This article covers:

• what auto messages are
• how they work
• how to add, edit, and delete messages

 

What are automatic messages?

Automatic messages are a way for you to send automated messages to any role on any date at predetermined intervals. It could be a weekly update, or a monthly newsletter.

 

How do they work?

You'll set up an auto message by choosing a role (or roles) to send to, a repeat schedule and a time of day to send. Each message has a email subject, a headline and an intro paragraph. You can also add blocks to a special dashboard that will send out with up-to-date information for the user that receives it.

 

Who can send auto messages?

Site admins and automessage admins

What if I want to test it?

There's a button for that! On the far right across from the title of your auto message, click "test"

How can I tell when it was last sent?

The date will be listed in the "last sent" column on the main auto messages page. When a message is first created, the last sent date will be the date it was created, even if it hasn't been sent.

How can I tell when it will send next?

You'll find that listed under the "next autosend column" on the main auto messages page. The time the notification will send is an estimate - notifications are sent on "cron" - which runs every 3 hours. if cron runs at noon and 3pm, but your notice is set to send at 1pm, it will send around 3pm.

What if I want I don't want to wait and I want to send it right now?

There's a button for that! On the far right across from the title of your auto message, click "send now".

There seem to be some fancy blocks with (management) in the title - can I configure those?

Yes, you can! The settings for these blocks are found on the feature settings pages for each relevant area. does the block deal with attendance? Attendance settings. Does the block deal with music learning? Music learning settings.

 

Add an auto message

Click the "add auto message" link

This will open a new page where you can choose to enable the auto message and fill out the information. You can always fill out the settings and enable it later, or leave it disabled and choose to manually send it by clicking the "send now" button.

Give your auto message a name and fill out the sending rules

Only admins will see the auto message name. Choose the role or roles that wil receive this message. Choose it's repeat schedule. It can be sent daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. You can also chook how often it repeats based on that time span. For example, you could have it send every 2 weeks on Wednesday. Or, you can send it daily, every weekday, or every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Or maybe you'll want to send it on the first Sunday of every month. It's up to you! 

Fill out the details

Choose the approximate time of day that it will send by typing it into the field (it will adjust to the correct format). Keep in mind that this is a time estimate. It may send within a few minutes, or up to 3 hours after the time you selected.

Write your email subject line and the headline. The subject appears in the preview window. The headline appears before the message, highlighted with lines on either side.  The intro paragraph is a free-form space to write any important information you want to send.

When you're done, click save.

Optionally add blocks

Blocks let you send information that is up-to-date for each user. Want to remind users of music that they have to learn? Include the "My music to learn" block.

After saving your newly created auto message, you should see it listed on the main auto messages page. On the far right, click the link that say "blocks". This will open a configurable dashboard. Click "Customize dashboard" to add and remove blocks.

 

Edit an auto message

Need to enable or disable an auto message? Click the edit link on the far right on the main auto messages page.

Need to edit the sending rules, subject, headline, or intro paragraph? Click the edit link on the far right on the main auto messages page.

Need to edit the blocks for an auto message? Click on the "blocks" link on the far right on the main autop messages page.

Remember to save your changes.

 

 

Delete an auto message

Want to delete an auto message? Click on the edit link on the far right on the main auto messages page. Then scroll to the bottom and click the "delete" button.

Want to stop a message from sending, but don't actually want to delete it quite yet? Click on the edit link on the far right on the main auto messages page. The uncheck the box next to "enable this weekly auto message"  and then scroll to the bottom and save the page.