Send a message or an announcement

Send a message or an announcement


Intended Audience:  Administrators, Instructors 

Use Safety Made Simple's internal message system to notify users about their course progress, or changes to their courses or assignments. Send announcements to a group, to users enrolled on a course, to instructors or to all portal users.

This system also lets learners contact their instructors within the application, though you can disable this option at the course level.

For this feature:

  • messages refer to content sent to users individually
  • announcements refer to content sent to multiple users at once, like a group, or to users assigned roles like course owner or course instructor

Within the application, you can view your Inbox, Sent, Archive, Drafts, and Important messages as required.

Send a message 

A message is content addressed to individual users.

  1. From the dashboard, select the message icon > New Message.
  2. In the page which opens, toggle New Message. 
  3. In the To field, enter the first few letters of the recipient names, and select them from the dropdown.
  4. Enter a Subject and the Message You can Save as Draft, if required, and complete the message later.
  5. When the message is complete select Send.

The following screenshot shows the message icon selected on the dashboard, and the New Message button.

Send an announcement

An announcement is content typically addressed to multiple users, identified as a group, as learners on a course, or as users within the portal. It also reaches people identified as course owners or instructors, without you needing to know their names.

  1. From the dashboard, select the message icon > New Message.
  2. In the page which opens, toggle New Announcement.
  3. In the To field, enter the first few letters of a group, course or portal name, and select your recipients from the dropdown.
  4. Enter a Subject and the text of the announcement. You can Save as Draft, if required, and complete the announcement later.
  5. When the announcement is complete select Send.

The following screenshot shows the options available for sending an announcement.


Admin messages and announcements

Administrators can send announcements to the following people or groups:

  • My Instructor: course name contacts the instructor of a course you're enrolled on
  • Course Owner: course name contacts the owner of courses you're enrolled on
  • Students On Course: course name contacts all learners enrolled on a course
  • Students in Portal: portal name contacts all learners in a portal
  • Students in Group: group name contacts all learners in a group
  • Admins of Portal: portal name contacts all admins of a portal
  • Instructors of Portal: portal name contacts all instructors of a portal

Manager messages and announcements

Managers can send the following messages and announcements:

  • My Instructor: course name contacts the instructor of a course you're enrolled on
  • Course Owners: course name contacts the owner of a course
  • Students in Group: group name contacts all students in a group
  • Admins of Portal: portal name contacts all admins of a portal

Instructor messages and announcements

Instructors can send the following messages and announcements:

  • My Instructor: course name contacts the Instructor of a course you're enrolled on
  • Course Owners: course name contacts the owner of a course
  • Students On Course: course name contacts all students enrolled on a course
  • Admins of Portal: portal name contacts all admins of a portal
  • Instructors of Portal: portal name contacts all instructors of a portal

Learner messages

Learners can send the following messages:

  • My Instructor: course name contacts the Instructor of a course you're enrolled on
  • Course Owners: course name contacts the owner of a course

Admins can disable messages from learners, and for individual courses.


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