Comms Packages — Advanced Features & Customization
Snapshots, artifact ordering, cadence strategy, and designing effective packages
How Snapshots Work
When a package is sent, Lodestone captures a frozen snapshot of each included artifact at that moment. Recipients receive a link to the snapshot — not a live link to the current version of the roadmap, release, or strategy.
This has important practical implications:
- Edits after sending don't change what recipients received. If you update a roadmap the day after a send, the previous recipients still see the roadmap as it was when the package went out.
- Each send creates new snapshots. A recurring weekly package takes a fresh snapshot on each send date. Recipients always see the current state as of that week's send, not a stale version from the first time the package ran.
- Snapshot links are permanent. The link in a delivered email continues to work indefinitely. If a stakeholder archives the email and reopens it months later, the snapshot is still accessible.
This design is intentional. It preserves the integrity of what was communicated and creates a traceable record of what stakeholders received and when.
Artifact Ordering
The order artifacts appear in the recipient's email is set during the dedicated Order step (step 2) of package creation. After selecting artifacts, the Order step presents them as a list with Up and Down controls. Use these to arrange the sequence before moving to recipients and scheduling.
To control the narrative flow — for example, leading with strategy before showing the roadmap, or presenting the release summary before the bento grid — reorder artifacts in the Order step to match the intended reading sequence.
Choosing a Cadence
| Cadence | Best for |
|---|---|
| Once | One-off communications: a quarterly strategy share, a launch announcement, a post-release summary |
| Weekly | Fast-moving teams that update stakeholders every sprint or every week |
| Biweekly | Mid-tempo teams that share updates every two weeks, aligned to a sprint or planning cycle |
| Monthly | Executive or board-level audiences who need a less frequent, higher-level update |
For recurring packages, the cadence runs from the first scheduled send. A biweekly package scheduled for a Tuesday sends every other Tuesday from that point forward.
Subject Lines and Intro Messages
The subject line is the email subject recipients see in their inbox. A clear, consistent subject line — for example, "Lodestone Weekly: Q4 Roadmap Update" — makes it easy for recipients to identify and archive your updates.
The intro message appears at the top of the email body, before the artifact links. Use it to add context that the artifacts alone don't provide: what changed since the last update, what you want recipients to focus on, or what decision or feedback you're looking for.
Both fields are optional. Packages without a subject line use a default subject; packages without an intro message go straight to the artifact list.
Recipient Groups vs. Per-Package Recipients
Recipient Groups are most useful when the same audience receives multiple packages — for example, an executive distribution list that gets both the monthly strategy share and the quarterly roadmap review.
For one-off packages or audiences that vary each time, entering recipients directly without saving a group is faster and keeps your group list uncluttered.
A package's recipient list is independent of the group it was created from. If you update a Recipient Group after a package has been created, the existing package's recipient list does not change — only new packages that load the group will reflect the updated addresses.
Package Naming
Package names are internal labels — they are not visible to recipients. A consistent naming convention makes the Comms Package Center list easier to scan. Examples:
Weekly eng-leadership updateQ4 2026 strategy — exec teamPost-launch bento — customer-facing
If you leave the name blank, the package appears in the list without a label.
Next: Troubleshooting & FAQs — common issues with sending, recipients, and artifact availability.