Comms planner (EAP release)

Overview

Comms Planner (EAP) is intranet’s editorial calendar, designed to help internal communications (IC) teams efficiently manage, organize, and track their content activities. Currently available as a EAP release, this feature is being introduced to gather feedback and improve the overall experience before general availability.

It offers a user-friendly and visually structured workspace for planning and executing communication campaigns across the organization. As part of the EAP phase, some functionality and design elements may continue to evolve based on user input and ongoing enhancements.

What comms planner does

Comms Planner enables teams to:

• Plan and schedule content across days, weeks, or months.
• Track progress and ensure deadlines are met.
• Collaborate seamlessly with team members and stakeholders.
• Maintain consistency and alignment with organizational goals and messaging.

By providing a clear overview of upcoming and published content, Comms Planner allows teams to balance content distribution, adapt to seasonal or business trends, and stay proactive rather than reactive.

Why it matters

Using Comms Planner helps internal communications teams:

• Boost productivity and reduce planning friction.
• Foster collaboration and ownership within teams.
• Engage employees with timely, relevant, and consistent updates.

Analogy

Think of Comms Planner as a project management tool for internal communications—it helps you plan, assign, and track every communication activity from idea to completion.

Industry context

Comms Planner belongs to the Editorial Calendar or Communications Planning Tools category, commonly used in enterprise communications and content strategy management.

Why use comms planner?

1. Streamlined internal communication

Comms Planner organizes all internal communication activities—such as company updates, announcements, and newsletters—into a clear, structured schedule. This ensures that important messages reach employees on time and with consistency.

2. One central platform

Say goodbye to juggling multiple tools. Instead of switching between Excel, Asana, ClickUp, or other third-party applications, teams can now manage all editorial planning directly within Simpplr. Comms Planner consolidates everything into one place for easier access and collaboration.

3. Real-time notifications and tracking

Team members receive automatic updates on actions, task changes, and progress within Comms Planner. These notifications keep everyone aligned, informed, and accountable for their responsibilities.

4. Controlled access and permissions

With built-in access control, Comms Planner ensures that only authorized users can view or edit specific internal communication assets. This maintains security and clarity around content ownership.

5. Enhanced cross-team collaboration

Internal communication, HR, marketing, and leadership teams can all stay aligned on upcoming campaigns and content initiatives. Comms Planner minimizes overlap, enhances transparency, and fosters unified execution across departments.

6. Content variety and balance

The platform supports multiple content formats—from blogs and videos to newsletters, surveys, and social media posts—allowing teams to maintain variety and engagement. This balanced mix ensures that information reaches employees through the most effective channels.

7. Performance Tracking and Optimization

Comms Planner provides visibility into the number of activities across various status categories, helping teams manage task completion efficiently. Upcoming enhancements will introduce advanced analytics, allowing teams to measure engagement and optimize future communication strategies based on performance insights.

Everything You Need to Know

The Comms Planner provides a structured environment for managing all aspects of internal communication planning. Below is a glossary of key terms and features that define how Comms Planner functions.

Activities

An Activity represents an individual task or component within a campaign or a standalone communication effort. Each activity has a defined objective, medium, time period, and owner, allowing large initiatives to be broken down into actionable steps.

Activity type

The Activity Type defines the format or medium of the content associated with an activity. It specifies which Simpplr or external content type (such as blogs, newsletters, videos, or announcements) can be linked.

Activity status

The status of an activity indicates its progress stage in the workflow.

• For Simpplr-linked content, the status updates automatically based on the content’s progress.
• For external content, it must be updated manually to reflect its current stage.

Calendar

The Calendar provides a visual and strategic overview of content creation and publishing timelines. It can be viewed as a list or a calendar grid and displays:

• Scheduled activities
• Assigned owners
• Due dates

This view helps teams plan ahead, ensure timely delivery, and collaborate effectively across content stages.

Campaigns

A Campaign is a coordinated series of activities and messages designed to achieve a specific organizational objective. Campaigns may span multiple channels—such as email, social media, surveys, video, or print—and are typically managed by one or more owners within a defined timeframe.

Customization

Customization allows flexibility in adapting Comms Planner to each organization’s needs. Admins can create custom form fields, content types, and activity statuses to align with internal workflows and processes.

Recent updates

This section displays a log of recent actions within the workspace, giving team members visibility into ongoing changes, completed tasks, and system updates.

Roles

Roles determine the access level and permissions for users within a Comms Planner workspace. These roles apply only to the specific workspace and do not affect permissions outside of it.

• Guest: View-only access. Can browse screens but cannot edit.
• Member: Can own activities, create or modify content, and update details.
• Admin: Has all Member privileges, plus the ability to manage users, roles, and customization settings (e.g., adding form fields and defining activity types).

Team

The Team section allows Admins to manage workspace members—assigning roles, tracking ownership, and ensuring the right people have access to the right information.

To do

The To Do section displays a list of pending activities requiring attention. It helps members stay organized and focused on completing their assigned tasks.

Workspace

A Workspace is a dedicated environment that separates ownership, planning, and execution across different content streams. It helps large organizations manage diverse teams and communication goals efficiently.
Common workspace use cases include:

• Separate environments for departmental or company-level internal communication teams within a conglomerate.
• Distinct workspaces for other teams such as social media, PR, and internal communications to manage their respective assets and plans independently.

Comms Planner’s modular structure is built around activities, campaigns, and workspaces—ensures that teams can plan, track, and execute internal communications with precision, clarity, and collaboration.

Home overview

The Dashboard (or homepage) provides a quick overview of all activities within your workspace. It gives you insight into progress, upcoming tasks, and recent actions — all in one place.

Activities widget

The Activities widget displays a high-level distribution of all activities across various statuses, giving you a snapshot of your workspace performance.
You can also use the time range filter to view activities from a specific period.

Upcoming widget

The Upcoming widget highlights activities with upcoming end dates.
This helps you stay aware of tasks that need attention soon and plan ahead efficiently.

To-do widget

The To-Do widget lists activities based on defined criteria.
It also includes a filter to switch between:

• Upcoming – Activities nearing their end date
• Overdue – Activities past their due date
• Completed – Tasks that have been finished

Activity log widget

The Activity Log widget helps you track all actions within your workspace.
It provides a detailed record of user interactions and updates, ensuring visibility and accountability for every change made.

Calendar overview 

The Calendar section is the central hub for managing all campaigns and activities within your workspace. It offers a clear, structured view that helps you plan, track, and manage every activity efficiently.

Default view

By default, the Calendar displays a tabular view, providing a comprehensive list of all activities in the system.
From this view, you can:

• Review key details of each activity
• Make edits directly from the screen or by clicking on any activity

Activity status

The status of an activity automatically syncs with the content status when an intranet content piece is attached.
If no content is linked, the status must be set manually.

Filters and grouping

To narrow down your view, use the available quick filters and advanced filters.
For deeper analysis, you can group activities by different fields such as activity type or other relevant attributes.

Bulk actions and search

The Calendar allows bulk actions, making it easier to update or manage multiple activities at once. You can also use the search function to quickly locate specific campaigns or activities.

Campaigns 

The Campaigns section is your central hub for managing all campaigns in the system. From viewing details to adding new campaigns or activities, you can handle everything directly from this section.

1. Viewing campaigns

• The list view shows all campaigns in the system, similar to the activities list in the calendar section.

• You can perform most actions directly from this screen or click on a campaign to open the Campaign Details screen for more options.

2. Campaign details

On the Campaign details screen, you can:

• Manage conversations related to the campaign.

• Add attachments to the campaign.

• View the audit log to track changes and updates.

• See all activities associated with the campaign and their respective statuses.

3. Managing activities

• To add a new activity, click the Add button on the campaign details screen.

• To view details of an existing activity, either:

  • Refer to the activity table, or

  • Click directly on the activity to see more information.

• You can also switch to a calendar view to see all activities in a visual timeline.

4. Adding a new campaign

• To create a new campaign, click on Add Campaign located at the top-right corner of the Campaigns screen.

Customization

The Customization allows you to tailor the campaign and activity creation experience by adding new fields or creating custom activity types.

1. Adding additional fields

• You can add extra fields to either the campaign or activity creation screens.

• Example: A field named "Must have" can be added as a dropdown and will appear when designing an activity.

• These fields help capture additional information specific to your organization’s needs.

2. Creating custom activity types

• The system comes with out-of-the-box activity types such as Page, Newsletter, Album, etc.

• You can also create custom activity types like Short Videos, Test, and others.

• For each activity type, you can define:

  • Name of the activity type

  • Icon associated with it

  • Color to visually distinguish the type

  • Status, which can be default or a custom status

Custom activity types make it easier for teams to classify and manage activities in a way that fits your workflow.