Effective communication is the backbone of any successful sports team, ensuring that all members, from athletes to coaches and parents, are on the same page. SwimTopia’s Communications feature is designed to facilitate this by allowing administrators to send pertinent information to the entire team or specific groups within the team, such as Athlete Age Groups, Roles, or Athlete Roster Groups. This guide will walk you through the essential aspects of using the Communications feature to ensure your messages reach the right audience.
- Accessing the Communications Center
- Permissions Needed to Send Emails
- How to Send an Email
- Reaching Specific Groups of People
- Troubleshooting
- How-To Videos
The Purpose of the Communications Feature
The Communications feature is tailored to broadcast important information to your team members, whether for the entire team or select groups. It’s important to note that this tool is not intended for back-and-forth communication and does not support the manual entry of individual email addresses into the “To” field. Instead, it utilizes the parent or athlete accounts linked to your team for each season.
For more detailed instructions on setting up accounts, refer to our Managing Your People/Roster guide.
Accessing the Communications Center
You can manage Emails or Alerts directly from the Communications tab within the Manage Team admin console. This central hub allows you to send messages quickly and efficiently, ensuring that your team is always in the loop.
Permissions Required to Send an Email or Alert
To send an Email or Alert, you need to have full Site Admin access (denoted by a red badge/label) or be assigned a Role with Manage Communications permissions. This ensures that only authorized members can send out communications, maintaining the integrity and security of your team’s information.
For instructions on creating Admins, check out our Adding New Admins article. To learn more about assigning Roles, see our Defining Roles guide.
How to Send an Email
Step 1: Compose an Email
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to compose and send an email using the Communications feature. (Please see our separate post on managing Team Alerts)
- Start by clicking the +Compose button and selecting “Email” from the menu.
Step 2: Determine Your Audience
- In the “To” field, you’ll see various group types labeled such as Age Group, Role, Roster Group, and Group. Begin typing the name of a user or group, and select the appropriate match from the dropdown list. You can also click “Expand groups” to view individual users within a group and adjust your recipient list accordingly.
- Group labels in the “To” field are color-coded: green for groups and blue for individual addresses, making it easier to differentiate between the two.
- Tip: If you’re using an iOS device, you might need to type the first few letters of a group or recipient name, then backspace slightly to make a selection.
Optional Selections:
- Also publish as news post: This option creates a news post using your email’s subject as the title and the message content as the post’s body. Note that attachments won’t be included in the news post. (For more on managing news posts, see our News Posts article.)
- Send me a copy: Sends a copy of the email to your account.
- Allow recipients to see each other: This feature divides recipients into groups of approximately 50 and sends messages in batches. Be aware that delivery can take longer, so allow some time before assuming there’s an issue.
Step 3: Compose Your Message
- Type your message and add any necessary attachments.
- Note: There’s a 5MB size limit for outbound emails. If your attachments exceed this, you’ll need to resize them.
- Pasting images in the body of the message is not supported. Either use the “insert image” option from the editor bar or, if you know how to insert images using HTML, you can add images uploaded to your Settings > Uploaded Files page using the HTML editor “<>.”
Step 4: Send Your Message
- Once your message is ready, click “Send.” Your message will then be saved in the Sent Messages area for future reference.
Reaching Specific Groups of People
SwimTopia’s Communications feature allows you to target specific groups within your team, ensuring that the right information reaches the right people. Here’s how to reach various groups:
- Email all team members (current season): Enter “Members.”
- Email members from the previous season: Enter “Members – Previous Season.” This is great for encouraging re-registration.
- Email Parents only: Enter “Parents.”
- Email all Athletes: Enter “Athletes.”
- Email specific Athlete Age Groups or School Year Groups: Type in the age, competition category, or school year.
- Email Athlete Roster Groups: Enter the group name, which must be configured under Settings > Athlete Roster Groups.
For frequent communications with a subset of your members (e.g., board members or coaches), consider creating “Roles” and assigning members to them. You can then easily email all members of a role by typing in the role name.
Important Considerations for Athlete and Role Groups
- Athletes Under 18: Parents/Guardians with an email listed are included in communications sent to athletes under 18, regardless of whether the athlete has an email in their profile or if the parent/guardian opted out of team communications.
- Athletes 18+: Parents are not automatically included for athletes 18 or older. To include them, add them manually or assign them to a role.
- Compliance with COPPA and SafeSport: When communicating with minors under 13, a parent or another adult must be copied in the communication. Use the “Expand Groups” option to manage recipients carefully.
Sender Display and Team Email Tips
Emails and alerts sent from your team website appear as coming from the email address associated with your login. We recommend setting up team or role-based admin logins in an external email program like Gmail or Yahoo to streamline this process. For more guidance, see our Setting Up a Team Email article.
Communication FAQs and Troubleshooting
If you encounter issues or need further assistance, our Communication FAQs and Communications: Email Delivery Issues articles provide helpful troubleshooting tips and answers to common questions.
We also suggest watching our general Communication Overview video and our How-To Video on Communicating with Specific Groups.
By leveraging SwimTopia’s Communications feature, you can ensure that your team stays informed and connected, allowing for smoother operations and a more unified team environment.
Published 09/03/2024. SwimTopia regularly releases new features, enhancements, and updates. Please visit our Help Center for the latest information on Team Communications.