Messages & communication
Send an email or portal message
Choose Email delivery or a Portal Message and check the intended family or class audience.
Last updated
01 · Outcome
What you’ll accomplish
Prepare a message from an approved template, check exactly which families it will reach, and use the correct sending action. Email and Portal Message are different channels: a Portal Message appears inside the family portal, while Email uses the studio’s email delivery setup.
02 · Prepare
Before you begin
- Know the purpose, intended families or class, and timing of the message. Prepare the exact date, class information, and action you want recipients to take.
- Use an approved template and follow your studio’s review process. Access to compose a message does not necessarily include permission to send it or approve a template version.
- Keep information appropriate for the chosen audience. A class-wide or all-family notice should not include an individual family’s balance, attendance issue, or other private details.
03 · Workflow
Step by step
Open Communications and choose a template
Open Communications and select an Approved template for the task. If working from Templates, use Use template on the intended approved version. Read the template name and status before editing. An unavailable or unapproved template needs review by the communications owner; selecting an unrelated template just to enable a button can send the wrong content.
Choose the event and delivery channel
Select the relevant Notification event and choose Email or Portal Message under Delivery channel. Decide where the family should receive this particular message. Portal Message is published in the family’s portal and does not have an email reply-to address. If you need a scheduled send, use Email; scheduled messages are not offered for Portal Message.
Set the message and timing
Read and edit Subject and Message for this send, keeping required template information intact. Check dates, times, class names, and the requested family action. Use the displayed supported fields when personalizing a template. For Email, leave Send time blank for sending after review or enter the intended future time for a scheduled message.
Choose the intended audience
Under Audience type, choose Selected families and select the authorized family names, One class roster for a class audience, or All families only for a studio-wide notice. The all-family option requires its explicit confirmation. For a class audience, use the Class record ID supplied by the studio’s responsible staff rather than guessing from the class name.
Preview audience and check the result
Select Preview audience before sending. Read the resolved family count and any missing information reported. Compare the result with your intended audience. If the count or details are unexpected, correct the audience or message and run the audience check again. A class roster audience is based on active enrollments, so do not assume it includes every waitlisted family.
Complete the studio’s message review
Read the full message once more in the context of that audience. For Email, send a test if your studio provides that option, complete the studio’s review, then send the final message. Testing and sending are separate actions. If you change content, recipients, channel, or timing, recheck the audience and requirements before proceeding.
Use the channel’s final action
For an immediate Email, choose Send email. For an Email with a future Send time, choose Schedule email. For Portal Message, choose Publish Portal Message to publish the message to the selected family audience. Wait for the action result. A prepared or scheduled email is not proof that every recipient has already received it.
Review the record in History
Open History and select the message by its subject and audience. Read the Channel, State, recipient counts, and any exception or delivery issue shown to your role. Distinguish a test record from the intended family message. If the status needs follow-up, have the communications owner check it before sending another copy to the same audience.
What to expect: You have a communication record for the intended channel and audience and know whether it is complete, scheduled, or needs follow-up.
04 · Check
If something does not look right
The recipient list or count looks wrong.
Stop before sending. Recheck Audience type, selected families, class information, and any all-family confirmation. Run Preview audience again after correcting the selection. If family access or class membership needs changing, ask the responsible manager to resolve that record first rather than broadening the audience to reach one missing person.
The send or publish action is unavailable.
Check that an approved template is selected, an audience review has completed, required content is present, and your role can send. Scheduled sends require Email. Read any message about missing information or studio delivery settings and ask the communications owner to resolve it. Do not remove necessary content simply to enable the button.
A message appears in History but a family has not received it.
Confirm the channel, subject, intended audience, state, and delivery counts. A Portal Message should be checked in Messages & Policies, while a scheduled email may not have reached its send time. Ask the communications owner to investigate any exception before repeating the send; another copy can create confusing duplicate notices.