Sending a New Message

Messages are an essential part of communication between schools and parents and are a quick and easy way to send out important information between newsletters. Using the Schoolzine platform, you are able to send out unlimited emails to parents. You are also able to send out messages to other channels, such as the App and SMS, at the same time.

NOTE: If you are requiring additional duplicate templates or would like significant updates to your Email Templates, we recommend emailing support@schoolzine.com to discuss your options.

• Log in to your Control Centre and select the Communicate menu tab.
• Once open, select New Message.
• Select which Message Channels you would like to send your information out to. You can also select Send To All to send out your message to all available channels. Once you have chosen your channels for the message, select Next.

• Insert a Message Name and then choose a Send Date and Send Time for your Message. Once you have populated the fields, select Next.
  Note: By default the Send Date and Send Time will be set to the current date and time. If the selected time has already passed, your message will be sent straight away.

• The Email Subject will auto-populate from the Message Details step. You can change this if you would like a different name to appear to your community. Once you have populated the fields, select Next.
  Note: The From Email, From Name and Email Preview Text are all set automatically, so you don’t need to change these details.
• Select the Newsflash Template from the list provided. Select Next. Note: Newsflash will be the default template and will allow you to insert your message in the main content section for the message.

• Once the template populates in the Email Content window you can insert your Message content. Type your content in the space provided underneath ‘Dear %%first_name%%’. It is recommended you are typing in your content,  or cleaning your content in Notepad or simmilar before inserting it in the content window in order to remove any preset styling that might cause issues upon sending. Once you have completed inserting your content, select Next.
  Note: The ‘Dear %%first_name%%’ will populate the first name from your database contacts unless this has been updated to a generic greeting.
• If you have chosen to send your message to any other channels such as SZapp or SMS, you can copy and paste your message content before proceeding to paste into these sections. It is important to note, that Wildcards are typically only recommended for use in the Email Message as they may not populate for other channels.
• Select the Recipients by choosing ‘Send to all recipients‘ (located under groups) or target specific groups/contacts by selecting them in the drop down search field/s and then clicking ‘Add’ or ‘Exclude’. When ready, click Next.
  Note: If you have a student data sync enabled you will also be able to use the ‘Student Search’ functionality. Contact Schoolzine for more information.

Caution: Excluded contacts will always take priority over included contacts (e.g. a contact that is a part of both included and excluded groups will be excluded), this is to ensure the security of your information.

• Review your message content and confirm the message details are correct, including the send date and time and recipients. It is also recommended that you send yourself a ‘Test Email’ using the button at the top for all emails, to ensure that any hyperlinks or images work and your layout appears how you would like it.
• Once you select Complete & Send, your message will begin to process.