasks

After a user views a notification of a task in the What's Happening widget, they can complete the task. At the right of the task notification, the user can dismiss it by clicking the 'X' or go directly to the task, as shown in the screenshot.

Manage and create company announcements

Do you prefer hands-on learning? Our interactive guides will guide you through different aspects of your BambooHR experience. We have an interactive guide specifically designed to show you how to create Company Announcements. You can use the link below to access this guide. All you need to do is modify the "REPLACEME" with your BambooHR subdomain, and you can get started!

https://REPLACEME.bamboohr.com/home?pendo=BVEVR4W1UkZstUu9B82gA2NBGb8&step=IqQF3FGMV3ec_9UQ9gNOLtsnP3o

To create a new announcement or to see a list of past announcements, click Announcements in the top right corner of the What's Happening widget.

You will find a list of all previous announcements. From this view, you have the following options:

Create a new announcement. (See below for further details.)
Click on the title of an announcement to view its contents.
Edit or delete an announcement by clicking the corresponding icons to the right.

Create a new announcement

Title the announcement. If sending to employees, its title will be the subject line of the email.
Add the body of the announcement. You have the option to format text, attach files, add links, and upload pictures. If you copy and paste your message from somewhere else, spacing, formatting, and lists will carry over as you expect to see them. NOTE: If your message is too large, you may see an error message and may have additional spacing in your text. You can easily remove these extra spaces, and once saved, there will be no further changes needed moving forward.
1. Attach Files: Click here to attach a file already uploaded to BambooHR, or choose to upload a new file and attach it to the announcement.
2. Upload Pictures: Click on the picture icon at the far right of the toolbar to select an image on your computer. In order for an image in an announcement to be visible to employees in their email, the image has to be publicly accessible (we suggest using Google photos).
Filter the announcement. Click Edit to select which groups of employees you would like to receive it. Please note: Announcements are only sent to active employees. Non-employee users won't see them.
Click Publish to post the announcement to the What's Happening widget on BambooHR Home. Click Publish and Email to post the announcement in the What's Happening widget on BambooHR Home and email it to the selected employee groups. Click Save Draft to save the announcement in your list. Saving as a draft will not publish and send an email to employees.

A published announcement example

Email

Announcement from Olivia Sterling - smiller@bamboohr.com - BambooHR Mail

The email notification will include the announcement with a link to view it in BambooHR. Emails for announcements come from notifications@app.bamboohr.com, along with the name of the person who published the announcement.

View the announcement in BambooHR

The employee will see a new notification for the announcement in the What's Happening widget on Home. Clicking View Announcement will show them the complete announcement including who sent it and the date of posting.

URL Name

651792