Summer is heating up here in New England, but we've got a cool new feature for our schools. Push notifications are available for the ParentPlus mobile application! Now your school can send push notifications for e-mails, messages, and attendance events directly to parents' mobile devices. As the summer progresses, we will be working hard to add additional push notification functionality so you can keep parents engaged with their student's education. As always, we welcome and encourage feedback from our PlusPortals community!
| New Features | ||
|---|---|---|
| Added Push Notification System | Parents can receive push notifications regarding attendance, e-mails/messages, and e-mail notifications through the ParentPlus mobile application. Notifications also generate an unread badge to track pending push notifications. | |
| Added Push Notification Permissions | PlusPortals administrators can control push notification permissions for individual administrators and enable or disable specific push notification types for parents. The main PlusPortals administrator can enable or disable push notifications globally. | |
| Added Push Notification Types | PlusPortals administrators can send notifications for attendance and e-mails/messages to parents. Parents can opt-in to automated e-mail report push notifications. | |
| Improvements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Improved the Messaging Filter | PlusPortals administrators have multiple new filtering options when sending messages to parents, students, and teachers. | |
| Feature Fixes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fixed Google Translate Widget | Updated the Google Translate widget on the PlusPortals mobile website to make all languages accessible. | |
New Features
Added Push Notification System for the ParentPlus Mobile Application
Our latest update adds push notifications to the ParentPlus mobile application.
To receive push notifications, parents must download the ParentPlus app and register their account.
ParentPlus Mobile App Notification Settings
On the ParentPlus settings screen, parents can activate or deactivate all push notifications.
Unread Notification Badge
An unread notification badge shows parents how many notifications are pending in ParentPlus.
Added Administrator, Parent, and Global Permissions for Push Notifications
Only PlusPortals administrators can send push notifications. By default, all administrator accounts are permitted to send push notifications.
To oversee the use of push notifications, administrators can perform the following tasks:
- Enable or disable push notification controls for individual administrators
- Enable or disable push notification types for parent accounts
The "plusportaladmin" (or main administrator account) can enable or disable push notifications globally for their school.
Individual Administrator Push Notification Permissions
To enable or disable push notification controls for individual administrators, do the following:
- Click Manage Accounts, click Admin, and then click [the edit icon] next to the administrator account you want to manage.
- On the Update User page, under Communications, select or clear the Push Notifications check box.
Parent Push Notification Permissions
To enable or disable push notification types for the ParentPlus mobile application, do the following:
- Click Permissions, click Parents, and then scroll down to the Push Notifications group-box.
- Under Push Notifications, select or clear the Attendance Events, New Messages, or Automated Notifications check boxes.
Global Push Notification Permissions
To enable or disable push notifications globally, do the following:
- Log in to the PlusPortals Management site as "plusportaladmin" (or the main administrator account).
- Click Permissions, click Summary, and then scroll down to Push Notifications.
- Select or clear the Push Notifications check box.
Added Push Notification Types
The new push notification system includes three types of push notification:
- Attendance
- E-Mail and Message
- Automated E-Mail Report
Attendance Push Notifications
To activate automated push notifications for absences and tardies, PlusPortals administrators can do the following:
- Click Communication > Notifications (previously Automated Notifications).
- Select the Schedule Attendance Notifications check box, and then select the check-box for each day you want to send out attendance notifications.
- Enter the time you want to send out attendance notifications, and then click Save.
To manually send attendance notifications, click Send Attendance Notifications Now. You can send manual attendance notifications as frequently as required. To avoid duplicate notifications, parents only receive one alert for each attendance event. When you click Send Attendance Notifications Now more than once in a day, the notification system only contacts parents who haven't received a notification. However, if an attendance event changes—for example, from absent to tardy—parents who received the absent notification can receive the updated tardy notification.
Parents can tap the attendance push notification to view their student's Attendance page in the ParentPlus mobile application for additional information.
New E-Mail/Message Push Notifications
To send a push notification with a portal e-mail or message, PlusPortals administrators can select the Include Push Notification check-box.
The e-mail or message subject is the title of the notification. Parents can tap the e-mail notification to access the e-mail or message in the ParentPlus mobile application.
Automated E-Mail Report Push Notifications
Parents can already schedule a recurring report containing information about their student's performance. With this update, they can now opt to include a push notification to alert them when the report is sent. Parents can find this control in the E-Mail Notifications settings.
Improvements
Improved the Messaging Filter
As an administrator, when sending messages to students and parents, you can now select recipients By Grade Level, By Teacher, or By Section/Class. Previously, you could only send messages by grade level.
As an administrator, when sending messages to teachers, you can now select recipients By Individual, By Grade Level, By Course, By Section/Class, or By Student. Previously, you had to select individual teachers.
Feature Fixes
Fixed Google Translate Widget on Mobile Website
Updated the Google Translate widget on plusportals.com to make all languages accessible.