Documentation for Administrators

Portal Messages

Updated on

The Portal Messages screen is used to set up messages that display for specific schools and profiles in the Messages block on the Portal and in the Community App.

Viewing Portal Messages

1. In the Setup menu, click Portal Messages.

Any active Portal messages for the school selected at the top-right corner of the screen are listed in the table. Active messages are those that have no date range defined or have a date range that has not passed.

2. Select Show Inactive Notes to view Portal messages that are no longer active (date range has passed).

3. Select Show All Schools to view Portal messages for all schools.

Adding a New Portal Message

1. In the Setup menu, click Portal Messages.

2. In the blank row at the top of the table, enter a Title for the message.

3. Click the Note field and enter the message in the text editor. This is required.

There are a variety of tools available, including text formatting and the ability to add links and images.

4. Enter a Sort Order to determine where this message displays in the list of messages displayed to the user. If no sort order is displayed, the most recent message is displayed first.

5. Enter a Start Date and End Date if the message will only be displayed during a specific date range.

The messages display on all portals (Admin, Student/Parent, and Teacher) in the District & School Announcements block with the published date and time (the date created), not the Start Date entered.

6. Select the Profiles who can view this message. One or multiple can be selected.

7. To display the message to students and/or parents of students in particular grade levels, select the Grade Levels.

The Grade Levels field only becomes available when a student or parent profile is selected in the Profiles field.

8. Select the Schools who can view this message. One or multiple can be selected. If no schools are selected, the message will be available to all schools.

Portal messages that are set up without any schools selected will display with the subtitle District Announcement in the District & School Announcements Portal block.

Portal messages that are set up with a single school selected will display the school’s name in the subtitle. 

Portal messages that are set up with multiple schools selected will display without a subtitle. 

Portal

For administrators and teachers, only Portal messages and events for the school selected from the school pull-down located in the header will display. For parents, Portal messages and events across all schools for which their students are enrolled display. 

9. Select Public if the message can be visible to those who access the Community App but are not logged in.

Only users with the profile permission "Allow Push Notifications & Public Messages" are able to create public messages.

For public messages, no schools should be selected in the Schools pull-down. If schools are selected on a public message, the message will not be visible to those who access the Community App but are not logged in.

10. Press Enter to add the row.

The row turns yellow to indicate an addition has been made.

11. Click Save.

12. To send a push notification of the message to the Community App, click Send Push Notification.

Only users with the profile permission "Allow Push Notifications & Public Messages" are able to send push notifications.

The message is pushed to users who have downloaded the Community App and have selected to receive push notifications. After the push notification is sent, a date and timestamp displays in the Push Notification column.

If an error occurs when sending a push notification, users with runquery access can view the "error" column in the "community_app_notification" table  for more information on the error.

Editing a Portal Message

1. In the Setup menu, click Portal Messages.

2. Click the field that needs editing and make the desired changes.

The field turns yellow once you Tab or click out of the field to indicate changes have been made.

3. Click Save.

Deleting a Portal Message

1. In the Setup menu, click Portal Messages.

2. Click the red minus sign to the left of the row.

3. In the confirmation message, click OK.

The row is grayed out to indicate is was selected for deletion.

4. Click Save to complete deletion.

Deleting All Inactive Portal Messages

1. In the Setup menu, click Portal Messages.

2. Select Show Inactive Notes.

3. Click Delete Inactive Notes.

The screen is refreshed and the inactive notes are deleted.

Previous Article Portal Editor
Next Article Automated Cron Messages