Edit message details and send message

The Message Details screen is where you’ll enter your message subject, “From” address, and other details.

Send

Use the toggle to choose whether you are sending a "Promotional" message or an “Important Announcement” message.

Promotional messages will respect recipients’ unsubscribe settings and skip users who have elected not to receive bulk messages. 

Important Announcement messages will ignore unsubscribe requests and send a message to everyone in the group. For this reason, Important Announcement messages should only include information that is necessary for recipients to interact with the school (such as information about weather delays, critical announcements, and so on). Sending non-essential information as an Important Announcement message (that is, ignoring users’ contact request settings for non-critical purposes) may open your school up to legal liability. Learn more at Important Announcement vs. Promotional messages. 

Message To

Use the dropdown menu to select one or more mailing lists this message will be sent to. Type inside the field to filter the menu and find a particular list.

As you add list(s) to the message, the cumulative number of subscribers via email or push notification will be updated dynamically on the Email and Mobile App tabs. Select each tab to customize the message that will be sent via each delivery method.

Email Details

Subject

This is the subject line of your email.

Use the “Add Personalization” buttons below to include each recipient's first name or last name in the subject line.

From Label

Complete the “From Label” field to indicate who this message will appear to be sent from. This label will appear instead of the Reply-To email address if it’s filled out.

Reply-To

Use the dropdown menu to select which email address will be targeted when a recipient replies to your message. You can select your own address (the default), or any Reply-To addresses that you have permission to use, based on the controls in the Settings section.

Edit, preview, and save as template

Click the “Edit Message” button next to the message thumbnail to open up the editor and customize the message, the “Preview Message” button to preview the message, or the “Save as Template” button to save the message as a new template.

Inbox preview

The Inbox Preview shows a mock-up of how an email will look before it is opened, including the From Label (if included), message subject, and preview snippet. This information updates dynamically as you change the message settings. 

Merge tags will not be populated in this view. To preview merge tags in your subject line, as well as the rest of your message, click on “Preview Message” above, then search for a constituent in the “Preview As” field.

Internal Use Only

These fields let you assign an internal name, notes and tags to this message. You can use the name and tags to help you search for the message using the search tool.

Mobile App and other channels

If you’re using our Mobile App and plan to use this message for push notifications, activate the “Mobile App Details” toggle on the Mobile App tab to add the message. 

Complete the “Title” and “Body” fields to customize the message. These messages must be plain-text only, and it’s a best practice to keep them under 160 characters. Use the counter in the upper-right corner to keep track of the length of the message. 

By default, users will be able to tap on the notification and open the message in their browser. Turn off the “Action” toggle if you don’t want this to occur. 

Refer to Push notifications in the Mobile App for more details about this option.

Likewise, if you're using Messages XR to send SMS text or voice messages, see Send SMS text messages in Messages XR or Send voice messages in Messages XR for instructions and more details.

Save and send messages

Click “Update” at the lower-right of the Message Details screen to confirm the message options. When they’re finalized, click “Schedule Send.” On the window that appears, select a future date and time to send the message, or use the “Send now” option to send the message immediately. You will be asked to confirm your choice before sending.

A “Message Scheduled” notification appears on the Message Details screen to indicate when the message is scheduled for sending. 

Editing a message is not available while a message is scheduled for send. Remove the scheduled date and time to edit a message that has been scheduled.

A message cannot be sent without setting a Reply-To email address or selecting a mailing list. If either of these conditions is not met, a warning icon will appear on the Email tab, as well as next to the required setting(s).

When a message is sent or fails to send, a notification email will be sent to the admin who created the email, as well as the admin who sent the email (if applicable) and the reply-to address. Under "Notification Email Recipients," you may also opt to send the notification to up to 10 additional email addresses.

If the message failed to send, you will need to resend the message.