This article details how to create and manage dynamic academic class chat rooms in Finalsite Chat, including how to set up groups in Group Manager and how to configure membership to sync automatically.
Looking to create chat rooms quickly and manually? Go straight to the article, "Create chat rooms in Finalsite Chat" to get started!
💡Quick answers
- What are dynamic academic class chat rooms? Chat rooms created automatically from groups set up under the Academic Classes node in Group Manager. When a group is configured correctly, the corresponding chat room appears in the Chat feature without any additional steps.
- What is the difference between manual and dynamic room creation? Manually created rooms use a one-time group snapshot that does not update. Dynamic rooms built from Academic Classes with dynamic filters stay in sync automatically as group membership changes.
- Who gets added to a dynamic chat room? All Faculty/Staff in the group are added as Chat Managers (Admin). Students are added as Chat Participants. Whether parents are included depends on the "Create chat rooms with..." setting in Chat Settings.
- Does a room update automatically when a roster changes? Yes, when the group uses dynamic filters. Changes to the group in Group Manager are reflected in the chat room automatically. This does not apply to manually created rooms.
- What happens to rooms at the end of the school year? Old academic class rooms are archived and new classes and rosters are imported for the new term. See "Chat for school leaders: Understanding the yearly chat reset process" for details.
- Do athletic teams use this same process? Yes. Users of Athletics Manager + Finalsite Chat can use dynamic filters to build and maintain athletic team chat rooms. See "Set up athletic team Chat Rooms from Athletics Manager" for details.
In this article
- Before you start
- Add classes to Group Manager
- Understand how chat rooms are created automatically
- Understand how membership works
- Choose between manual and dynamic room creation
- Keep rooms up to date
Before you start
Confirm all of the following are in place before setting up dynamic academic class chat rooms. If unsure about any item, contact your Finalsite implementation team or Finalsite Support.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Constituent data in place | Faculty, student, and parent records must exist in Constituent Manager. |
| Student/parent relationships set | Parent-student relationships must be established so parents can be added to rooms based on the "Create chat rooms with..." setting. |
| Active usernames and app access | All chat participants must have active portal accounts with usernames (typically email addresses) and must be logged into the app to access Chat. This applies to faculty, parents, and students, depending on how the organization has configured Chat participation. |
| Unique class identifiers | Each class must have a unique Import ID and a unique Group Name. Check with the implementation team which fields are unique in the SIS. |
Add classes to Group Manager
Classes and rosters can be loaded into Group Manage in the following ways:
| Method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Integration feeds | A Classes feed creates groups and assigns teacher admins. An Enrollments feed populates student rosters. Syncs automatically when rosters change. | Districts with an active SIS integration. |
| Manual upload | Download the Group Manager import template, fill in class names and Import IDs, and upload via Group Manager Imports Import Data. | Districts adding a small number of classes, or those without a live SIS feed. |
| Dynamic filters pointing to existing groups | Create a group under Academic Classes and add dynamic filters that pull members from groups already elsewhere in Group Manager. The Academic Classes group and its chat room stay in sync automatically as those source groups change. Learn more in the article section, "Populate groups with dynamic filters." | Organizations that already manage groups in Group Manager or Athletics Manager and want chat rooms to reflect them without manual maintenance. |
After setup, verify the following criteria:
- classes appear under Academic Classes in Group Manager
- Faculty/Staff are assigned as admins
- members are listed correctly, as expected
Review real-world examples
Athletics Manager without a SIS: Some smaller organizations manage athletic rosters in Athletics Manager without a SIS integration. Athletics Manager automatically creates corresponding groups in Group Manager. A group can then be created under Academic Classes with a dynamic filter pointing to one of those athletics groups. A coach can be added either via a second dynamic filter (filtered by title) or manually as the Admin. The resulting chat room stays in sync with the athletic roster as it changes.
All principals and assistant principals: An organization has a standing group in Group Manager containing all principals and assistant principals. A group can be created under Academic Classes with a dynamic filter pointing to that existing group, with all members designated as Admin. The chat room for that group updates automatically throughout the year as staff changes are made to the source group, with no manual room management needed.
Understand how chat rooms are created automatically
Once groups are set up under Academic Classes, chat rooms are created automatically when both of the following conditions are met:
| Condition | What this means |
|---|---|
| All Faculty/Staff in the group are designated as Admin | Every Faculty/Staff member must be marked as Admin, not just one. Any Faculty/Staff not designated as Admin will not sync over to the chat room. |
| The Chat room name field has at least one data point selected | Room names are built from configured name components (class name, grade level, school name). See "Chat for school leaders: Configure your chat environment settings" to adjust. |
Understand how membership works
| Member type | How they are added | Role in the chat room |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty/Staff | All Faculty/Staff in the group must be designated as Admin to sync over. | Chat Manager (Admin) |
| Students | Added as members of the class group. | Chat Participant |
| Parents/Guardians | Synced based on the "Create chat rooms with..." setting in Chat Settings, using existing student/parent relationships. | Chat Participant |
⚠️ Important Note
Whether students and/or parents are included in academic class chat rooms is controlled by the "Create chat rooms with..." setting in Mobile Apps > Chat Settings. For example, if only Teachers is selected, student and parent members will not sync even if they are in the group. Contact Finalsite Support for help configuring this setting.
Pro Tip
For more control over who is in a room, create a class group with teachers only and then manually add parents or students afterward from within the Chat interface.
Choose between manual and dynamic room creation
A common point of confusion is the difference between adding a group to a manually created room versus using Academic Classes with dynamic filters. These behave very differently:
| Manually created room, populated by group | Academic Classes group with dynamic filter | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial members pulled from group? | Yes | Yes |
| Updates when group membership changes? | No, one-time snapshot only | Yes, syncs automatically |
| Students and parents included? | No | Based on "Create chat rooms with..." setting |
| Best for | Stable, custom-membership rooms | Class rosters that change throughout the year |
Keep rooms up to date
Ongoing sync: For Academic Classes groups using dynamic filters, when a roster changes (a teacher is reassigned or a student moves sections), the chat room updates automatically. This does not apply to manually created rooms populated by a static group.
End of year: At the end of the school year or semester, old academic class rooms are archived and new classes and rosters are imported for the new term. For details, see Chat for school leaders: Understanding the yearly chat reset process.
Related articles
- Create chat rooms in Finalsite Chat
- Set up athletic team Chat Rooms from Athletics Manager
- Chat for school leaders: Assign chat roles, create rooms, and manage members
- Chat for school leaders: Configure your chat environment settings
- Chat for school leaders: Understanding the yearly chat reset process
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