Messages and email: set options for the portal

Messages and email: set options for the portal


Intended Audience:  Administrators

Summary

Set the options for messages sent within your portal. Messages keep learners, managers and instructors up to date about courses, assignments and enrollments.

Messages include:

  • automated notifications
  • messages sent to individuals using Safety Made Simple's message feature
  • announcements sent to groups using Safety Made Simple's message feature
  • notifications from Safety Made Simple to admins or instructors: for example, when learners submit exams and surveys, or external training submissions

You access messages from the icon in top navigation.

The following screenshot shows a sample of icons available to admins, with the messages icon highlighted. 

 

You can send messages as email. In the Settings > Email/General Settings interface, Internal refers to messages accessed through the icon, and External refers to email.

Set up messages for the portal

  1. From main navigation go to Settings > Email > General Settings.
  2. Select options as required, or leave as-is for default settings:
    • From email title: default sender is Safety Made Simple
    • Allow opt-out from emails/messages: let users choose if they want to receive email
    • Disable messaging: turn off the internal message feature within the portal, for all users
    • Messages are received: select Internal or Internal & External, to choose how portal users receive messages by default
    • Disable enrollment emails: turn off enrollment emails to learners
    • Send daily course completions report: report about numbers of completed courses, sent to all admins
    • Send daily users created report: report about all users created in the last 24 hours
  3. Save to finish.
Note: the daily users created report does not include batch uploads. It covers users created one by one, and users who created their own accounts. 

The following screenshot shows the Email/General Settings options.

Portal-level options and notifications, in detail

The options from Settings > Email/General Settings are the basis for all notifications in the portal. These settings control how you communicate with your users, to keep them up to date with their enrollments and courses. Consider these options to make the most of the Notifications features.

From email title

The name that appears as sender in your emails to users. Safety Made Simple changes the title to your organization name. Safety Made Simple is the default sender.

Allow opt-out from emails/messages

This feature lets users choose if they want to receive content by email.

Note: if users opt out from getting emails, they will not get automated notifications by email - for example, like course due date reminders, or certificates attached to course completion notifications.

Disable messaging

This setting turns off internal messages within the portal, for all users. It refers to the messaging feature only, aka messages between users, through the envelope icon in top navigation.

Disabling messaging means instructors and managers can't use it to notify learners of changes from within the portal. Learners can't contact instructors and managers through the portal.

This option doesn't turn off automated course notifications for enrollments, due dates and other similar reminders.

Messages are received

Internal (default): messages appear to users through the portal, through the envelope icon

Internal & External: a copy of each message goes to the user's email as well

If you disable messaging for the portal, learners still get automated notifications such as due date reminders, by email only.

Disable enrollment emails

You can turn off enrollment email notifications to users for the whole portal. This option affects only the enrollment notification. Users still receive other notifications if you enabled them on the course. 

You can keep enrollment emails available for the portal and disable them at a course level instead.

Send daily course completions report and Send daily users created report 

These 2 automated reports go to admins only and are a quick-review option for gauging user growth and engagement. More detailed report options are available from Reports.

Email templates 

Templates are standard wordings for automated email, which use variables to enter user and course data. These templates are available for the whole portal. 

The following templates are available by default on your portal:

  • Portal Invites
  • Group Invites
  • Enrollments
  • Course Completions
  • Course Recertifications
  • Enrollment Reminders
  • Forgot Password
  • Password Was Reset
  • Rejected enrollment request

You can view the wordings and the variables they use from Settings > Email > Custom email templates.

Templates linked to features like assignments and learning paths become available in your portal when you enable these features. 

You can customize portal templates as required: for example, to support your organization's brand.

Email banners

Banners are images you set up to use on the portal, to add to custom email templates. Default email templates do not include banners.

Course-level messages

Admins set up email templates and can make custom email templates available for the whole portal.

At the course level, you enable these messages for a specific course.

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