What belongs in the chat, and what belongs in the paper?
Use the family chat for things that benefit from a quick answer: arranging a visit, sharing a photograph in the moment or asking who has the spare keys. A newspaper is useful for the fuller story behind a move, a new hobby or a holiday.
There is no need to turn every message into an article. Choose the updates your family would enjoy looking back on. A few specific stories make a more personal edition than a complete record of everything everyone said.
Do you need to copy the whole conversation?
No. The Relative does not require a WhatsApp export or access to your group. Each adult chooses their own text or voice-note update and uploads photographs through the website. Sharing something in a chat does not automatically mean someone wants it printed in the newspaper.
Ask contributors to retell the part they want included and add context for relatives who missed the original conversation. Only include another person’s words or photographs with their permission. Avoid forwarding entire chats containing unrelated messages.
How do you ask for an update without creating homework?
Give everyone a small, familiar request: three or four things from the last three months and a few photographs. They can speak into a voice note instead of writing. The reporter prepares articles from their supplied facts and exact quotes; contributors do not need to produce finished copy.
If someone has little news, one short item is fine. “We have been walking the same route every Sunday” might come with a lovely photograph and a recommendation for the next family visit.
Try asking
- What happened after the photo you sent us?
- What would you like everyone to know before our next catch-up?
- Which small story would be a shame to lose in the scroll?
Who receives the finished newspaper?
After preparation, checks and editorial review, the released newspaper is available to the family group online and as a downloadable PDF. One adult pays for up to 20 adult contributors, so relatives do not each need a subscription.
People who prefer paper can read a copy you print yourself. Professional printing, packaging and postal delivery are not available to order yet. Save your own PDF copy if you want to keep the edition in your family archive.
When might a newspaper be the wrong fit?
If everyone wants only quick, spontaneous messages, the chat may already do the job. A newspaper needs someone to organise the first edition and relatives who are willing to contribute. It is not an instant download or a replacement for a conversation.
If your family would enjoy a slower catch-up and something to look back through, start by reading the fictional sample together. Agree what you want from your first edition before anyone subscribes.
A small habit, every three months
Your quarterly family update checklist
- Keep using your chat for everyday messages.
- Ask each person which recent stories they want to keep.
- Invite contributors to submit their own updates through the website.
- Add context and captions rather than copying a whole conversation.
- Allow time for preparation, checks and review.
- Read the released edition, save the PDF and keep the conversation going.
Copy a message to send to your family, or explore 12 story ideas for a quiet quarter.