Notifications

There are four types of notifications available in Schoolbox.

1. Instant notifications

• These notifications appear in the Schoolbox application, in the notification panel.
• These notifications appear instantly as they are triggered.
• Clicking on the notification takes you directly to the item that it refers to e.g. a news item, a due work, or a social stream comment.
• These notifications remain visible for two weeks after they have been read. After two weeks they expire and are no longer able to be viewed.

2. Email notifications

• These notifications will send an individual email to the user involved.
• The email will be sent to the email recorded on the User Profile.
• The email will be sent instantly as the notification is triggered.
• The email will contain a link directly to the item that it refers to e.g. a news item, a due work, or a social stream comment.

3. Email Digest

• These notifications will be collected in the system and sent out at the intervals set by a Superuser.
• If Email Digest has been given as an option for users but the Digest Schedule has not been set, the user will not receive a notification.
• The email will be sent to the email recorded on the User Profile.
• The email will contain a series of links directly to the items that they refer to e.g. a news item, a due work, or a social stream comment.

4. Push Notifications 

• These notifications are only available for schools that have a mobile application using the mobile API.
• The notification will go directly to the mobile phone of the user who has downloaded the application and logged in.
• The notification will be sent instantly as the notification is triggered.
• The notification will contain a link directly to the item that it refers to e.g. a news item, a due work, or a social stream comment.
• Web Push Notifications - Schoolbox offers you web push notifications as a web application. This ensures that notifications are delivered in real-time and appear as pop-up messages on your device’s screen (iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS). To know more, see Install the Schoolbox web application. 
  
  Note - You can disable prompts for PWA installation and enable web notifications. This only disables PWA prompts, not push notifications, so you can still use Digistorm or TASS Orbit if set up. To do this, go to Administration > Modules > Settings, and toggle OFF the 'Enable PWA Install' and 'Enable Web Push Notifications' options.

1. Go to Administration > Modules > Settings.

2. Ensure 'Enable Notifications' is toggled to 'ON'.

Configuring Notifications

1. Go to Administration > Notifications > Home.

2. Select 'CONFIGURE SETTINGS'.

4. From the next page, you can choose to configure the settings for all roles, or by role type by selecting one of the blue tabs.

The settings are organised by the component or module that sends out a notification.

5. Select the drop-down arrow next to a notification you want to configure and it will show the current notification settings for the roles you have selected in the blue tabs.

NOTE: Some notifications are specific to particular role types, so you may not see all of the roles that you have in your instance for each type of notification.

6. Select the 'Advanced' button to modify the notification settings.

7. Step 1 will allow you to choose which notification settings are available to users who wish to personalise their notifications. Select your choices by clicking on the buttons so they show in blue.

Step 2 will allow you to select the default setting for the notification.

8. Tick the 'Copy settings?' checkbox to apply your notification settings to all users in the same role type.

9. Repeat this process for all the notification options.

10. Select 'Save'.

Recommendations for configuring notification settings:

• For notification options that are not relevant to your school (e.g: email digest or push notification), we recommend that you disable these options for users. This is done in Step 6 outlined above. Simply do not select the options you do not want your users to be able to choose.
• Consider the type and amount of notifications you want your users to receive. In our experience, too many notifications can result in users becoming disengaged with the system, so it is a good idea to evaluate the number of notifications that are being sent.

As a Superuser, you can pause or delay instant push notifications sent to your school's devices through the web app or a registered delivery provider, such as Digistorm or Apple Push Notification Service. 

By default, this setting is OFF.

The pause you set for push notifications does not affect notifications (that are listed in the top menu when you select Notifications ), emails, digests, or priority news notifications.

To pause device notifications:

1. Go to Administration > Notifications > Settings.
   This opens the Notifications Settings page.
    
2. Turn on the Device Notification Pause toggle.
   This allows you to set a start and end time to pause device notifications for your school.
    
3. Then, choose a time from the list to set when daily push notifications should start pausing.
    
4. Next, choose a time to set when the paused push notifications should resume. 
    
   The settings are automatically saved for you.
   
   You’ve now paused device notifications for your school.
   
   Note: Changing this setting won’t affect push notifications that were already delayed—they will still be sent at the original pause end time.

As a Superuser, you can reset bulk notifications for users within your school. This can help you implement new communication strategies or tidy up the existing settings for each feature your school uses in Schoolbox.

To reset notifications for multiple users at once for each feature:

1. Go to Administration > Notifications > Settings.
   This opens the Notifications Settings page.
    
2. In Configure Settings, select the tab that matches the user role type you want to reset bulk notifications for:
   • All
   • Student
   • Staff
   • Parent 
      
3. Scroll to go to the feature you want to reset bulk notifications for. For example, Due Work.
    
4. Next, select the 3-dot menu iconand select Apply default settings to all users....
   Note: The option name changes based on the role type you chose in step 2. For example, if you selected the ‘Student’ role, you will see Apply default settings to all students…. 
    
5. Then, select Yes to confirm.
   This applies the default notification settings for all users.
   
   You’ve now successfully reset notifications in bulk for the selected feature.

Notes: 

• You can use the same process to reset bulk notifications for any other features listed on this page. For example, Due Work, Quiz, Homepage, etc.
• You can apply the default settings per role type for more tailored notification management. This depends on the role type you chose in step 2. For example, you can apply default settings to all students.

1. Go to Administration > Modules > Settings.

2. Ensure 'Enable Notifications' is toggled to 'ON'.

Configuring the Email Digest

1. Go to Administration > Notifications > Home.

2. Select the days of the week that you wish the digests to be sent.

3. Select the times that you wish the digest to be sent.

4. Select 'Save'.