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Messaging with individual and group chats
Messaging with individual and group chats

How to message parents and staff individually or create group chats

Sasha Reiss avatar
Written by Sasha Reiss
Updated over a week ago

Chat directly with guardians, staff, and administrators directly in Playground

Playground’s chat allows you as a administrator or staff member to directly message anyone in the school - both parents and staff. You can message a parent individually or you can create a group chat with your entire class. You can share photos, videos, and updates in real-time through Playground’s messenger.

Chat settings

Administrators have the ability to select a view showing their own chats or all chats when logged into the app. Additionally, there are two settings for chat that can be edited or disabled in the Administrator Dashboard in the center's Settings menu under the Communication section in the General tab:

  • Family permissions - controls who families can start conversations with

  • Teacher permissions - controls who teachers can start a conversation with

Message a person individually

Tap the chat icon in the top right of the Home screen and then the new message icon also in the top right of the Chat screen. Then, begin typing the person's name. select it from the list, and then press "chat" (if a person is both a parent and a staff member you will get two results with one listed as "Teacher" to ensure it's sent to the correct account). Compose your message and then send by tapping the blue arrow icon to the right.

Create a group chat

Follow the same instructions as sending a message to an individual, but simply add more people using the search button. Once the group chat has been started, you can tap the blue i icon in the upper right corner to set a "Group name," add more group members, or leave the conversation.

Removing someone from a group chat

Teachers and administrators can remove a parent/guardian from a group chat by tapping the blue "i" icon, tapping the person's name, and then selecting "Remote from chat." It is only possible to remove parents/guardians from chats, otherwise you will want to start a new chat with the teacher or administrator removed.

Sending photos or videos

Inside of the Chat screen, tapping the blue plus sign icon in the lower-left corner gives the option to take a photo or video or select a photo or video from your library. You may have to grant access permissions the first time these are used.

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