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How to update the Announcement Top Banner in HubSpot

Use the Announcement Top Banner HubDB table to update the global banner message, destination link, accessibility label, and visibility without changing website code.

The Announcement Top Banner is the global notification displayed above the main website navigation.

Its content is managed through a HubDB table, allowing authorized content managers to update or disable the banner without requesting a code deployment.

Changes apply to pages that use the main Competera website layout.

At a glance

Use the HubDB table to manage:

Setting What it controls
Enabled Shows or hides the banner globally
Prefix label Short highlighted label at the beginning of the banner
Announcement text Main announcement message
Destination URL Page opened when the banner is clicked
Open in new tab Controls whether the destination opens in a new browser tab
ARIA label Accessible description for screen-reader users

The banner design, icon, close button, position, and responsive behavior are controlled by the website code and should not be modified through HubDB.

Before you begin

You need permission to:

  • View and edit HubDB tables.
  • Publish HubDB changes.

The current implementation uses the row with this identifier:

global_en

Do not rename this value, delete the row, or create a replacement row unless the website development team requests it.

Update the banner 1. Open the HubDB table

In HubSpot:

  1. Open Content.
  2. Select HubDB.
  3. Open the table named Announcement Top Banner.

Screenshot placeholder: HubSpot HubDB table list with “Announcement Top Banner” highlighted.

2. Locate the global English banner row

Find the row where:

banner_key = global_en

This is the row currently used by the global English website layout.

Do not modify the banner_key value.

3. Update the banner fields

Enabled

Use the Enabled checkbox to control whether the banner appears.

Value Result
Checked The banner is available on the website
Unchecked The banner is not rendered

When the checkbox is disabled:

  • The Announcement Top Banner module is not mounted.
  • No empty HubSpot module wrapper is rendered.
  • No blank space appears above the main navigation.
  • The navigation moves to the top of the page.

Prefix label

Enter a short category or content-type label.

Examples:

Report Guide Webinar Event New Framework

Recommended length:

1–3 words

Keep this value concise so it displays properly on desktop and mobile devices.

Announcement text

Enter the main message displayed after the prefix label.

Example:

Download the 2026 Retail Pricing Report

Recommended guidelines:

  • Keep the text concise.
  • Use sentence case.
  • Clearly communicate what the visitor will find after clicking.
  • Avoid placing the full destination URL in the text.
  • Avoid unnecessary punctuation or all-uppercase text.

A recommended combined banner length is approximately:

60–90 characters

including the prefix label.

Destination URL

Enter the complete destination URL, including the protocol.

Correct:

https://competera.ai/resources/pricing-guides/example-guide

Incorrect:

/resources/pricing-guides/example-guide

Before publishing, verify that:

  • The page exists.
  • The URL does not return a 404 error.
  • The URL does not create a redirect chain.
  • The destination matches the announcement message.
  • The URL uses HTTPS.

Open in new tab

Use this checkbox to control the link behavior.

Value Result
Unchecked The destination opens in the current tab
Checked The destination opens in a new tab

Recommended usage:

  • Keep it unchecked for pages on competera.ai.
  • Consider enabling it only for destinations on an external website.

ARIA label

Enter a clear description of the link’s purpose for screen-reader users.

Example:

Read the 2026 Retail Pricing Report

The ARIA label should:

  • Describe the action or destination.
  • Make sense without surrounding visual context.
  • Avoid generic text such as Click here.
  • Match the purpose of the destination URL.

Good examples:

Download the Revenue Growth Management guide Register for the retail pricing webinar Read the latest Competera pricing report

Poor examples:

Click here Learn more Banner link
4. Publish the HubDB table

After making changes:

  1. Review all updated cells.
  2. Click Publish in the upper-right corner.
  3. Wait for HubSpot to confirm that the table has been published.

Important: Autosaved changes are draft changes. The live website uses the published HubDB table version.

Screenshot placeholder: HubDB table with the Publish button highlighted.

Verify the update

After publishing, open a website page that uses the main Competera layout.

Confirm that:

  • The prefix label is correct.
  • The main announcement text is correct.
  • The banner link opens the intended page.
  • The new-tab behavior is correct.
  • The close button works.
  • No text is truncated on mobile.
  • No blank space appears above the navigation when the banner is disabled or closed.

Test both desktop and mobile viewport sizes.

Banner dismissal behavior

When a visitor clicks the banner’s close button:

  • The banner is hidden on subsequent Competera pages.
  • The hidden state is shared across Competera pages and browser tabs.
  • The banner remains hidden for five minutes.
  • Reloading, hard reloading, or using Chrome’s Empty Cache and Hard Reload does not intentionally reset an active five-minute dismissal.
  • The banner automatically becomes available again after five minutes.
  • Updating and publishing the HubDB row creates a new announcement version, so the updated banner becomes visible immediately.

The five-minute behavior applies to each visitor’s browser and does not disable the banner globally.

Testing a recently closed banner

When you close the banner during testing, it may remain hidden for up to five minutes.

Use one of these methods to test it again:

Recommended method

Wait five minutes and reload the page.

Test in a separate browser context

Open the page in:

  • A private or incognito window.
  • A different browser.
  • A browser profile that has not dismissed the banner.

Clear website data

Clear the stored site data for the testing domain. This removes the banner dismissal state along with other site-specific browser storage.

Do not use this method on a browser session where you need to preserve other website preferences or login state.

Disable the banner

To remove the banner globally:

  1. Open the Announcement Top Banner HubDB table.
  2. Locate the global_en row.
  3. Clear the Enabled checkbox.
  4. Click Publish.
  5. Verify the result on the website.

When disabled, the website should display the main navigation at the top of the page without an empty banner wrapper or reserved space.

Do not delete the row to disable the banner.

Re-enable the banner

To show the banner again:

  1. Open the global_en row.
  2. Select the Enabled checkbox.
  3. Confirm that all text and URL fields contain the intended content.
  4. Click Publish.
  5. Verify the banner on the website.

A newly updated and published announcement should appear even when the visitor dismissed the previous version.

Content guidelines Recommended banner structure

Use:

[Short prefix] + [Clear announcement]

Examples:

Report — Explore the 2026 Retail Pricing Outlook Webinar — Register for the upcoming pricing strategy session Guide — Learn how to improve revenue growth management Event — Meet Competera at NRF Europe
Avoid
  • Long paragraphs.
  • Multiple announcements in one banner.
  • HTML markup.
  • Line breaks.
  • Emojis unless approved by the brand team.
  • Internal abbreviations unfamiliar to customers.
  • Unverified or unpublished destination URLs.
  • Generic links such as Click here.
  • Changing the banner_key.
  • Adding multiple active rows for the same language.
Field reference
HubDB column Editable by content manager Required Notes
banner_key No Yes Must remain global_en
enabled Yes Yes Controls whether the banner is rendered
prefix_label Yes Yes Short highlighted label
announcement_text Yes Yes Main banner message
destination_url Yes Yes Use a complete HTTPS URL
open_in_new_tab Yes Yes Normally disabled for internal links
aria_label Yes Recommended Accessible link description 
Troubleshooting The old text is still displayed

Check that:

  1. You edited the row with banner_key equal to global_en.
  2. You clicked Publish, not only Save or Autosave.
  3. The updated values are visible in the published table.
  4. You are testing a page that uses the current main website layout.
  5. The deployment containing the HubDB integration is available in the tested environment.
The banner is not visible

Check that:

  • Enabled is selected.
  • The table changes are published.
  • The banner was not closed during the previous five minutes.
  • You are testing the correct domain and environment.
  • The page uses the global base.hubl.html layout.

Test in an incognito window to rule out a temporary dismissal state.

There is space above the navigation but no banner

This is not expected behavior.

Verify that the latest website code is deployed. The current implementation sets the announcement offset to zero when the banner is:

  • Disabled in HubDB.
  • Closed by a visitor.
  • Hidden during its five-minute dismissal period.

Escalate the issue to the website development team with:

  • The affected page URL.
  • Browser and device.
  • Screenshot.
  • HubDB row values.
  • Time when the table was published.
The link opens an invalid address

Confirm that destination_url:

  • Begins with https://.
  • Does not contain leading or trailing spaces.
  • Points to a published page.
  • Does not contain template syntax or placeholder text.
The updated banner does not appear after publishing

Changing and publishing the row should update the banner version and make it eligible to display immediately.

Confirm that the row’s published values changed. If the issue remains, provide the development team with:

HubDB table: Announcement Top Banner Banner key: global_en Affected URL: Expected text: Actual text: Publication time:
Publishing checklist

Before clicking Publish, confirm:

  • The correct global_en row is being edited.
  • Enabled is set correctly.
  • The prefix label is concise.
  • The announcement text is clear.
  • The destination URL uses HTTPS.
  • The destination page works.
  • New-tab behavior is appropriate.
  • The ARIA label clearly describes the destination.
  • The banner has been reviewed for desktop and mobile.
  • The HubDB table has been published.
Roll back an announcement

To restore the previous banner:

  1. Open the Announcement Top Banner table.
  2. Replace the current values with the previous approved values.
  3. Confirm the destination URL.
  4. Click Publish.
  5. Verify the restored banner on the website.

To remove the banner temporarily, disable it instead of deleting its row.