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.

This Quick Send feature allows you to quickly send a message to your parents, and is perfect for urgent communications. As this option is for quick communications only, you cannot format your message or include images or documents, and the message cannot exceed 140 characters.You are also limited by your contacts selection, being that of sending to all, or groups (ie you will not be able to exclude groups or contacts or include individual users.)

1. Log in to your Control Centre and select the Quick Send Message menu tab.
2. Type in the Message Title and the Message you would like to send out.
   Note: There is a 40 character limit for the title and a 140 character limit for the message. If you want to send a longer message you will need to send a message via the Communicate menu tab.
3. Select which Channel/s you need to send your message out to.
4. Select your Recipients. You are able to send the message to your entire database, or to specific groups, you can send to multiple groups if needed. You cannot send to individual contacts.
5. Click Send to distribute your message.

Resending a Campaign is a quick and easy process which can be used to duplicate previously sent messages (such as repeated notices) or when corrections/ adjustments are required to be done for any messages that have been sent in the past.

Do I need to resend SZapp Notifications?

No. SZapp Notifications can be updated directly as these are hosted on the Schoolzine Server. You can use the steps below to update a SZapp Message that has already been sent:

• Log into your Control Centre
• Navigate to the Manage SZapp Menu Item in the Left-Hand Side Menu
• Find your SZapp Message in the Feed Section
• Press the Pencil Edit Icon
• Make your desired changes

Once changes are saved these will be visible to anyone who views the message from that point forward.

Please note that a Refresh of the SZapp Feed may be needed on the device for the update to display.

Can I Edit the Campaign before I Resend it?

Yes. The Resend Button will create an identical copy of your Message and allow you to make the required adjustments prior to re-distribution.

Resending a Campaign

To Resend a Campaign follow the below steps:

• Log into your Control Centre
• Select Communicate from the Left-Hand Navigation Menu
• Select the Name of the Message you would like to Resend
  • You can find this via the Recently Edited Messages in the Top Left if this is a recent Campaign
  • If this is an Older Message, you can search for the Campaign via the All Messages section at the bottom of the Communicate Menu
• Select the Resend Button

Once the Resend Button has been clicked, the Schoolzine Control Centre will create an identical copy of the Campaign and allow you to work through from the beginning to make any changes that are created.

It will not automatically distribute the Campaign to your Contact List. You will need to progress through all the stages and make any desired changes that are needed. Once you are happy with this new version of the Campaign, you can use the Complete and Send button found on the last step.

For more information on the complete Newsflash Feature, please see the below guide:

If you have scheduled a Campaign through the Schoolzine System and have found that you require changes to be made to it prior to it being sent, you have the ability to Pause Campaign, Set as Draft or even Delete if no longer required. These options will only be available if the campaign is still in the Scheduled status.

1. Log in to your Control Centre and select the Communicate menu tab.
2. Click on the Message Name of the Scheduled Campaign, which will take you through to the Overview of the message.
   
3. Select Pause Campaign to stop the campaign from entering the processing status.
   
4. Once Paused, you will be given the option for Resume Campaign, Set to Draft, Resend, Export Recipients and Archive.
   
   

• Resume Campaign - will allow the campaign to go back to its scheduled status and begin processing at the set time. 
• Set to Draft - will allow the campaign to go back into draft status so changes can be made. You can also delete the campaign from there if no longer required. 
• Resend - will create a duplicate of the campaign that can then be sent again if going to different groups for example and wanting to monitor open rates.
• Export Recipients - is used to export the list of contacts that this campaign has been sent to.
• Archive - Archiving the message will not delete the message but hides it from the 'View Messages' overview.

If you have sent out a communication to your contacts and wish to recall or edit the message, please see your options below.

Email

Once an email has been sent and delivered, you are unable to edit the content of the message, this is a limitation of email itself.  

If the communication contains an incorrect link to a page/file in your Schoolzine account, you can delete the page/file.

Alternatively, it would be advised to re-send the communication with the correct content.

You can send a test/proof of your messages via the 'Review and Send' tab."

SZapp

SZapp allows you to delete or edit messages at any point in time. Please see the guide below to assist you in doing so.

Feed

The Feed allows you to delete or edit messages at any point in time. Please see the guide below to assist you.

SMS

Once an SMS has been sent and delivered, you are unable to edit the content of the message, this is a limitation of SMS itself.  

If the communication contains an incorrect link to a page/file in your Schoolzine account, you can delete the page/file.

Alternatively, it would be advised to re-send the communication with the correct content.

Schoolzine has preset Email Templates to allow you to send out your Newsletters (to automatically populate a link to your Schoolzine eNewsletters), Newsflashes (for general Email Communications), as well as a Quicksend email template.

These templates are populated with ‘Wildcards’ to pull account details from your Account Settings section, user database, or prior steps during the campaign construction and are found by looking for content surrounded by %%.

“%%__email_subject__%%” for example will populate with the ‘email subject’ as populated in a prior step. When you are contructing your communications it is recommended that you are not adjusting these or the spelling/wording as removing or changing of these values could cause the code to display on your email send, rather than pulling in the desired field.

For simple changes such as the Principal Name, Principal Title, Website Address, Email details that displays or the phone number on the email, these can be adjusted using the account settings section of your account.

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

Once an email campaign has been sent, the statistics can be monitored from the Control Centre. Upon login to the Control Centre your most recent campaign's statistics can be seen at the bottom right.

More in-depth statistics, and those of prior email campaigns, can also be accessed by navigating to the Communicate tab.

Viewing Statistics

1. Login to the Control Centre and select the Communicate Tab.
2. Click the Message Name of the Campaign you would like to view statistics for.
3. From here you can either navigate to the URL Statistics or Recipients tab of the campaign.

URL Statistics

The URL statistics page records a click count for each URL/hyperlink or button within the campaign.

Recipient Statistics

The Recipients tab will display more in-depth information for each recipient of the campaign. The status for all recipients can be monitored and filtered for from here.

For more information on Recipient and Sending Statuses please see this guide:

View more on Communication Statuses

Open rate statistics

Email Campaigns sent via the Schoolzine platform experience an average open rate of 40% (average calculated across all sends).

The average open rate for the Education Industry differs depending which report you read but we estimate this between 25%-30% as of June 2021. (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3)

Some items to consider when reviewing your open rates are:

1. Your open rates measure EMAIL open rates. An open is only recorded when the recipient opens the email sent. If you are also sending to SZapp, posting content to Social Media, or someone is accessing the content via an RSS feed or other means, this will not register an open for the email campaign you have sent.
2. Does your database include inactive or incorrect addresses? – Sending to incorrect addresses, or addresses not in use, will highly impact your open rates.
3. If you are sending to multiple contacts within the same family, all parents/carers may not read the email(s) as they can get this information from other members who have already read the email(s).

If you have any questions, or wish to discuss your open rate with us, please feel free to Contact the Support Team.

After a communication has been sent, the delivery and status can be monitored to tell who has/has not received it. When sending from the Schoolzine Control Centre there are multiple statuses that a campaign can achieve.

1. Log in to your Control Centre and select the Communicate menu tab.
2. Click on the Message Name of the Sent Campaign, this will take you through to the Overview of the message.
3. Click the Recipients tab, from here you can filter for all statuses using the -- Status -- drop down menu.

Email Campaign Statuses

Sent

When a message has been successfully sent to the recipients mail server.

Opened

When a message has been received and opened by the recipient.

Bounce / Hard Bounce / Soft Bounce

When a server cannot or will not deliver a message, often are caused by outdated or incorrectly entered email addresses.

Deferred

When a message cannot immediately be delivered, but it hasn’t been completely rejected, the deferred event fires. Sometimes called a soft bounce.

Queued

When the mail is waiting to be received, it is neither received, rejected, or bounced.

Failed

When the campaign has failed to create and could not be sent. If this occurs, please check for:

• Valid Sending Address
• Valid Recipients
• Empty Message

Contact Statuses

Unsubscribed

When the recipient opts out to receive any further communication.

Marked as Spam

When the recipient receives the campaign and reports the mail as spam. When a spam complaint is received the recipient is automatically suppressed.

Suppressed

There are multiple causes to a recipient being suppressed. The suppression occurs to ensure no future communication is received.

If you believe a user has been suppressed that shouldn’t have, you can follow this guide to assist with your review.

If you have any further questions or queries about mail status, please contact the Schoolzine Support Team.

Setting up a Custom Email Sending Domain

A sending domain is used to indicate who an email is originating from via the "From:" header. This can be used to send communications from your own personal domain rather than the Schoolzine domain. If you would like to setup a Custom Sending Domain, please ensure that you have access to adjust settings within your DNS (such as TXT and SPF records). Once you have confirmed this, please reach us on support@schoolzine.com.au to be provided with the relevant information.

Please note that a cost is associated.

Authorised Senders

Accounts that have a Custom Sending Domain enabled have the ability to add and authorise any address that is hosted on their domain! For example, if you have set up a Custom Sending Domain for @highschool.com, then you can authorise staff@highschool.com, principal@highschool.com, etc.

1. Login to the Control Centre

2. Select ‘Communicate’ from the left-hand panel

3. Once open, select ‘New Message’

4. Select the ‘Email’ channel and click Next

5. Adjust the 'Message Name' and click Next

6. Remove the default address shown in the ‘From Email’ field and add the desired address

7. Click ‘Authorise an Email’ then ‘Submit’

8. The nominated email address will receive an email asking them to authorise their address, click on the URL (web address) in this email to validate the address

9. The address will now be visible in the list when clicking the ‘Show Authorised’ button.

Note: If the email is responded to by a recipient, the response will be sent to the sender's email address.

Keeping your community informed is easier than ever with the ‘Send Notification’ functionality available within SZapp. If you are a System user with the required permissions, this item will be under the ‘Manage’ tab allowing you to send communications remotely, whilst on the go.
Note: You must be logged into SZapp with the same details you use for your Control Centre.

Sending a Notification via SZapp

• Navigate to the ‘Manage’ tab of SZapp and select’ Send Notification’.
• Once signed in you will be presented with a ‘Send Notification’ interface.
• Enter the Notification Title you would like to apply to your message.
  Note: There is a 40 character limit for the title.
• If needed, adjust your Send Date and Send Time to postpone the message. Select Next.
  Note: If you would like to send straight away, you will not need to adjust these fields.
• Populate the content of your SZapp notification using the content window, and applying basic styling and formatting using the toolbar before selecting Next.
• Select your groups in the dropdown, or select All to send to all SZapp contacts, then select Next.
• From here, you can review your SZapp notification before you Send.
  Should you need to adjust any content, you can navigate Back at any time prior to sending.

Editing/Deleting a Notification via SZapp

• Navigate to the ‘Manage’ tab of SZapp and select’ Send Notification’.
• Once signed in you will be presented with a ‘Send Notification’ interface.
• Click on the ‘Managed Feed’ tab.
• Use the Pencil Icon to Edit a notification.
• Use the Red Remove icon to delete a notification.

Still have questions? - See the full SZapp Knowledge Base here.

The following will guide you through frequently asked questions about the Schoolzine Communicate feature. If you cannot find what you are looking for please Contact Support.

If recipients are in multiple of my sending groups, do they receive messages more than once?

If multiple groups are selected for distribution and a single email address/contact exists in more then one, they WILL NOT receive the communication more then once.

Can I change an email once it has been sent?

Once an email has been sent and delivered, you are unable to edit the content of the message, this is a limitation of email itself.  

If the communication contains an incorrect link to a page/file in your Schoolzine account, you can delete the page/file.

Alternatively, it would be advised to re-send the communication with the correct content.

You can send a test/proof of your messages via the 'Review and Send' tab."

View more on Recalling or Editing Sent Messages

Can I send SZapp notifications from my device?

SZapp notifications can be sent from your mobile device, the account you are logged into must be a System User for the school/account.

More information on Sending Notifications from your Device

What does the Pie/Doughnut chart mean?

The ‘pie’ or ‘doughnut’ chart allows for a visual indication of sending statistics for your email message.

More information on Campaign Statistics 

Why did my bounces change?

If a message records an increased amount of bounces, it is possible that a domain has marked it for quarantine, this will incur a temporary bounce. Once the message has been cleared, your bounce statistics will update as the mail is delivered.

Please Note: It can take up to an hour after the message being cleared, for the true statistics to show.

A user is no longer receiving messages, but was last week why?

After a message has been sent, the delivery and status can be monitored to tell who has/has not received it. Different statuses indicate what has occurred with the message.

More information on Communication Statuses

What happens when a SZapp user unsubscribes from other communication channels?

Subscription Status on a user is either Yes or No, the subscription is not dependant on the channel. If a user unsubscribes via email, their profile will now be unsubscribed. If they have the SZapp installed, they will still receive messages but will not be prompted with a push notification.

How long does a message take to send?

Messages set to distribute ASAP will generally send within 15 minutes, however please allow for up to an hour. If your message is taking unusually long to send, please contact Support.

My message has sent but I have still not received it in my inbox.

Firstly, check your Junk and Spam folders to ensure the mail has not filtered incorrectly.

Once a message has been sent, it is still up to the receiving domain/service provider to process the mail and deliver it to your inbox.

Can I put a video in my email?

Video cannot be embedded into the body of your email message. However, you can distribute the video by placing the link/hyperlink into the email message.

How do I resend my newsletter/message?

A campaign/campaign for your newsletter can easily be duplicated for resending.

View more information on Resending a Message

Can I put extra content in my newsletter message?

When publishing your newsletter, you can review the message before sending. This allows you to edit the message and add any extra content to the body before sending.