When using the e4education Add-on Tools, most of our clients use the option to integrate their school's MIS data with their website, to allow them to synchronise student, parent and staff recipients with their website. However, information can also be manually added to the system. This enables organisations without an MIS system, to use the Email & Text Messaging tools, and also provides the flexibility, for those who do, to add additional contacts who are not stored in their MIS.
Additional groups can be added to the system through the Data Dashboard, and students or staff can be added to them. This is great for things like school trips or breakout groups, which may not be set up within the schools MIS.
Adding Groups
To create a group, click the Data Dashboard on the Add-ons area. Select Groups from the menu on the left and click on the plus symbol at the top right of the page. You will then need to enter a Name, Description and Type for your group before clicking Submit.
TIP: Setting the Group Type - The same type can be used for multiple groups so that they can be found under the same heading when selecting recipients within the communication tools. You may for example set the type to 'School Trips' so that you can easily identify those groups.
Once you have created a group, you can then allocate students and staff. If you choose to allocate a student, their contacts will also be linked to the correct group.
TIP: If you need to create lots of Groups at once, you can Import the list of groups. To do this you will need to click the Import Group CSV button.
Adding Students
To add a student, click the Data Dashboard on the Add-ons area. Select Students from the menu on the left and click on the plus symbol at the top right of the page.
- Enter the Firstname & Surname of the student.
- Optionally, you can add an email and telephone number here if you wish to be able to send emails or text messages to students directly.
- In Group Memberships, start typing the name of the group(s) the student needs to be part of. Select the group from the drop-down when it appears.
- Click Submit to save the student.
TIP: If you need to create lots of students at once, you can Import a list. To do this you will need to click the Import Student CSV button.
Allocating a synchronised student to a group
If you need to add a student who has been synchronised from your MIS System to a manually added group, you can do this by clicking on MIS Data, from the Add-ons menu.
- Select Students from the menu on the left
- Click on the student drop down at the top of the page. Scroll down and select the option to 'Select Imported student'.
- Once the list has refreshed, choose a student from the drop-down.
- You will see their details, and Group Memberships will show any groups they are already linked to.
- Begin typing the name of the additional group you would like to add the student to and select from the list.
- Click Submit to save the group allocation
TIP: This is a quick and easy process, but if you need to add large numbers of students to groups at the same time, our support team can help you to do this. You will need to obtain a list of the pupils that need to be added to the group, which must include their MIS ID from your schools MIS system. If you need help with this, get in touch.
Adding Contacts
To add a contact, click the Data Dashboard on the Add-ons area. Select Contacts from the menu on the left and click on the plus symbol at the top right of the page.
- Enter the Firstname & Surname of the contact.
- Optionally, you can add an email and telephone number here if you wish to be able to send emails or text messages to students directly.
- In Linked Students, start typing the name of the student(s) the contact needs to be allocated to. Select the student from the drop-down when it appears.
- Click Create Contact to save the contact.
TIP: If you need to create lots of contacts at once, you can Import a list. To do this you will need to click the Import Contact CSV button. Once imported you will need to manually allocate the contacts to the correct students.
Adding Staff
To add a contact, click the Data Dashboard on the Add-ons area. Select Staff from the menu on the left and click on the plus symbol at the top right of the page.
- Enter the Title, Firstname & Surname of the staff member.
- Add an email address and/or telephone number.
- Enter the staff member's Role.
- In Group Memberships, start typing the name of the group(s) the staff member needs to be part of. Select the group from the drop-down when it appears.
- Click Add Staff Member to save.
TIP: If you need to add lots of staff at once, you can Import a list. To do this you will need to click the Import Staff CSV button.
Allocating synchronised Staff to a Group
If you need to add a staff member who has been synchronised from your MIS System to a manually added group, you can do this by clicking on MIS Data, from the Add-ons menu.
- Click on the staff drop down at the top of the page. Scroll down and select the option to 'Select Imported staff'.
- Once the list has refreshed, choose a staff member from the drop-down.
- You will see their details, and Group Memberships will show any groups they are already linked to.
- Begin typing the name of the additional group you would like to add the student to and select from the list.
- Click Submit to save the group allocation.