In the earlier version of CoolFocus, many organizations used an Attention Flag field on a person to show a yellow banner with something the whole team needed to see right away.
In CoolFocus today, that job is done with a pinned note. There is no separate Attention Flag field. You write a normal note, pin it, and it stays at the top of the person’s Activity tab. On clients, donors, contacts, volunteers, and staff, a short pinned notes banner also appears near the top of the record (similar idea to the old yellow banner).
If you still use the earlier version alongside CoolFocus: any Attention Flag text already on a person is synced into a pinned note titled Attention Flag. Clearing the old flag unpins that note instead of deleting it, so the history stays on the record.
1. Open the person (client, donor, contact, volunteer, or staff).
2. Go to the Activity tab.
3. Add a note if you do not already have one, or open the note you want everyone to see first.
4. On the note’s row in the timeline, open the ••• (Activity actions) menu.
5. Choose Pin.
What happens next:
• The note moves into a Pinned section at the top of the Activity timeline, above the rest of the history.
• A pin icon shows on the item.
• On person records, the pinned notes banner near the top of the page shows a preview of pinned items so staff see the alert before scrolling.
To remove the pin later, open the same ••• menu and choose Unpin. The note stays on the timeline; it is just no longer stuck at the top.
The Pinned section has a chevron next to its heading. Collapse it when you want to scroll regular activity without paging past every pinned item. That choice only lasts for the current view; the section opens expanded again the next time you open the timeline.
You can pin more than one item. Use pins sparingly so the top of the record stays meaningful.
Pinning only changes where the note appears. It does not by itself hide the note from some staff and show it to others.
• Anyone who can see that person’s notes can see an unrestricted pinned note (including a synced Attention Flag note that has no Activity Type).
• To limit who can see sensitive content, put the note on a restricted Activity Type, then grant that type only to the right user groups.
Activity Type is the shared label that is used on notes, calls, tasks, and attachments. It is what CoolFocus used to call a note type in some places.
1. An organization administrator enables Use Activity Type Security under Settings → Organization Info (Security). This feature will default to off for new organizations. When it is off, Activity Type is hidden on notes and the access tab on user groups is hidden.
2. On a note’s Activity Type field, an administrator uses Manage List to add or edit types (for example “Medical” or “Leadership only”).
3. Mark the sensitive type as restricted. Unrestricted types stay visible to everyone who can see notes.
4. Open Settings → Security → User Groups, edit each group that should see that type, and use the Activity Type Access tab to grant View (and Create / Edit if they should write those notes).
5. On the pinned note, set Activity Type to that restricted type and save.
Staff whose group is not granted that type will not see notes (or other activities) tagged with it — including pinned ones. Administrators can always see every activity type.
Full setup for lists and group access:
• Managing Dropdown List Values — how administrators manage Activity Type choices, including restricted types
• User Groups: What Staff Can Open and Change — Activity Type Access tab (View / Create / Edit)
Tip: Grant the right groups access before you mark a widely used type restricted. Otherwise staff can temporarily lose notes they already wrote.
Love INC: Community Assistance organizations do not show Activity Type on notes. For those centers, pinned notes still work; visibility follows normal note permissions rather than restricted types.
• Pin short, factual alerts that the next team member must see before they act.
• Unpin when the alert is no longer true so the banner stays trustworthy.
• Use restricted Activity Types for medical or other sensitive content; do not rely on pinning alone for privacy.
• Prefer one clear pinned note over many competing pins.
• Notes
• Activities Overview
• Managing Dropdown List Values
• User Groups: What Staff Can Open and Change
