# Set up the service yearbook

> Turn on Include a digital yearbook in a milestone award, then design the book on the Yearbook step. Colleagues' messages are collected before the anniversary and the employee gets the book on the day.

- Product: Recognition › Service milestones
- Who can do this: Admins who can manage service milestones
- Plan: Recognition
- Where: Admin dashboard
- Last checked: 15 Oct 2026
- Web page: https://www.vantagecircle.com/en/help/recognition/service-milestones/set-up-the-service-yearbook/

A yearbook collects colleagues' messages for an employee's work anniversary and turns them into a book. You set it up inside a milestone award, so each number of years can have its own design.

1. Go to **Recognition → Service milestone → Milestone awards**. Select **Add milestone award**, or open an existing award and select **Edit**.
2. On **Years of service**, turn on **Include a digital yearbook**. This adds a **Yearbook** step after **Reward points**.
3. On the **Yearbook** step, choose a cover under **Choose a cover**.

![The Cover design section with Use the standard cover selected and Use a custom cover next to it](https://cdn.vantagecircle.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/v1792133424/vantagecircle/help-centre/en/recognition/service-milestones/milestone-yearbook-cover-e2e2e8197290ce38.png)

- **Use the standard cover** needs a **Company logo in color** and a **White company logo**. You crop each image before it uploads, and it's sized to fit 260 x 70 px. You can add a **Back cover message** of up to 700 characters.
- **Use a custom cover** needs a **Front cover**, a **Back cover** and an **Inside-page background**, each at least 580 x 481 px. A **Company logo (optional)** is sized to fit 200 x 60 px.

4. Under **Text style**, pick a **Font** and a **Text color**.
5. Under **Yearbook content**, turn on what the book should include.

![Text style with the Poppins font and text color 29294C, and three Yearbook content switches turned off](https://cdn.vantagecircle.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/v1792133422/vantagecircle/help-centre/en/recognition/service-milestones/milestone-yearbook-content-e1e3cc170eac6fae.png)

- **Include leadership messages** adds up to 4 messages from leaders. Each one has a **Name**, a **Job title** (30 characters each), a **Message** (700 characters) and a photo cropped to 130 x 130 px.
- **Include employee stories** lists your company's story questions. Tick at least one. Select the pencil to reword a question, up to 50 characters.
- **Show the employee's manager message first** puts the manager's message at the front of the book.

6. Select **View sample yearbook** at the bottom of the page to see a sample before you go on.
7. Complete the remaining steps and select **Create milestone award**, or **Save changes** if you're editing.

**Fill in all four fields for every leader.** The screen lets you save a leader with only a name or only a message, plus a photo. But the book only includes leaders who have a name, a job title, a message and a photo.

## What happens next

By default:

- **Colleague invitation:** about a week before the anniversary, colleagues in the employee's department get an email asking them to add a message.
- **Reminder:** colleagues who haven't written get a reminder 3 days before.
- **Employee stories:** if **Include employee stories** is on, the employee gets an email asking them to answer the questions and invite colleagues. Their manager is copied.

Your company can use different dates or invite a different group.

On the anniversary, the employee gets an email with the yearbook attached as a PDF. You can follow the messages as they come in on **Upcoming celebrations**. See [Track upcoming work anniversaries](/en/help/recognition/service-milestones/track-upcoming-work-anniversaries/).

An employee who has turned off work anniversary posts in their profile doesn't get a yearbook.

## If something goes wrong

- **"Upload the color and white versions of your company logo."** The standard cover needs both logos. **View sample yearbook** needs them too.
- **"Upload the front cover, the back cover and the inside-page background to continue."** The custom cover needs all three images.
- **"Choose at least one question, or turn off employee stories."** Tick a question, or turn off **Include employee stories**.
- **"No employee story questions are set up for your company yet."** Turn off **Include employee stories** for now.
- **"Milestone award saved, but yearbook not saved"** The award itself is saved. Open it with **Edit** and save the yearbook again.