Yearbook Today · what is new, what is shipping, and how to start now
Start this year’s book today — and see what is new on the platform.
Yearbook Today is the news view of the same real yearbook platform: an honest, plain-language read on what is built and working right now, next to a same-day on-ramp for the staff that is starting this year’s book. The book that does not get started in the fall is the one that becomes a scramble in the spring, so “today” means today — import your roster and the portrait pages and a starter ladder exist before you have finished your coffee. Below is what is shipping, described as a status list rather than an invented release log, and the money rails are named plainly as honest-off. The platform is free for the school to run.
This is the news-and-start-today angle. Plain-answer reference for running a book is at yearbook.fyi. The umbrella overview of every stage is at yearbook.software. There is no live checkout on this page.
What is shipping on the platform now
This is a status list, not a dated release log. Each item below is described as built or honest-off exactly as it stands. Nothing here is upgraded from early-access to live, and no ship count, school count, or adoption number is invented.
One roster is the spine, imported once
The single roster import is live and is the foundation everything else keys off. It drives the portrait flow, tags event photos to the right student, scopes a class book, targets the sell-through, and matches each book to a student at distribution. One import, not five stitched-together tools. This is built and production-ready. Shipped
Write: the newsroom story lifecycle
The newsroom carries a story from pitched to assigned, reporting, drafting, editing, design, sign-off, and adviser review through to published, with scoped student staff roles so a room becomes a staff. The story lifecycle and the role scoping are built. Shipped
Design: the production editor and the ladder
The multi-surface production editor is live: spread layout, layers, masking, typography, and the ladder that plans every page, plus the table-of-contents, endsheet, and cover surfaces. Undo and redo, version history, and auto-layout run on the resilient online workspace. Built and running. Shipped
Photograph: portraits and event capture
Season-long event capture and the roster-driven portrait flow are live, with roster tagging that matches a face to a name off the student list, not a face match. Facial recognition is off by default and is never used for auto-tagging without an explicit per-child opt-in. Built. Shipped · recognition off by default
Proof: the fail-closed approval gate
The adviser reviews the book spread by spread, comments, locks a version, and approves through a fail-closed gate — nothing advances to print until it is genuinely signed off. A read-only proof link reaches the principal or the print lab without emailing a giant file. The proof workflow, version locking, and the no-file proof link are built. Shipped
Print: pre-flight and press-ready export
At deadline the platform runs an automated pre-flight file check — resolution, bleed, colour — and exports a press-ready PDF you send to whichever print lab you choose. Delivery is tracked from proof to print run to fulfillment. Pre-flight, export, and tracking are built; the print-order checkout that takes a family’s payment is honest-off. Built · print checkout honest-off
How you get a working book the same day
“Today” is not a slogan — it is the actual on-ramp. There is no install to schedule, no purchase order to clear, and no license to wait on. Here is the shape of a first day.
- Import the roster once. Pull the student roster from the system the school already uses. That single import becomes the spine of the whole year, so you set it up one time and everything downstream keys off it.
- Get real portrait pages and a starter ladder. The portrait flow lays out portrait pages off the roster, and a starter ladder gives you a page map to build against — a working book on day one, not a blank editor and a hope.
- Set up the staff and the roles. Assign the student roles — editor-in-chief, section editors, photo editors, copy editors — so the room becomes a staff with scoped access, and the newsroom story lifecycle is ready to carry the first assignments.
- Build out across the year. Design spreads in the production editor, capture events as the season runs, and let autosave and version history hold the work. You build the book across the whole year instead of cramming it in April.
- Proof and send to print when it is ready. Review spread by spread, approve through the fail-closed gate, run the automated pre-flight check, and export a press-ready PDF to whichever print lab you pick. The generation is built; the checkout that moves a family’s money is honest-off.
What is honest-off, named plainly
The news view stays honest about the parts that are not live. The engines are built; the money rails are founder-gated and off. We name that here rather than let a status list imply more than is true.
The live sell checkout is off
The order rails are built — unit price resolved server-side, scoped book types, and deadline pricing windows — but the live payment rail that would charge a family is honest-off. No school has run a live sale here. There is no “buy now” and no cart charge on the platform today.
The live giving checkout is off
The mission-giving substrate — a campaign goal, a per-book amount, and an exact-cent progress ledger — is built, but the live giving checkout is honest-off. Giving lives on yearbook.fund, and even there the money rail is off. This is a for-profit product and makes no tax claim of any kind.
The print-order checkout is off
Pre-flight, press-ready export, and delivery tracking are built, and the school sends the file to its own print lab. The print-order checkout that takes a family’s payment is honest-off. The generation is available; the charge is not enabled.
Free for the school to run
The platform is free for the school to run — no subscription, no per-student fee, no setup charge. You only pay when you print, at a price the school sets. When live selling is enabled on the wider platform, it is funded on the sale side, never by charging the school for the software.
The whole arc is one platform on one roster
The reason a status list here reads as a single story is that the stages are one platform, not a shelf of separate tools. Write, design, photograph, proof, print, and read all run off the same roster you import on day one. The same roster that drives the portrait flow scopes the class book and matches each copy to a student at distribution.
That is what makes a same-day start real. You are not wiring a design tool to a photo service to a sales system and being the integration layer between them. You import once, and every stage keys off that single foundation, so the work you do in September carries all the way to the book in a student’s hands in the spring.
For the stage-by-stage deep dive, the umbrella overview at yearbook.software walks the full write-to-read arc and hands off to the surface that goes deep on each one. This page stays on the news: what is built, what is off, and how to begin today.
Send us a note or flag an update
Spotted something that should ship, hit a snag, or want to tell us what your staff needs this year? Send it here. This records your note honestly — a real person reads it and follows up. We do not advertise a response time, because we would rather be plain than promise an operation we have not stood up. This page stores nothing in your browser and loads no third-party tracker.
Common questions
Is this a dated release changelog?
No. It is an honest status list of what is built and what is honest-off, described as it stands today. We do not publish an invented version number or a dated release log, and we do not claim a ship count. The list reflects the real capabilities the platform runs on.
Can I really start a book today?
Yes. Import the roster from the system your school already uses, and the portrait pages and a starter ladder exist the same day. There is no install to schedule, no purchase order to clear, and no license to wait on. You build the book out across the year rather than cramming it in the spring.
What does it cost to start?
Nothing to start. The platform is free for the school to run — no subscription, no per-student fee, no setup charge. You only pay when you print, at a price the school sets. There is no live checkout on this page, and this is a for-profit product that makes no tax claim of any kind.
Why does the print or sell step say honest-off?
Because it is the truth. The order rails, the giving ledger, and the print pre-flight and export are all built, but the live payment rails that would move a family’s money are founder-gated and off. We name that plainly rather than imply a live charge exists. No school has run a live sale or gift here.
Is facial recognition on?
No. Facial recognition is off by default and is never used for auto-tagging without an explicit per-child opt-in. Photo tagging matches a face to a name off the student roster — a student-list lookup, not a face match. Student and family data is owned by the school, never sold or shared, and minors’ data is never public.
What happens when I send a note through the form?
Your note is recorded honestly — it is captured so it is not lost, and a real person reads it and follows up. We do not advertise a response time, and the form does not charge anything, add you to a list without asking, or store anything in your browser. If you would rather reach us another way, use the contact link.
How is this different from yearbook.fyi?
yearbook.fyi is the plain-answer reference and FAQ for running a book — deadlines, the ladder, sizing, and how the whole process works, as a knowledge base. Yearbook Today is the news view: what is shipping now and how to get underway the same day. One is the reference; this is the what-is-new.
Related surfaces
The news view sits alongside the reference, the umbrella overview, and the services wrap. These destinations go deeper on the platform this page reports on.
yearbook.software
The umbrella platform overview: write, design, photograph, proof, print, sell, give, and read, off one roster. The full arc behind the status list here.
yearbook.fyi
Plain-answer reference and FAQ for running a book: deadlines, the ladder, sizing, and how the whole process works, as a knowledge base you can read next to the page you are building.
yearbook.services
The services around a program: onboarding that imports the roster once, training, adviser help from former advisers, proofing support, and print fulfillment. The human wrap around the software.
homeroom.software
The flagship platform brand home: the full product story behind the roster, the editor, and every surface the school runs on one platform.
What is built and what is honest-off
The platform this page reports on is real: one-roster import, the newsroom story lifecycle with scoped staff roles, the production editor with the ladder, layers, masking, and typography, the roster-driven portrait flow and season-long event capture, the fail-closed proof gate with a read-only no-file proof link, and print pre-flight and press-ready export with delivery tracking are all built and production-ready. The school picks its own print lab. Facial recognition is off by default and never auto-tags without a per-child opt-in. The parts that move a family’s money — the live sell checkout, the live giving checkout, and the print-order checkout — are honest-off: present but not enabled, and no card is charged. The platform is free for the school to run. This is a for-profit product and makes no tax claim of any kind. Student and family data is owned by the school, never sold or shared; minors’ data is consent-gated and never public. No competitor brand names appear here. The intake records your note honestly and promises no response time.