What's new¶

The latest changes to Mission Broadcast, newest first. Looking for how something works today? The rest of these docs are the reference — this page is just what changed.

2026-09-14 — Every page in your account has its own address¶

Each page in the account console now has its own web address, for example /account/your-slug/letters or /account/your-slug/delivery/custom-domain style paths for the pages in the left menu. Refreshing the browser returns you to the page you were on instead of Home, the Back and Forward buttons move between pages you visited, and you can bookmark a page directly. The browser tab is named after the page, so history entries are readable too.

2026-09-14 — Correct DNS hosts for subdomain custom domains¶

If your custom domain is a subdomain of a domain you already own, for example letters.smithfamily.com, the Domain Setup page now shows the exact host to type at your registrar, including the subdomain label (brevo1._domainkey.letters, not brevo1._domainkey). Copying a host copies the same thing you see. Three related fixes ship with it:

Check DNS now looks up every record at the right name, so records you added correctly no longer show as missing.
Registrar auto-detect works for subdomain custom domains.
The verdict rows and their "not found" hints name the host as your registrar shows it.

Nothing changes for a custom domain you registered outright, such as smithfamily.com. See Domain setup troubleshooting.

2026-09-13 — Honest send results when the email provider says no¶

If the email provider refuses a send, the message under the Send button now says so in plain words and tells you where to go next, instead of reporting a success with nobody reached. Three changes:

Nothing went out — a red message explains that the provider refused the send and points you to Domain Setup → Re-check verification. The letter stays put so you can send again once it's fixed.
Some didn't go out — the green message now includes how many failed and reminds you the reasons are in the letter's Delivery results.
Your sending domain is checked before sending — if the provider reports it isn't verified, you get the message right away rather than a send that reaches nobody.

See Letters → If a send doesn't go out and Domain setup troubleshooting.

2026-09-09 — Clearer notification setup on iPhone¶

Setting up notifications on an iPhone catches a lot of people out, mostly because Apple only lets Safari install web apps. If you were reading in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge on your iPhone, the archive used to look like notifications weren't offered at all. Same if you'd already tapped Don't Allow once and wanted to change your mind.

The archive now walks you through what to do in both spots:

On iPhone in a non-Safari browser — a bell appears with a small card that says, in plain words, that Safari is the only browser allowed to install web apps on iPhone, plus a Copy link button so you can paste it into Safari.
After you tapped Don't Allow — a bell appears with a card that explains notifications are off in your browser settings, with a link to step-by-step instructions for turning them back on.
Every card and error toast now links to the Fixing notifications and Adding the archive to your home screen help pages, so you're never one dead-end away from an answer.

If notifications were already working for you, nothing changes.

2026-09-07 — Letters open instantly the second time¶

If you've read a letter before, opening it again is now instant. Your browser holds onto the letter after the first read, so the next time you tap it, the letter's on screen before the network can even reply.

First-time reads are the same speed they always were.

2026-09-07 — Fix: sidebar sections load their contents on the first click¶

Clicking a section header in the left sidebar (Plan & billing, Custom domain, Managers, and so on) sometimes opened an empty page. The section switched but its contents didn't show up until you also clicked the sub-item underneath. That's fixed. Sections now load right when you open them, however you got there.

Most visible on Plan & billing for a brand-new site: the plan picker and add-ons show up immediately, so you can subscribe from the first click.

2026-09-07 — Photos come through, and letters look the same everywhere¶

If your missionary attaches a photo inline (dropping it right into the body of their email, the way Gmail and Apple Mail do it), it now shows up on the archive page. Before, some of those inline photos didn't make it to the archive. Now they land where the missionary put them.

Letters also render the same on the archive page no matter what mail app your missionary composed in. Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook, iOS Mail: the archive treats them the same. So if your missionary switches apps between weeks (or you have two missionaries on different phones), you won't see one letter look neat and the next one look wonky.

Old letters keep rendering the way they always did. From here on, every new letter goes through the same tidy-up.

2026-09-01 — Letter page redesign, and tidier formatting¶

Every letter in the archive now leads with a small dateline row — where the missionary was when they wrote it, what week of the mission it is, and when it went out. Tap the place name and you'll jump to the map on the home page.

The letter itself also reads better. If the missionary types a list as dashed lines — -cinnamon rolls, -freezing rain, -Dr Pepper — the archive now shows those as a real bulleted list instead of a paragraph wall. And when the missionary hits Enter a couple of times to separate two sections, you get a small · · · divider instead of an awkward blank gap. The wording in the letter is exactly what they wrote — just easier to skim.

Two smaller consistency fixes went out at the same time: the shared Mission Broadcast footer (visible on the archive and every letter) now carries the same "Mission Broadcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" line every other page has, and the wordmark is preceded by a small "Powered by" so it's clear why Mission Broadcast is in the footer of a customer's own mission page.

2026-08-30 — Older and Newer buttons on every letter¶

Every letter now has Older and Newer buttons at the bottom. Walk through the archive one letter at a time without bouncing back to the list.

Also cleaner: the letter page used to show the title twice; now it's once. The Back to Archive button up top is bigger too.

2026-08-29 — Get a notification when a new letter arrives¶

Your phone can now let you know the moment a new letter lands, so you don't have to wait for email or remember to check the archive. Two short steps: add the archive to your home screen as an app (iPhone requires this), then turn on Notifications from the button in the archive header. That's it. The notification tells you the missionary's name — never the letter subject — so nothing private ends up on your lock screen. Emails still work as before; notifications are on top, not a replacement. One setup per device, one per missionary.

2026-08-27 — Reply to a letter with one tap¶

Open any letter in the archive and you'll see a new Reply by email button at the bottom. Tap it and your regular mail app pops open with a reply to the missionary already addressed and titled — just type your note and send. No copying an email address, no re-typing the subject line. Great for a quick "we love these" or a real letter back home.

When you sign out and sign back in, you can now pick which Google account to use, instead of being dropped straight back into the last one. Helpful if you look after more than one missionary's site, or share a computer at home — sign out, and the next person can sign in as themselves.

2026-07-28 — Security improvements for the support form¶

Behind-the-scenes security improvements to the feedback and support forms. Support is still open to everyone — you never need an account to reach us, and the panel confirms on screen the moment your message is in. One thing to know: the automatic "we got it" email now goes out when you're signed in. Either way we've got your message and a real person replies to the address you gave us.

2026-07-26 — Fixed: signing in to a letter archive¶

Tapping the button in an archive email — or typing the 8-digit code — takes you straight to the letters again. For a few days some readers were sent back to the sign-in page instead, however many times they tried. Nothing was ever lost: every letter has been sitting there the whole time, and once you're in, your device stays remembered just like before. Sorry for the runaround.

2026-07-23 — Clearer "it's working" feedback (no more double-clicks)¶

Buttons that kick off something that takes a moment — Send a letter, Buy/Upgrade in billing, Sign in — now respond the instant you click: they dim, and Send shows Sending… while the broadcast goes out. A repeat click while an action is already running is ignored, so a letter can't accidentally go out twice and you won't open two checkout windows. Thanks to the customer who asked for this — you were right that a little "we heard you" goes a long way.

2026-07-23 — Security improvements for letters and the archive¶

We've made behind-the-scenes security improvements to how mission letters and the archive are protected. Nothing changes day-to-day for subscribers — sign-in, remembered devices, and the links in letter emails all work exactly as before.

2026-07-23 — A tidier, grouped console¶

The account console's left sidebar is now organized into eight areas — Home, Letters, Subscribers, Map Pins, Public Page, Email Design, Delivery & Domain, and Account. Pick an area and its sections appear in a second menu beside it, so you only see the handful of things that belong together instead of one long list. Nothing was removed — a few things just moved to a more sensible home:

Site Settings is now Public Page (profile, page sections & links, Help Fund My Mission). The weekly-prompt options live under Public Page → Profile.
Approved senders, reply-to, and the letters@… intake address moved to Delivery & Domain → Incoming mail.
Test mode (send a broadcast to test recipients only) moved to Letters → Test mode.
The welcome email moved to Subscribers → Welcome email.
Billing is under Account → Plan & billing, and downloading or erasing your data (and closing your account) is under Account → Privacy & data.

Everything you set before is still set — only where you find it changed.

2026-07-21 — Your missionary's own emails always get through¶

Letters emailed in from the missionary's own address are now always accepted — even if that exact address was never added to the approved-senders list. (Before, a missionary writing from a personal address that wasn't on the list could have their letter bounce.) You only need the approved-senders slots for other people — like a parent relaying letters on the missionary's behalf.

2026-07 — Choose which weekly prompts you get¶

The weekly writing prompt email can now be tailored: pick story prompts, Come, Follow Me, or both (the default). Choose it in Account → Site Settings (the prompt options now appear once you turn the email on), or by email with the new set-prompts@<your-domain> command (details).

2026-07 — Weekly writing prompts¶

An optional weekly writing prompt email for your missionary. Once it's turned on, they get a short note the evening before their preparation day with a couple of ideas to spark a letter home — one from a bank of mission-experience questions, one tied to that week's Come, Follow Me reading.

Turn it on in Account → Site Settings: pick a Preparation day (P-day) and tick Email me a weekly writing prompt. It's off by default.
Everything can also be steered by email — new commands new-prompt@, set-p-day@, set-design@, set-location@, and stop-prompts@.
Full details: Weekly writing prompts.