THE SCHOOL COMMUNICATOR ADMINISTRATION GUIDE Updated March 2013

Transcription

1 THE SCHOOL COMMUNICATOR ADMINISTRATION GUIDE Updated March

2 Index Getting the Most out of your Communicator 3 Login 3 Getting Parents to Install 3 Channels 4 Contributors 5 News 6 Calendar 8 Gallery 10 Resources 12 Homework 13 Contacts 14 Alerts 15 Users 16 Message Centre 17 SMS Function 18 Function 19 Weekly Newsletter 20 Statistics 21 Parent Updates 21 Classes 21 Widget 22 Facebook and Twitter integration 22 2

3 How to get the most out of your Communicator The School Communicator is an easy-to-use, powerful communication tool. It allows you to communicate and share information with users quickly and easily at a very low cost. However, the Communicator can only be effective if a large portion of your parents have it installed on their computers. Login Before you can add content to your School Communicator, you will need to login to the Communicator Administration System using a username and password. Getting your login Details When you sign up to the School Communicator, d6 will provide the primary administrator with a username and password. These login details are unique. The primary administrator can add additional contributors and must allocate a username and password for every new contributor. Forgotten your Username or Password? Ask your administrator for your username or to give you a new password. If you are the Primary administrator, contact the d6 Communicator support team on info@school-communicator.com or Lighten the load! Add other contributors in the Contributors section each with their own username and password. Getting Parents to Install The best way to know what the parents are going to see is to install the School Communicator on your computer. To download the communicator, visit our website: and click on the download menu. Choose your school from the drop down list. You will need to choose between the Mac or Windows version of the Communicator. Alternatively, you can install the Communicator by using a disk. Once downloaded, follow the simple prompts to install the communicator. Below are a few tips to make sure that as many parents install the Communicator as possible. Send the disks/flyers out to parents at the beginning of the week. People are more likely to install if you send the disks/flyers out on a Tuesday or Wednesday, than if you did so on a Friday afternoon. If possible, have a parent information evening or send a letter with the disks to explain the School Communicator and how the school will be using the tool to communicate. If you have a school website, add the School Communicator download link on your home page. Start to phase out your traditional methods of communication. This can be a bit difficult, but some of the schools using the School Communicator have had great success in getting all their parents onboard by using just the School Communicator to stay informed. 3

4 The School Communicator is a great tool and will make the lives of the school administration staff a lot easier. So get started now and get communicating! Communicating with the School Communicator Delegate - Create contributors. Empower others to add information to the School Communicator. Not only does this lighten your workload, it involves more people, boosts enthusiasm and results in more quality content. The more contributors you have, the easier it is to keep the School Communicator working. Keep it fresh Instead of uploading lots of content once a week - rather add bite-sized chunks of information every day. By regularly changing what appears on the School Communicator, parents will know that it is in active use and will rely on the information they see. Customise Target your audience by using channels. Channels allow each parent to personalise the information he or she wants to see on the School Communicator note this only works if you customise the content you add. Why channels are so important! Just think: a father whose son plays water polo isn t interested in news from the art club. But unless you use your channels properly - he will get water polo, art club, ballet, photography and day care news too! Establish trust The School Communicator is a very powerful communication channel for your school. In order for it to work well, parents need to know that they can trust the information. So make use of the alerts, keep the news and calendar up-to-date and upload resources that will make your parents lives easier. These tips will go a long way to making sure your School Communicator will be a success. Channels A key feature of the School Communicator is that parents can customise the information they receive. For example, if they have a child in Grade 4 - news about Grade 8 won t be of interest to them. This is where channels come in. Use them to make sure that the right information goes to the right parents. Adding a channel When you add a new news article or calendar event, the Administration System asks you to select the audience. If the channel you want doesn't exist you will need to add a new one. 4

5 Go to the [Channels] tab under [Control Panel]. Simply type its name into the space next to New channel at the bottom of the Channels page (max 16 characters) and click the [Add] button. Note: Only administrators can add channels. Ordering your channel list To change the order in which the channels appear (in the Personalise tab on the School Communicator) simply click on a channel name then drag it into its new position. Click the [Save order] button. Deleting a channel To delete a channel, find it in the list and click the blue [Delete] link. Contributors One of the most important features of the School Communicator is the ability to delegate the responsibility of adding content to multiple contributors while still controlling what they publish. There are different levels of contributors and each comes with different privileges: Author: An author will have access to all the tabs and channels to which the main administrator allows them. If an author adds news or calendar items, a moderator must approve this content before it is published (made visible to the parents). You must assign a moderator to an author. An will be sent to that moderator when the allocated author adds content that needs approval. Authors can also be given access to other content which does not need approval before it is published. For example, an author can add gallery images, alerts, resources, homework or send out a SMS, which do not require approval. An author can be limited to certain channels. An author cannot edit or delete any content they have added. Editor: An editor can add news and calendar items that are published as soon as it is uploaded no moderation is required. Like an author, they can add gallery images, alerts, resources, homework or send out a SMS, which do not require approval. An editor can also, however, be limited to certain channels. For example, an editor can be given access only to content relating to netball or Grade 3. They can only edit or delete content that they have added. Moderator: A moderator can do everything that an author and editor can do, but in addition to publishing his or her own content, he/she can review and approve articles that are awaiting authorisation. The Main Administrator needs to give the moderator access to their required tabs and they automatically have access to all channels. Main Administrator: Main Administrators can upload, publish and edit content. They have access to all the tabs, channels and classes. They can add other contributors and select the access they want to give those contributors, although only the Main Administrator can add channels. To edit, update and delete administrators from your Contributors list, go to the [Control Panel] option in the admin system, and then select the Contributors option. 5

6 Adding a Contributor If you are an Administrator and you want to add a new contributor, click on the [contributors] tab, then click the blue [Add a contributor] button. Name Username Password address Contributor Type Permissions Channels The name of the person you wish to add as a contributor. A username for the new contributor. A password for the new contributor. The new contributor s address. Select what type of administration access you want the new contributor to have from the drop down menu. If creating an author, select the moderator (or yourself) to whom the notification s should be sent to. Select from the list what access you want to give the contributor. This is what they will see when they login with their username and password. If the contributor is an author or editor you can limit the channels they can publish to. Note: Please bear in mind that the username and password needs to be unique, and is case sensitive, so needs to be typed exactly as created. Once you are happy with the information you have entered, click the [Submit] button. Editing contributor details To change a contributor s status, the channels they can access or the section they have permission to, simply scroll down the list of contributors and click the blue [Edit] button. Edit their details and once you are happy with your changes, click the [Submit] button. Alternatively, click [Cancel] if you do not wish to save the changes. News Let parents know what s happening in your school. The five most recently published News articles appear in the At A Glance section of the School Communicator. In other words, they re the first items that parents will see. And if parents want to see full news article list, all they have to do is click the News tab on their School Communicator. Adding a News article To add any news, hover over the [Manage Content] button. This will open up the various features of the Communicator. Then click on the [News] tab. To add a News article, click the blue [Add new article] button. 6

7 Headline Type in the headline of your article - there is a maximum length of 70 characters, including spaces. The headline is what is first displayed in the parents communicator, so make sure it is relevant and to the point. Intro Write an introduction to your news article maximum length 800 characters, including spaces. Link Optional. Use this field if you want to direct parents to a website be sure type in the website address in full, including the specific page e.g. A quick tip to ensure that you get the right link address is to open the page in your web browser and then copy and paste the full URL into the link field. Audience/channels Status Last modified by Select which audiences the article is relevant to. You must select at least one channel. This shows whether your article has been approved or not. This is the name of the person that last edited the news article and the date it was changed. You cannot edit this, it is there to help you keep track of when or who wrote or edited the article. Once saved, your news article is sent to parents so that they can stay informed of all the happenings on campus. It is important to encourage all the parents to install the Communicator so that your news is effectively communicated. Editing your News Article Once you publish a news article you can go back to edit or update it. To edit an article, simply scroll down the list of articles on the News page. Once you have found the article you are looking for, click the blue [Edit] button. This opens the article, which you can then modify. Once you are happy with your changes, click the [Submit] button. Remember to select the [approved] option when you are editing an author s article. At the bottom of the page you can see who submitted and last modified this article. Deleting News Articles If you would like to delete an article, scroll down the list of articles displayed. Once you have found the item you want to delete, click the blue [Delete] button. Make sure you only delete articles once the event has finished or the news is no longer current. Approving News Articles If you are the main administrator or a moderator, you will be sent an alerting you to any news items that have been written by authors and need approval before they are published. To approve an article for publishing simply click on the news tab to load the list of news articles. Any items needing your approval will be highlighted in turquoise. Click the relevant [Edit] button; review the article, then click [Approved] and press the [Submit] button to publish the article. 7

8 If you install the communicator on your computer you will easily be able to check your news articles and see what your parents see. Feeds: Under the news tab, you will see there is an import feeds option. This allows you to pull information from your website straight to the School Communicator. It helps make adding content to the Communicator even easier. News feeds must be standards compliant (RSS or Atom). To set up your feeds please contact us and we will send you the full details. Calendar Has your school got something on? Need to let parents know about your upcoming events? Then use the School Communicator s calendar to keep all your parents informed. Adding a new event To add a new event to your calendar first hover over the [Manage Content] tab. The Communicator's list of features will then appear. Go to the Calendar tab and click on the [Add event] button at the top of the page. This will load a new window where you enter all the details of your event. Title Overview Link Start date End date Start Time End Time Location Audience/channels Enter the name of your event e.g. 5km Charity Fun Run. (Maximum 60 characters.) A brief summary of the event. For example, Put on your running shoes and raise money for charity. Cost R35 per person. Please RSVP to Mary on mary@d6technology.com. (Maximum 800 characters.) This is optional. Optional. If you want to direct parents to a map of the stadium or more information about the charity, you can link to a web page on the internet. Type the address in full e.g. It is easiest to load the page in your web browser and copy and paste the URL into the link box. Using the drop down menus, select the day, month and year. Using the drop down menus, select the day, month and year. Fill in the start time. Fill in the end time. This is where the event will be held. E.g. The David Thabo stadium. Choose the relevant channels for the Calendar event. You can select as many as you want alternatively you can click the All check box. 8

9 Status Last modified by This shows whether or not your calendar event has been approved. The name of the person that last edited the event and the date it was changed. You cannot change this. The next five upcoming calendar events are displayed in the "At a Glance" section of the School Communicator. That way, no one can miss important dates. And if parents want to see full list of calendar events, all they have to do is click the Calendar tab on their School Communicator. Editing an existing Calendar Event If you want to edit an existing event, simply go to the event tab to view the list of events. Next, scroll down the list of events. Once you have found the relevant event, click the blue [edit] button. This will open the event information. You can now edit the event information. Once you are happy with your changes, scroll down and click the [Save] button. Alternatively, click [Cancel] if you do not want to save the changes. If the changes you make to your event are very important we recommend you send parents an alert of the change. Any events needing approval will be in turquoise in the calendar section. This highlights them so they are more easily visible. Only moderators and administrators can approve events. It is also possible to see the name of the person that last edited an event and the date it was changed. Deleting Calendar Events To delete a calendar event, you need to load the list of events. Scroll through the list, and once you have found the event you want to delete, click the blue [Delete] button. Alternatively, you can scroll through the list and select the events you want to delete, scroll to the top and click on the blue [delete selected] button. Approving Calendar Events If you are the Main Administrator or a Moderator, you will be sent an alerting you to any new events that need your approval. To view the event(s), simply go to the Calendar tab. Any items needing your attention will be highlighted in light blue. Click the relevant event's [Edit] button; review the event information, and then click [Approved] and finally the [Save] button. Importing events from Excel A lot of schools have their calendar typed out in some kind of document. To save you from retyping it, you can simply upload that calendar from excel. Simply go to the [Import from Excel tab]. To upload a calendar from excel, press the [upload] button and select the excel document you want to upload. Select open. Press [submit] to finish the import process. In order for it to upload successfully, you have to follow the example below word for word: you have to have the given headings. Note that you need the have flash installed on your computer for the upload to be successful. 9

10 Exporting events to Excel To export your calendar to excel, select the [export to excel tab]. Save it to your desktop and you can access it at any time. Calendar Feeds There is now an import feeds option for calendar. This allows you to pull information from your website or from a Google calendar straight to the School Communicator. It helps make adding content to the Communicator even easier, as more and more schools are using Google calendars. Calendar feeds must be the Google ical format. To set up your feeds please contact us and we will send you the full details. When the parents School Communicators pop up, news and calendar is the first thing they see, so it is vitally important to keep it updated. Remember to have at least once event per week. Gallery Photos are a great way to share what has been happening in and around your school. The School Communicator lets you upload photographs to specific categories, for example Rugby or Swimming Gala, making it easy for parents to view the pictures that interest them the most. It s important to note you need to have the latest version of the Adobe Flash player installed to use the gallery function. If you don t have the latest flash player the school communicator admin system will let you know and provide a link for you to download the player free from Adobe. To manage any aspect of your Gallery, hover your mouse over the [Manage Content] tab, and select Gallery from the list below. Uploading an image To upload a new image, click on the gallery tab to load the page. Now click the blue [upload image] button at the top of the page. New image Image file Category Simply click the blue [upload image] link. An Image Upload pop-up window will appear on screen. Click the [Browse] button, find the picture you want to upload, then click the [Open] button. The link to the image will now appear in the Image upload window alongside Image file. Select the category that the picture belongs to. The School Communicator will automatically group all photographs with the same 10

11 category name. Caption Optional. Type in the caption for the photo maximum length 255 characters (including spaces). Upload Once you are satisfied with the information you have entered, click the [Upload] button. Your photo should appear on the School communicator in about 20minutes, depending on your internet speed. To add an additional photo to the same category, follow the same process. Make sure you select the same category name in the category field. Uploading multiple images You can also upload multiple images at a time. Follow the same process, and when you have found the images on your computer, hold down the Control key on your keyboard and click on the various images. Select the correct category and add a caption. Note that the caption will be the same for all the images, so make sure that your caption is a general one. Click [open] and all the image files will appear in the upload box. Click [Submit] once you are happy with your selection. Editing and Deleting an image If you need to delete an image, simply load the gallery page and scroll down the list of images. Once you have found the photo you want to delete, click the blue [Delete] button which you will see when you scroll over the image. If you wish to delete all the photos in a category, click on the [Delete all images in this category] button next to the name of the album. To edit an image, go to the photo you want to edit, click the blue [Edit] button. You can now edit this photo s information. Remember to click on submit once you are finished. Categories To view your categories, click on the blue [view categories] button. The list of all your categories will appear. You can also edit and delete them from here. Adding a Category You can add a category by clicking on the blue [Add category] button. Type in the name of your new category next to [Category title] and click [Submit]. Opening photos on the communicator To allow parents to download the Images in your gallery to print or save them onto their computer, go to the [Configuration] tab, select the box next to [Allow large gallery image downloads] and click save. Parents will now be able to download and save all the photos from their Communicators on to 11

12 their computers. If you don t wish for parents to have this functionality, please make sure the block is un-ticked. Parents love to see photos of their children and what s happening at school, so don t hesitate to upload photos. Remember to keep your photos updated so that they stay current. Resources Want to save on printing costs? Need to get important forms or web links to your parents quickly and easily? Then use the resources function of the School Communicator to distribute your documents It is important to note that news and resources are two very different things. News articles are time sensitive and relate to things happening within your school. For example, rugby practice cancelled because of new floodlights being erected on the main rugby field. Resources on the other hand, are documents that could be of interest to the school community at large, for example, boarding school enrolment forms. Once in the admin system, in order to update your resources, hover over the [Manage Content] option and select Resources from the list below. Adding a Resource To add a new resource load the resource page, then click the blue [Add resource] button at the top of the page. Name Description Link File Channels Type in a headline for your article. E.g. University bursary applications now open. Type in explanation of the resource you are uploading. For example, UCT has just opened their bursary applications for If the article is located on the internet, type in the web site address (URL) in full e.g. If the document you want to share is saved on your computer click the [Upload File] button. A File Upload pop up window will appear. Click the [browse] button, find the item you want to upload, then click the [Open] button. The link to this document will now appear on the Upload a File popup. Click the [upload] button. Select the channels your resource applies to. Once you are happy click [Submit] You will need to make sure you have the latest version of the Adobe Flash player installed on your computer. If not, the upload button won't appear and you will not be able to upload a file to the school communicator. 12

13 Editing an existing Resource If you want to edit a resource, load the resource page, then simply scroll down the list and locate the resource you want to change. Now click the blue [Edit] button. You can make any changes to any of the information. Once you are happy with your changes, click the [Submit] button. Deleting Resources If you wish to delete a resource item from the school communicator, load the resources page, and scroll down the list of resources. Once you have found the resource you want to delete, click the blue [Delete] button. Alternatively, tick the resources you wish to delete, scroll back up and click on the [delete selected] button. Adding and Viewing categories To add a category, simply click on the blue [add category] button. Type in the name and click [Submit]. To view all the categories, go back to the resources page and click on the [view category] button. You now also have the options to edit or delete categories. Go green! No more standing in front of the printer, folding letters and having it end up in the air as paper jets! As you can see, it is really easy to upload documents and to get it to your parents, without unnecessary printing. Homework Writing homework up on the board can often prove to be quite tedious. It also makes way for a whole host of other potential problems, including students jotting down tasks incorrectly, or not even jotting them down at all! Eliminate such problems by making use of the Homework tab, created to make life easier for both teacher and student. Adding homework The Homework tab functions similarly to the Resources tab in the sense that adding new information is almost mirrored. To edit and update Homework, go to the [Manage Content] button and select Homework from the list below. To add a new assignment, load the Homework page and then click the blue [Add Homework] button. Name Description Link File Type in a headline for your homework. E.g. Grade 5 English. Type in explanation of the resource you are uploading. For example, Grade 5 English to read pages from the set work book. If the homework is located on the internet, type in the web site address (URL) in full e.g. If the document you want to share is saved on your computer click the 13

14 [Upload File] button. A File Upload pop up window will appear. Click the [browse] button, find the item you want to upload, then click the [Open] button. The link to this document will now appear on the Upload a File popup. Click the [upload] button. Text only Channels If you just want to add short item of homework and don t need a file or link select this homework type. The description is what parents will see on their Communicator Select the channels your resource applies to. Once you are happy click [Submit] Your new Homework item has now been loaded. Editing existing Homework If you wish to edit homework, simply load the View Homework page. Once this page is loaded, scroll down until you find the homework that you wish to edit. Next to it, you will find an [Edit] button. Click on this, and make the changes you wish to. Deleting Homework Simply load the Homework page, scroll down until you find the item you wish to delete, and then click the blue [Delete] button next to it. If you wish to delete more than one item, tick the boxes to the left of the items you wish to delete, scroll up to the [Delete Selected] button and select this option. Contacts The contacts feature allows you to share key contact information like telephone numbers and addresses with parents via the School Communicator. Adding your key contacts to the Communicator allows parents to easily contact school staff and takes a load off the school receptionist. Managing Contacts is easy. Begin by hovering over the [Manage Content] button and then select Contacts from the list below. Adding a Contact To add a new contact to your School Communicator, click the [contacts] tab. Click on the blue [Add contact] button at the top of the contacts page. Name Title Phone number Type in the person s name. Type in their title. E.g. School Nurse or Headmaster. Enter the relevant contact numbers. Remember to include the area code for all landline numbers. 14

15 address Fill in the relevant address. Once all the information has been entered, click the [Submit] button, to publish the contact information to the school communicator. Editing an existing Contact If you want to edit a contact person s details, simply load the contact page and find the relevant contact person you want to edit. Click on the blue [Edit] button. Once you are happy with your changes, click [Submit]. Deleting a Contact If one of you staff members leave or no longer wants to be listed as a school contact it s easy to delete them from the Communicator. Load the contact page and scroll down the list of contacts. Once you have found the contact you want to delete, click on the blue [Delete] button. The system will ask if you are sure you want to delete the contact, if you are sure click OK and the contact details will be removed. By having all the necessary contacts on your Communicator, the calls to reception will definitely reduce. Parents can phone the hockey coach themselves to find out what time the game starts. Alerts Cricket practice cancelled due to rain! School closing early on Friday! When you need to get your parents attention you can use the Alerts function to make sure they get the message. When you add an alert, your parents' School Communicators will pop up on their desktop and your alert message will be displayed in a red block in the middle of the Communicator. Parents will only be able to navigate through the rest of the information on their School Communicator once the alert is read and closed. Your alert will only appear if your parents School Communicators are running on their computer. This function is the most effective way of getting an important message out to parents, because it forces their Communicators to pop up.if you have a real emergency at school, we recommend you use the School Communicator s SMS system. Adding an Alert To add an alert, load the Alert page from the list after you have hovered over [Manage Content] and then click on the blue [Add alert] button at the top of the page. Enter your message Type your message in the text field provided. You are limited to 125 characters (including spaces). A counter will show you how many characters you have left. (Please don t type the entire message in capitals, as this could cause part of the message to be cut off.) Make sure your message is short, whilst giving parents the information they need. Channels Select the channel/s your alert applies to. Once you are happy with your message and its audience, click the [Submit] button. 15

16 You can have more than one alert active at a time for different channels. If your parents have the same channels selected, the first alert will force the Communicator to pop up. Once they close that alert, the next alert will appear. The admin system will automatically delete any alert that has been in the system for more than 7 days. Any Contributor who is given access to the alert functionality by the Main Administrator can add and delete alerts. Deleting an Alert To delete an alert, simply find the alert you want to remove from the list displayed and click on the blue [Delete] button. The alert function is the most effective way of getting an important message out to parents, because it forces their communicators to pop up on their desktop. Users Managing your Users Clicking on the [Users] tab will give you a full list of all the people currently in your database, once you have added them. The list will also contain their mobile numbers, address (if available) and user type. There are two ways to add users. You can either add them individually, or import a list of users from an Excel spreadsheet. Adding single users To add a single user, click the, add a new user button at the top of page. Type in the user's first and last name, mobile number and address into the text fields provided. Please note we only accept South African phone numbers. Then, using the drop down menu, select their user type. Use the checkboxes to choose which group(s) to which they belong. Once you are happy, click the [Submit] button. Importing users from excel To add multiple users to your SMS database, you will need to import the information from an excel spreadsheet. Your Excel spreadsheet must have the exact following structure: 16

17 To upload the file, click on the [import users from excel] tab under [users]. You will need to select a user type from the drop down menu. If you wish to upload more than one user type you will need to save and upload each group separately. Click the [upload] button to locate your excel document on your computer and then click the [Submit] button. Exporting users to excel If you want a list of all your users' details, you can simply export a list to excel. Just go to the [Users] tab and go to [export users to Excel]. It will prompt you to either save or open the Excel document. Editing Users If you wish to edit a user's information, scroll down the list and find the user you wish to update, then click the [Edit] button. This will display their first name, surname, mobile number, address, user type and the groups to which they currently belong. Once you are happy with your changes, click the [Submit] button. If you want to delete a user, simply find his or her name on the list then click the [Delete] button. Message Centre The Message Centre allows you to send SMSes, s and a weekly digest of all the information on the communicator. The weekly newsletter goes out to parents that have not yet installed the School Communicator with all the latest news. The message centre is a simple one-stop-shop. Managing Groups Clicking on the Groups link will display a list of all the groups you have already created and the number of members belonging to each group. When you send a SMS or , the system gives you the option to send a message to a specific group. If the group you want doesn't appear, you will need to add a new one. Click on the [add group] button. Name your group then add members to your new group by selecting from the list of all users below. Once you are happy click [Submit] If you need to edit a group, locate the group you want to update and click on the [Edit] button. This will display the name of the group and the members that are currently assigned to this group. To add a user to a group simply click the checkbox next to their name. Remove a member by deselecting the checkbox next to their name. Click [Submit] to save your changes. To delete a group, find it in the list and click the [Delete] button. SMSs The School Communicator's SMS system is a fast, simple way of sending out bulk SMSs to parents, students and teachers. You can send a SMS to everyone in your school database or to specific types of users. You can also create your own custom groups such as U14 Hockey, or the Drama Club and send messages to just those people. 17

18 Using the SMS system To login to the SMS system, click the [Message centre] tab in the School Communicator administrator system and then click on the SMS tab. If you want more information about a specific SMS, click on the SMS reports tab and then click the [details] link to see the message's content, the time and date it was sent, who it was sent to, the number of recipients and the cost. If you want to buy more credits contact the School Communicator team at info@schoolcommunicator.com or Sending an SMS Sending an SMS is easy. It only takes three simple steps. Go to the [Message Centre] tab and click on Send SMS. Step 1: Select the recipients of the message Using the drop down menus, select who you want your message to go to. You can filter the list of recipients by user type, group and by class. Click the [Get recipients] button to display a list of all the recipients that match your criteria. You can alternatively send a SMS to just one person, by typing in their mobile number. At this point you can remove selected recipients (e.g. if you know a person is away or has left the school). Simply unclick the box next to his/her name. Once you are happy with your recipients list, click the [Next] button. Step 2: Composing your message Type your text message into the space provided. You have a maximum number of 160 characters (including spaces). Remember to be short and clear in your message and include all relevant information. Once you are happy with your message, click the [Next] button. Step 3: Confirm your message This is the last step before your SMS is sent. You will see your message, the number of people who will receive your text message, the number of credits you have remaining, how many credits will be used for this SMS and how much it will cost. You will also see the names and mobile numbers of all the recipients. If you're happy click the [Send] button. Once your message has been sent you will receive a confirmation message and a reference number. If you wish to purchase additional SMS credits please contact the School Communicator Support Team on info@school-communicator.com or SMS Reports The first thing you will see is how many SMS credits you have remaining. Below that is an overview of all past activity - every message you've sent, as well as all the credits you have purchased. If you want more information about a specific SMS, click on the [details] button to see the message's content, 18

19 the time and date it was sent, who it was sent to, the number of recipients and the cost. Note that 1 credit = 1 SMS. The School Communicator's system is a fast, simple way of sending out bulk s. You can send an to everyone in your school database or to specific types of users. You can also create your own custom groups such as U14 Hockey, or the Drama Club and send messages to just those people. Sending an Sending an is easy. It only takes three simple steps. Go to the [Message Centre] tab and click on [Send ]. Step 1: Select the recipients of the Using the drop down menu, select your recipients. You can filter the list of recipients by user type, group and by class. Click the [Get recipients] button to display a list of all the recipients that match your criteria. You can alternatively send an to just one person, by typing in their address. At this point you can remove selected recipients (e.g. if you know a person is away or has left the school). Simply unclick the box next to his/her name. Once you are happy with your recipients list, click the [Next] button. Step 2: Composing your Type you re your subject of your and your letter into the space provided. Once you are happy with your , click the [Next] button. Step 3: Confirm your message This is the last step before your is sent. You will see a preview of your with your school's name and logo. The number of people who will receive your will appear under recipients. You will also see the names and addresses of all the recipients. You can save the if you only want to send it out at a later stage. Click back if you want to change something in your . If you're happy click the [Send] button. Alternatively you can send a test to yourself, your principal, or whoever. Simply fill in their address in the space provided and click on the test button. Once your has been sent you will receive a confirmation message. If you receive an error message please contact the School Communicator Support Team immediately. reports The first thing you will see is an overview of all past activity - every you've sent. The status will tell you if it has been sent or if the is still pending. You can get more details of who the was sent to by clicking on the [Details] button. To see the actual body of the you sent click on the [View] button. 19

20 configuration Change the colour of the headings, the language of your newsletter or the name of the newsletter. Click on the [ configuration] button to make the changes you would like. Once you are happy with your changes click Save. Weekly Newsletter The weekly newsletter is part of the Message Centre feature, and will help you ensure that everyone sees the information on your Communicator, whether or not they have installed it on their computers. This newsletter contains all the news added in the previous week, any upcoming events, as well as links to any documents and pictures loaded on the Communicator in the past seven days. Furthermore, the system can pick up who has viewed their Communicators in the past week and who has not. Parents who have not yet installed as well as those who haven t opened their Communicators in the past seven days will be ed a newsletter containing all of the information on your Communicator. There ll be no more excuses about not knowing exactly what s going on in the school, as parents will have everything they need to know in their inboxes. Before the newsletter can be sent out, you will need to make sure that the parents addresses are all loaded onto your admin system. This can be done by importing an Excel spreadsheet. To do this, click on the Users tab, then on the Import Users from Excel option. Your Excel sheet will need to be set out exactly as in the example shown, with surnames in column one, first names in column two, mobile numbers in column three, and addresses in column four. Once you are certain that everything on your spreadsheet is correct, click on the Upload button. This will allow you to browse for your spreadsheet. Once your spreadsheet is uploaded, select your User types, Groups and Classes from the drop down menus. Once this is done, click the Submit button. To test what the newsletter will look like before it goes out to parents, login to the admin system, then click on the Message Centre button. There you will find an option to test weekly newsletter. Select this button, and then enter your address. One you have entered your address, click the Send button and a copy of the newsletter will be sent to your inbox. You can decide whether or not you want this newsletter sent. To activate or deactivate it, go to the Configuration tab in your admin system under [Control Panel] and either select or de-select the send out weekly digests option. On the Configuration tab, you will also find an option for which day of the week the digest is sent out. To change this day, click the drop down arrow next to the send digests on... and select the day of the week that best suits you. Please remember that this is an automated function. The weekly digest will be sent out automatically. As long as you keep your Communicator current, the newsletter will stay current. This feature comes at no extra cost, and is aimed at ensuring that everyone, regardless of whether or not they have logged onto the Communicator, or whether or not they ve installed the Communicator, gets all the information they need. Printing weekly newsletter Do any of your parents not have internet or access to the mobi apps? You can now print a pdf version of the weekly newsletter. This will contain the last weeks news, the next weeks upcoming events and links to the documents added. 20

21 Go to [Print newsletter] under the [Message centre] tab. Select the heading colours, the language and if you would like to include the thumbnail photos added that week. Click Generate PDF, save it and you can then print this for those parents who need it. You can also leave a pile of printed newsletters at the front office for parents who come in and haven t received a copy. Statistics Keep an eye on who is using your Communicator. You can see exactly which users have installed the Communicator and when they last viewed it. To view the information, click on the [Statistics] tab under [Control Panel]. The Active users figure shows the number of unique users that have used the Communicator in the last 30 days. This means those members whose Communicator has popped up or been opened by them manually. The All Users figure is the total amount of people that have installed your Communicator. You can view their Name, address, the date on which they installed the Communicator, the date that they last used it. Parent updates The School Communicator helps you keep your school records current. That s because parents are able to update their personal information (phone numbers, address, medical aid details etc.) using the School Communicator. An is sent to the administrator alerting him or her of any changes. This list can then be exported to Excel and downloaded. Exporting updates to Excel To export updated information to an Excel spreadsheet, simply click the blue [export to Excel] link at the top of the page. Deleting information Simply locate the student s details that you want to remove from the list and click the blue [delete] link. Classes Every school has its own way of identifying the different classes in their school. Some may refer to a class as 2B while others as Grade 4 Secondary and so on. This section of the site lets school administrators customise the name of the classes in their school. This feature is used when parents are updating their details and need to indicate which class their child is in, as well as when they select what homework they need. (They do this via the My Details tab on the School Communicator.) Tip: Once an administrator has entered the names of all the classes - it is highly unlikely that he or 21

22 she will need to change this information again. Adding a class To add a class, go to [Classes] under [Control Panel] and simply type its name into the space where it says New Class and click the [Add] button. Ordering your class list To change the order in which the classes appear (in the My Details tab on the School Communicator), simply click the name of the class and drag it into its new position. Click the [Save order] button. Deleting a class To delete a class, find it on the list and click the blue [Delete] link. Classes and channels are two very different features! Parents use classes when they update their personal information on the My Details tab on the School Communicator as well as to select what homework they would like to receive. Channels on the other hand, are how parents customise the content they view. Widget Do you want to have the news and calendar you add to the Communicator to display on your website? Simply go to the [Widget] tab under [Control Panel] and follow the easy steps. Select if you want a news or calendar widget. Then select the number of events you want to be displayed on your website. We suggest about 10. The average width of the widget should be about around 200 or 300 as it is in pixels. You can select a border color that you want and click [Submit]. The system will automatically generate a code in step 2. Cut and paste this code into your website source code. Your webmaster will know how to do this. Facebook and Twitter integration The main administrator needs to activate this option. Click on the [Configuration] tab under [Control Panel]. Tick the boxes under Social Network Settings. Facebook: Activate Login Posting news Posting calendar events Go to the Configuration tab under Control Panel. Tick the Integrate with Facebook box. The system will then ask you to login to your Facebook page When adding a news article tick the Add this to your Facebook profile or page boxes When adding a calendar event tick the Add this 22

23 Posting photos to your Facebook profile or page boxes When adding a photo tick the Add this to your Facebook profile or page boxes. You can add single photos or multiple images Please note that the Main administrator will need to give the other staff administrator rights on your Facebook page so they have permission to post to Facebook. Twitter: Activate Posting news Posting calendar events Login Go to the Configuration tab under Control Panel. Tick the Integrate with Twitter box. When adding a news article tick the Add this to twitter box When adding a calendar event tick the Add this to twitter box The system will then ask you to login to your twitter page when you submit the items in order for the School Communicator to use your account Please note that for twitter only the heading will be used due to the character limit of the social network Editors and Moderators can post straight to Facebook or Twitter. Authors will not have the option to post to Facebook or Twitter when the moderator or Main administrator of the School Communicator approves the authors news and calendar they can then post the information to the social network they would like. 23