Message templates

Message templates

Templates give your staff pre-written messages for common situations: health alerts, weather closures, reminders, and general communications. Staff can insert a template with a single click instead of typing the same message repeatedly.

Getting there

Go to the admin page and click the Templates tab.

Creating a template

1. Click Add template.
2. Fill in:
   • Name -- a short label (e.g., "School closure - weather").
   • Category -- choose from: Health Alert, Weather, Reminder, or General.
   • Subject -- optional. If provided, it appears as bold text at the top of the message when inserted.
   • Body -- the message content.
3. Click Save.

How staff use templates

When composing a message in any classroom message board, staff can type / as the first character in the compose box. A popup appears listing all available templates. Clicking a template inserts its content into the message. If the template has a subject, it is inserted as bold text followed by the body.

Templates are only available to staff (administrators and teachers). Parents do not see the template picker.

Managing templates

• Click the pencil icon to edit a template.
• Click the trash icon to delete a template (with confirmation).
• Click Reset to defaults to restore the built-in default templates. This replaces all current templates.

Tips

• Create templates for messages you send more than once a month.
• Use clear, descriptive names so staff can find the right template quickly.
• Include placeholder text like "[child's name]" or "[date]" in the body so staff remember to customize before sending.