That's a really cool idea Jason! I highly encourage you to write it up 
for the Code4Lib Journal, sounds like a great (possibly short) article 
for the journal.

Do you do anything with dates, so 'old' alerts/notices aren't shown 
anymore?  Sounds like no, you just display the last 3, in case people 
want to look back at history too?

Would love to see some screenshots or webcasts or examples of it in 
action -- or write a code4lib journal article to share with everyone!

On 11/7/2012 11:31 AM, Jason Griffey wrote:
> We aren't right now...all posts just go where they go. But it's
> trivial to break out a category-specific RSS feed in Wordpress, so
> that would be easily done.
>
> We typically update the notice instead of taking it down. Good blog
> form, and all that. For most "alert" items (Database down, etc) the
> display just shows the last 3-5 items, and so stuff rolls off quickly.
> If not, the update generally takes care of it.
>
> Jason
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Michael Schofield <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Hey Jason,
>>
>> Are you watching for different categories--closings, emergencies, weather - etc.--and, also, how are you determining when to take down the notice (if at all)?
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Nov 7, 2012, at 10:26 AM, Jason Griffey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> We run a Wordpress multisite setup here at MPOW, and have two
>>> different blogs that we use for this type of purpose: an "Alerts" blog
>>> for in-house alert needs, and a "News" blog for public-facing
>>> announcements. We just use the RSS feed to push the alerts where
>>> needed, and there's certainly no shortage of RSS collection/parsing
>>> libraries. I'm partial to Magpie (http://magpierss.sourceforge.net/)
>>> but only because I've had years of using it.
>>>
>>> We even recently moved to using Growl for Windows with an RSS plugin
>>> to do "heads up" alerts on staff/faculty PCs, so that when something
>>> is posted to the Alerts blog, all staff machines get an
>>> impossible-to-ignore alert overlay on their screens. We will likely be
>>> doing a similar thing for "Emergency" use and the public machines.
>>>
>>> Jason
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 9:12 AM, Michael Schofield <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> Hey everyone,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I've been toying with the idea making something because I can't seem to find
>>>> a free alternative, but I thought I'd do my due diligence and pick your
>>>> brains. I'm open for any alternatives to the following, but I'm specifically
>>>> looking for a free option with an API.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Scenario: our main website lives on the university's server, which turns out
>>>> to be a very dull playground: HTML/CSS/JS only. This means there's about 150
>>>> static files that I'm now presently rolling into a WP Network living on our
>>>> own boxes-and our own domain-(we've been waiting for the last year for a
>>>> university-wide CMS, but we just don't want to hold our breaths any longer
>>>> J) but the main site, the landing page, will always be static. This means
>>>> that whenever there's an early closure, a hurricane watch, or some other
>>>> announcement someone has to submit a ticket and then I have to make a
>>>> change. My goal is to cut me-the middleman-out of the process.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My potential project: So what I was thinking was jury-rigging a Wordpress
>>>> theme into an "alerts" dashboard for managers, directors, and so on. I want
>>>> to empower the Circulation manager to login, make an announcement, and be
>>>> done with it. For all the departmental and other sites that live on the WP
>>>> Network, I'd write and install a corresponding "alerts" plugin that watches
>>>> the JSON API for an alert and-if true-display it. For our static sites, I'd
>>>> toss in a jquery plugin that did the same.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My question: this seems like something that's been done before! Has it? If
>>>> not, anyone want to collaborate on github?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> All the best,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Michael Schofield(@nova.edu) | Web Services Librarian | (954) 262-4536
>>>>
>>>> Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi! Hit me up any time, but I'd really appreciate it if you report broken
>>>> links, bugs, your meeting minutes, or request an awesome web app over on the
>>>> Library Web Services <http://staff.library.nova.edu/pm>  site.
>>>>
>>>>
>
>