HuddleCard Help Center

Getting Started

Creating Your Account

To set up HuddleCard for your team, head to the registration page and fill in a few details:

• Account name — the name of your team, group or organization.
• Account owner's name — so your team knows who's running the show.
• Time zone — HuddleCard uses this to send birthday and work anniversary cards and reminders at the right time for your team.
• Date format — choose between MM/DD/YYYY and DD/MM/YYYY. This affects how birthdays and work start dates are displayed and imported throughout the app.
• Email and password — your admin login credentials.

After registering, you'll receive a verification email. Click the link to confirm your account, and you're official.

Choosing a Plan

During signup, you'll pick one of two plans:

You can always upgrade later if you start on Free, or downgrade if your team is small enough.

Your First Steps

Once you're logged in to the admin dashboard, here's the quickest path to your first card:

1. Add your team. Head to People and add your team members with their names and emails. Feel free to add their birthdays and work start dates too — if you know them. If you don't, that's totally fine — we ask your team to verify their birthdays. You can add people one by one, import from a spreadsheet, or sync from Slack.
2. Check the schedule. Make sure the scheduler is turned on. It shows when your next huddle is and whose birthday or work anniversary is coming up next. HuddleCard will automatically start collecting messages one week before each occasion. On Mondays, your group huddles and writes messages for people celebrating birthdays or work anniversaries the following week.
3. Sit back. Your team will receive email reminders to sign cards. On the big day, each honoree gets a card full of messages from their teammates.

That's it. HuddleCard handles the reminders, the collecting, and the delivery. You just add the people.

People

People are the heart of HuddleCard. Each person represents a team member who can sign cards for others and receive cards on their own birthday, work anniversary, or special occasions.

Adding People One by One

From the admin dashboard, go to People and click Add Person. You'll need:

• First name and last name (required)
• Email (required — this is how they'll receive card links and notifications)
• Birthday (month and day — optional)
• Work start date (month, day, and optionally year — optional; used for automated work anniversary cards)
• Title (optional — displayed on their profile and card messages)
• Group (which team or department they belong to)
• Role — Manager or Default (see Managers)

Importing People from a File

If you have a lot of people to add, you can upload a CSV or Excel file (.csv, .xls, or .xlsx).

Your file should have these columns in order:

You can download a template from the import page to get the format right.

Tips:

• If a header row is included, it will be detected and skipped automatically.
• If any row has an error, the import will stop and tell you which row and what went wrong.
• On the Free plan, the import will stop if it would push you past 10 people.

Importing from Slack

If your team is on Slack, you can sync your workspace members directly into HuddleCard. See the Slack Integration section for details.

Editing and Removing People

Click on any person to edit their details. You can update their name, email, birthday, work start date, title, group, profile picture, and tags.

To remove people, select them and use the bulk delete option. Removing a person does not delete their past card messages — those are kept for the recipients.

Managers

Your team can be assigned a Manager or Default role. This is primarily used to establish team relationships.

Groups

What Are Groups?

Groups help you organize your team. For smaller companies, one group will do. Everyone knows everyone. For larger companies, grouping people by departments, offices, or project teams might make sense. Every person belongs to one group. When you first create your account, a default group is set up automatically.

Creating and Managing Groups

From the admin dashboard, go to Groups to see all your groups and how many people are in each.

• Create a group — give it a name and you're done.
• Rename a group — click on it to edit the name.
• Delete a group — you can only delete a group if it has no people in it. Move people to another group first.

Moving People Between Groups

Select one or more people from the People page and use the Move action to transfer them to a different group.

Birthday & Work Anniversary Cards

Birthday and work anniversary cards — together, automated celebrations — are automatic. HuddleCard sends them each week based on the dates you've entered for your team.

How Automated Cards Work

HuddleCard automates birthday and work anniversary cards the same way:

1. You add your team members with their birthdays and/or work start dates.
2. Each week, HuddleCard identifies whose birthday or work anniversary is coming up.
3. Their teammates receive an email (or Slack message) asking them to sign the card.
4. Everyone writes their message — with optional photos, GIFs, or videos.
5. On the occasion date, the honoree receives their card by email — a single, beautiful page with every message from their team.

No chasing people. No forgetting milestones. No awkward "sorry this is late" cards.

Work anniversary cards use each person's work start date (the day they joined your team). Add month and day at minimum; include the year when you know it so cards can reflect years of service.

The Card Timeline

Here's what happens each week for automated celebrations:

• One week before — On Mondays, groups receive a reminder email or Slack notification with a link to sign one or more cards.
• Throughout the week — Anyone who hasn't signed yet can still add their message. On Fridays, we'll send a reminder for cards still open from the current week.
• The day before — Around noon, team members get a tomorrow summary — one notification listing every birthday and work anniversary happening the next day in their group, with sign links and whether they've already signed each card. If they're connected to Slack, it arrives as a Slack DM; otherwise it comes by email.
• On the occasion date — The card is delivered to the honoree by email (and Slack, if connected).

All notifications are sent based on your company's time zone. Weekly and tomorrow signing reminders go out around 8am (Mondays and Fridays) and noon (day before), respectively.

Signing a Card

When it's time to sign someone's birthday or work anniversary card, you'll receive a link — either by email or through Slack. Click the link and you'll see a simple form:

• Your message — write something nice (up to 255 characters). It defaults to "Happy Birthday!" or "Happy Work Anniversary!" depending on the card type, but you'll probably want to make it personal.
• Attachments — optionally add a GIF, photo, video, or voice message.
• Private — check "Mark as private" if you want only the recipient to see your message (not visible when the card is shared publicly).

Hit send, and you'll see a little confetti celebration. Your message is saved.

If you change your mind, you can come back to the same link and edit your message before the card is delivered.

Receiving a Card

On your birthday or work anniversary, you'll get an email or Slack message (if connected) with a link to view your card. Click View Your Card to see the full card in your browser, where you can also like and comment on individual messages.

A card includes:

• A beautiful card header image
• A heartfelt message from your team
• Every individual message from your teammates, with their names and photos
• Any attachments (GIFs, photos, videos)

Private Messages

When signing a card, you can mark your message as private. Private messages are only visible to the recipient — they won't appear when the card is shared or viewed by others.

The link that a recipient uses to view their card contains a special code that automatically unlocks private messages. This keeps sensitive or personal notes between you and them.

Adding Photos, GIFs, and Videos

When signing any card, you can attach media to make your message extra special:

• GIF search — search for the perfect GIF right from the card (powered by Giphy). Your admin can disable this if they prefer.
• Photo — upload a picture or take one with your camera.
• Video — record and upload a video message.
• Voice — record a voice message.

If you are signing from your desktop machine and don't have a camera attached, you can also scan a QR code to record from your phone. All attachments appear alongside your message on the final card.

Comments and Likes

After a card has been delivered, the fun doesn't stop. From the team portal, everyone can:

• Like individual messages with a heart.
• Comment on messages to keep the conversation going.
• Reply to comments.

The message author gets notified when someone likes or comments on their message.

Scheduling

How the Scheduler Works

The scheduler is what powers automated celebrations. When enabled, HuddleCard checks for upcoming occasions each week and:

1. Identifies people with birthdays or work anniversaries in the coming week.
2. Sends reminders to the team to sign their cards.
3. Delivers completed cards on the occasion date.

The Schedule page in the admin dashboard shows upcoming birthdays and work anniversaries side by side, including cards that are open for signing right now.

All timing is based on your company's time zone.

Enabling and Disabling the Scheduler

From the admin dashboard, you can turn the scheduler on or off. When the scheduler is off, no birthday or work anniversary reminders or cards will be sent automatically. Occasion cards are not affected — they run on their own schedule.

Occasion Cards

What Are Occasion Cards?

Birthday and work anniversary cards are automatic — HuddleCard sends them based on the dates you've entered. But sometimes you need a card for something else: a promotion, a farewell, a new baby, a thank-you from a leader, or a moment a whole team wants to mark together.

Occasion cards are created by an admin. You pick a card type, choose who signs and who receives, and set the delivery date. HuddleCard handles the rest — notifying signers, collecting messages, and delivering on schedule.

Unlike automated celebrations — which always go from a team to one person — occasion cards can flow in four different directions.

Card Directions

A card has two sides: who signs it, and who receives it. Either side can be a single person, a group, a tag, or a combination. That gives you four typical patterns:

Each card type has a typical direction (a "Farewell" defaults to Team → One; a "Thank You" might default to One → Many) but you can adjust the signers and recipients on any card.

Available Card Types

HuddleCard comes with a library of beautifully designed card types:

Each card type has its own header image and default greeting, but you can customize everything — including who signs and who receives.

Creating an Occasion Card

From the admin dashboard, go to Occasion Cards and create a new card:

1. Choose a card type — pick from the library above, or use a custom image.
2. Choose who signs and who receives. See Choosing Who Signs and Who Receives below — this is where you set the card's direction.
3. Write a team description — this is what the signers see when they're asked to sign (e.g., "Sarah is celebrating 5 years with us!").
4. Write a recipient description — this is what the recipient(s) see on the card (e.g., "Happy 5th Work Anniversary, Sarah!").
5. Set the delivery date and time — when should the card be delivered?

Once saved, HuddleCard takes care of the rest — notifying signers, collecting messages, and delivering the card on schedule.

Choosing Who Signs and Who Receives

When creating an occasion card, you'll see two pickers: Signers and Recipients. Each picker accepts any combination of:

• Individual people — pick specific team members.
• Groups — everyone in a group is included.
• Tags — every person with that tag is included. Tags are great for cross-cutting situations (see Occasion Card Tags).

The card's direction is whatever falls out of these two choices:

• Team → One — multiple signers, one recipient. The classic farewell or promotion.
• One → Many — one signer, multiple recipients. A founder thanks the whole company; a manager recognises their team.
• Team → Team — one group signs for another. Cross-team appreciation.
• Team → Itself — same group on both sides. The team signs a card that's delivered back to them — for retros, year-in-reviews, or "we did it" moments.

A few rules of thumb:

• Anyone listed as a signer can add a message, photo, video, or voice note.
• Anyone listed as a recipient receives the card on the delivery date and can like and comment on it.
• A person can be on both sides — that's how Team → Itself works.
• If the same person is set as both a signer and a recipient, they can sign in advance; their own messages stay hidden from them until delivery.

Custom Card Images

Don't see the perfect image for your occasion? You have options:

• Search Unsplash — browse millions of free, high-quality photos right from the card creation page.
• Upload your own — use a company photo, team picture, or anything else.
• Use your image library — images you've used before are saved to your company's library for easy reuse.

Images are automatically cropped to fit the card header.

Signing an Occasion Card

Signing an occasion card works exactly like signing a birthday or work anniversary card. Signers receive a link, write their message, optionally add media, and submit. The same 255-character limit and attachment options apply.

If a card has only one signer (a One → Many card), they get a longer time window and can take their time recording a video or voice note before delivery.

Delivery and Viewing

When the delivery time arrives, HuddleCard sends a notification to every recipient by email and Slack (if connected). Each recipient can view the full card online and can like and comment on individual messages.

For cards with multiple recipients (One → Many, Team → Team, Team → Itself), comments and likes from any recipient are visible to all of them — the card becomes a small shared space where the conversation can keep going for a while after delivery.

Occasion Card Tags

What Are Tags?

Tags are flexible labels you can attach to people. Unlike groups — where each person belongs to exactly one — a person can have as many tags as you like. You can use tags across groups.

This makes tags great for cross-cutting situations: tag people by team, discipline, or location, and the same person can show up in all of them. They're also handy when only a few people are in on something — tag just them and send a card without looping in the whole team.

Tags only apply to occasion cards, where you choose which tagged people are invited to sign.

Assigning Tags

You can assign tags when editing individual people or in bulk from the People page. Create new tags from the Tags section of the admin dashboard.

The Team Portal

The team portal is where your team members go to see their cards, sign new ones, and manage their profile. It's separate from the admin dashboard — no password required.

Logging In

Team members log in with just their email — no password needed. Here's how:

1. Go to the team portal login page.
2. Enter your email address.
3. Check your inbox for a 6-digit code.
4. Enter the code, and you're in.

If you're connected to Slack, you can also log in instantly from the HuddleCard app home in Slack — just click the Team Dashboard button.

If your email is associated with more than one company, you'll be asked to choose which one to log into.

Your Dashboard

The dashboard is your home page in the team portal. Here you'll see:

• Any open cards that can be signed.
• Cards you received.
• Comments and likes on the messages you've contributed to cards.
• The contributions you've made to cards.

To-do

If you're worried you've missed an email or a Slack message, don't stress, we've got you covered. The home tab shows any open automated celebration cards you can still sign.

Birthdays

The Birthdays page lists everyone in your team with their birthday, photo, and title. You can see at a glance whose birthday is coming up and whether you've already signed their card.

Your Cards

The Your Cards page shows every card you've received. Click any card to view it in full, with all messages, likes, and comments.

Messages

The Messages page shows comments and likes on your messages. It's a quick way to see who's responded to what you wrote, with unread indicators so nothing gets missed.

My Contributions

The My Contributions page gives you quick access to see all the cards you've signed.

Profile

Your Profile Settings

From the team portal, go to Profile Settings to manage your personal information:

• First name and last name
• Birthday (month and day) — this is how your team knows when to celebrate you
• Profile picture

Profile Picture

You can upload a profile picture that appears on your messages, your profile, and throughout the app. After uploading, you can crop and adjust the image to get it just right.

To remove your picture, there's a delete option on the settings page. If you're connected via Slack, your Slack profile picture may be used automatically.

Notification Preferences

You can control two key notification settings:

• Sign cards for your team — turn this off if you don't want to receive reminders to sign other people's cards.
• Receive a card on your birthday — turn this off if you'd prefer not to receive a birthday card. This option only appears if your birthday is on file.

Every email from HuddleCard includes a link to manage these preferences at the bottom.

Slack Integration

Connecting Slack

If your team uses Slack, connecting it to HuddleCard makes everything smoother. You'll need admin access to set it up or change the connection later.

To connect:

1. Go to **Settings → Integrations in the admin dashboard.
2. Click Add to Slack.
3. You'll be redirected to Slack to authorize HuddleCard. You'll need to be a Slack workspace admin.
4. Once authorized, HuddleCard automatically syncs your workspace members.

That's it — your Slack workspace is now connected.

What Happens After You Connect

Once Slack is connected:

• Your workspace members are imported as people in HuddleCard, complete with their names and profile pictures.
• New members get a welcome message in Slack introducing them to HuddleCard.
• Daily syncs keep your people list up to date — new Slack members are added, and people who leave the workspace are cleaned up automatically.

From the Integrations page, you can see the sync status, how many users were created, updated, or skipped, and when the last sync ran.

How Your Team Uses HuddleCard in Slack

Your team can access HuddleCard directly from Slack:

1. Open the HuddleCard app in Slack's sidebar.
2. You'll see a personalized home page with your name and a button to access the Team Dashboard.
3. Click the button — it logs you in automatically with a secure, one-time link (valid for 24 hours). No code or password needed.

If you have admin access to the dashboard, you'll also see an Admin Dashboard button — that one requires your username and password. Everyone else gets Team Dashboard only.

Slack Notifications

When Slack is connected, team members with a Slack account receive notifications there instead of (or in addition to) email:

Critical notifications (card delivery) are sent through both Slack and email to make sure nothing is missed.

Disconnecting Slack

You can disconnect Slack at any time from the Integrations page (admin access required). This removes the connection but keeps all the people that were synced — no data is lost.

Account Settings

You can invite colleagues to help run HuddleCard from the dashboard. Each login is either Admin or Default:

• Admin — full control, including company profile, billing, Slack, and who else has access.
• Default — day-to-day operations: people, groups, the schedule, occasion cards, and activity logs.

This is separate from the Manager or Default role on the People page — that one's about team relationships, not dashboard permissions.

Account Access: Admin vs Default

When you register, you're the first admin. From the Account page, you can invite others and choose whether they get admin access (Grant Admin Permissions on the invite form).

Here's how the two levels compare:

Default users can still do most of the day-to-day work — they just can't change billing, company-wide settings, Slack, or who else has access.

Turning admin off for someone keeps their login but limits what they can change. To remove them from the account entirely, use Revoke access next to their name.

Company Profile

From Company Profile (admin only), you can manage:

• Company name — displayed on cards and emails.
• Time zone — controls when reminders and deliveries are scheduled.
• Date format — MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY.
• Company logo — appears on card emails instead of the HuddleCard logo, giving cards a personal touch.

Team Access and Invitations

On the Account page (admin only), the Administrators section is where you manage dashboard logins:

• Invite someone — send an email invitation. They'll set a password and join your account. Check Grant Admin Permissions if they should have full admin access; leave it unchecked for default access only.
• Change access — use the Admin toggle next to a name to switch between admin and default.
• Revoke access — remove someone from the account entirely. This is different from turning admin off, which keeps their login with default access.

Pending invitations can be cancelled before they're accepted.

Updating Your Email or Password

On the Account page, you can update your email address, contact name, and password — whether you're an admin or have default access. Your email is your login — make sure it's one you check regularly.

Feature Toggles

From Company Profile, admins can enable or disable several features:

• GIF search — enable or disable the Giphy search when signing cards.
• New User Defaults — choose between an opt-in or opt-out approach for your team.

Billing

Billing is managed by admins only.

Plans and Pricing

HuddleCard offers two plans:

Free — perfect for small teams of up to 10 people. All features included, no time limit, no credit card.

Pro — $2.50 per active user per month. Unlimited people, same great features. Starts with a 30-day free trial — no credit card required.

How Active Users Are Counted

You're only charged for people who actually participate. An active user is someone who, during the billing month:

• signed a card, or
• opened a card they received (for the first time), or
• commented on a card they were part of.

People who are on your team but did none of these things don't count. This means broadcast-style cards (One → Many) are fair: if a leader sends a thank-you to 100 people and only 40 ever open it, you're billed for the 40 — not the 100.

Free Trial

When you choose the Pro plan, you get a full 30-day trial with no credit card required. During the trial, everything works exactly as it would on a paid subscription. You'll see your trial end date on the billing page.

Managing Your Subscription

From Settings → Billing, you can:

• See your current plan and status (Active, Trial, Past Due, etc.)
• View your estimated charges for the current month
• See your active user count
• Manage billing and invoices — opens the Stripe customer portal where you can update your payment method, view past invoices, or cancel your subscription.
• See your billing date.

Applying a Coupon

If you have a promotion code, you can apply it from the billing page. Enter your code and click Apply — the discount will be reflected on your next invoice.

Downgrading to Free

If your team has 10 or fewer people, you can downgrade from Pro to Free at any time from the billing page. Your subscription will be canceled and you'll continue with full access on the Free plan.

If you have more than 10 people, you'll need to remove some before downgrading.

Activity Logs

The admin dashboard includes activity logs so you can see exactly what's happening with your cards.

Automated Card Logs

View the history of all automated celebrations:

• When each card was created and delivered
• Who the recipient was and which occasion type it was
• How many messages were collected
• The current status of each card

Click on any card to see its full details.

Occasion Card Logs

Same as automated card logs, but for occasion cards. You can see:

• The card type and recipient
• When it was created, when it opened for signing, and when it was delivered
• Message and attachment counts

Emails and Notifications

Types of Emails

HuddleCard sends several types of emails, all beautifully designed and mobile-friendly:

Managing Your Preferences

Every email includes a link at the bottom to manage your notification preferences. You can opt out of signing reminders or birthday card delivery independently. (Work anniversary cards follow the same delivery rules as birthday cards.)

If you're connected via Slack, signing reminders (weekly upcoming, Friday reminders, and tomorrow summaries) come through Slack instead of email. Card delivery notifications are always sent through both Slack and email to make sure nothing is missed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I edit my message after signing a card?
Yes — just click the same signing link and you'll see your existing message, ready to edit. You can even sign a card that's already been delivered.

What happens if someone doesn't sign a card?
Nothing bad! The card is delivered with whatever messages have been collected. There's no minimum — even one heartfelt message makes someone's day. If no one signs a birthday or work anniversary card, it's still delivered with a thoughtful message. If no one signs an occasion card, nothing is delivered.

Can the recipient see who signed their card before it's delivered? No. The card is kept secret until delivery. Only the admin can see the progress in the activity logs.

Can someone signing a card see contributions from other members of the team?
No. The final card is for the eyes of the recipient only. It's up to them whether or not to share their card. Only admins can see the progress in the activity logs.

What if someone doesn't have a birthday on file? They can still sign other people's cards and receive occasion cards. They just won't get an automatic birthday card until their birthday is added. Team members can add their own birthday from their profile settings.

What if someone doesn't have a work start date on file? They won't receive an automated work anniversary card until an admin adds their work start date from the People page. You can still celebrate them with a one-off occasion card in the meantime.

Can I send a card to the whole team at once? Yes. Occasion cards can be sent to multiple recipients — pick a group, several groups, a tag, or a list of individuals when creating the card. You can also flip the direction (one signer, many recipients) for things like a leader's thank-you to the whole company. Birthday and work anniversary cards are always individual.

What counts as an "active user" for billing? Anyone who, in a given billing month, signed a card, opened a card they received for the first time, or commented on a card. People who are on your team but did none of those things aren't counted — including people who were sent a broadcast card but never opened it.

What's the difference between admin and default dashboard access?
Admin can change company profile, billing, Slack, and who else has dashboard access. Default can still run the main dashboard — people, groups, schedule, occasion cards, logs — and update their own login on the Account page. Neither of these is the same as marking someone as a Manager on the People page.

Can I use HuddleCard without Slack? Absolutely. Slack is optional. Without it, everything works through email and the web portal.

Is my data secure?
Yes. We do our best to store your card messages securely. We also store as little data about your team as possible. We don't even collect their birth year. Access to cards is controlled through unique, hashed links. Private messages require an unlock code. Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe — HuddleCard never sees your credit card details.

How do I export my people list? From the admin dashboard, go to People, select a group, and use the export option to download a CSV file.

What if I have more questions?
Reach out to our support team — we're real humans who actually enjoy helping.