You can think of Updates as the ongoing story of how your organization is caring for someone over time.
Why Updates Matter
Updates help your organization:
Keep track of conversations and follow-ups
Share important information with the right team members
Create continuity in care across staff and volunteers
Build a history of interactions over time
Ensure no important details are forgotten
Instead of relying on personal notes, text messages, or memory, Updates centralize care communication inside Notebird.
Why Updates Are Important for Long-Term Care
Over time, Updates create a complete care history for each person. This allows:
Staff transitions to happen smoothly
Volunteers to stay informed
Care teams to avoid duplicate outreach
Leaders to identify ongoing needs and patterns
Instead of information being lost in notebooks, emails, or personal calendars, everything stays centralized in Notebird.
Examples of Updates
Organizations use Updates for many different types of interactions, including:
Phone calls
Hospital visits
Prayer requests
Counseling conversations
Check-ins
Volunteer follow-ups
Visitor outreach
Pastoral care notes
Each Update becomes part of the person’s profile history so your team can easily see past interactions.
How Updates Work
When you create an Update:
It is added to the person’s profile
It appears in the Activity Feed for authorized users
It can be assigned to one or more Groups
It can include attachments or tasks
It can be categorized using an Update Type
Updates help your team quickly understand what has already happened and what follow-up may still be needed.
How to Add an Update
Adding an Update in Notebird is quick and easy.
Navigate to the person’s profile.
Click Add Update.
Enter your notes or details about the interaction.
Select an Update Type (optional).
Assign the Update to a Group if needed.
Add attachments or tasks if applicable.
Click Save Update.
The Update will immediately appear on the person’s profile and in the Activity Feed for users who have permission to view it.
For detailed instructions, see:
Adding an Update
What Are Update Types?
Update Types help organize different kinds of interactions.
Examples include:
Check-In
Prayer Request
Hospital Visit
Counseling
Follow-Up
Visitor Contact
Organizations can fully customize Update Types to match their care process and ministry structure.
Learn more here:
Restricted Updates
Some Updates may contain sensitive or confidential information.
Restricted Updates allow you to choose exactly which users can view a specific Update. Anyone not selected will not be able to see the Update anywhere in Notebird.
This helps protect privacy while still allowing teams to collaborate effectively.
Learn more here:
Restricted Updates in Notebird
Attachments and Tasks
Updates can also include:
File attachments
Follow-up tasks
Photos or documents
Linked care actions
Attachments added to Updates appear directly in the Activity Feed for quick reference.
Learn more here:
Attachments for Person Profiles, Updates, and Tasks
Reports and Activity Tracking
Notebird also provides reporting tools that help leaders track Update activity across their organization.
These reports can help you:
See which profiles have not been updated recently
Track team engagement
Monitor follow-up consistency
Review Update activity by user
Helpful reports:
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can see an Update?
Visibility depends on Group permissions and whether the Update is marked as Restricted.
Can I edit an Update after saving it?
Yes. Users with permission can edit existing Updates.
Can Updates include attachments?
Yes. Updates support file attachments such as PDFs, photos, and documents.
Do Updates appear in reports?
Yes. Many reports in Notebird use Update activity to help teams track care engagement.
What happens if someone leaves the organization?
The Update history remains in Notebird so future staff and leaders still have access to important care information.