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Chat for Administrators

Learn how admins can set chat permissions, create group chats, archive/delete chats, mark chats as read, and download chat transcripts

Written by Molly Farber
Updated this week

The Chat feature lets you, teachers, and/or guardians send and receive messages. You can message people individually or as a group and name groups to label your conversations easily. You can control who has permission to chat. Use group chats to message multiple staff members, guardians, or entire classrooms at once, and name each group so it's easy to find later.

Set Chat Permissions

Chat settings can be customized to control whether admins, teachers, and guardians can communicate with each other in the app. Follow the steps below to update your settings:

  1. From the Playground website, navigate to the Settings tab on the left side of your screen.
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  2. Scroll down to the Communication settings.
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  3. Toggle the chat option to allow families and teachers to use chat. You can further customize who teachers and guardians can begin conversations with. Select some or all of the options from the drop-down next to family and teacher permissions.
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    • Family permissions: Families can chat with other families, teachers, and/or admins.
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    • Teacher permission: Teachers can chat with other teachers, staff, and/or families.

💡 If you want to hide teachers' last names from guardians, scroll down to the teacher permissions on the settings page and toggle this setting on. If this setting is off, a teacher's first and last name will be visible when chatting.

View Chats

From the Chat screen, you can view all of the chats you've created (My Chats) and any chats your teachers and guardians have created (All Chats).

View Chats on Web

To view chats on web, navigate to the Chat tab on the left side of your screen. Click into any chat to view the conversation.

View Chats on Mobile

To view chats on mobile, click on the chat icon in the upper right corner of your screen. Click into any chat to view the conversation.
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Manage Discoverability in Chat

Admins can control whether guardians are able to start new conversations with them.

If this setting is turned off, guardians will not be able to initiate new chats with you.
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However:

• You can continue replying to existing chats with guardians
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• You can still start new conversations with guardians

Turn off discoverability on mobile:

  1. Open the Playground mobile app.
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  2. Tap Settings.
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  3. Under Chat preferences, locate Discoverable on chat.
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  4. Toggle the setting off.

Turn off discoverability on web:

  1. Click your name in the top right corner of the screen.
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  2. Select Account Settings.
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  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
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  4. Locate Discoverable on chat.
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  5. Toggle the setting off.

Create a New Chat

Create a New Chat on Web

  1. On web, click the blue circle with a plus sign to create a new chat.
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  2. The Start New Chat window will open.
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  3. Use the search bar to search for the staff, guardian, families, classroom, or program you would like to chat with.
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  4. When you've added all your desired recipients, click the blue start chat button.
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  5. The chat will open, and you can send your first message. Select the paper clip icon from the conversation screen to attach files from your computer to the message.
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Create a New Chat on Mobile

  1. On mobile, click the message icon in the upper right corner.
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  2. The New Message screen will open.
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  3. Use the search bar to search for the staff, guardian, families, classroom, or program you would like to chat with.
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  4. When you've added all your desired recipients, click the blue chat text in the upper right corner.
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  5. A Conversation screen will open. From here, you can send messages, photos, videos, and voice memos.
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    1. Send a text: Type into the message field and send by tapping the arrow to the right of the field.
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    2. Send a photo or video: Tap the plus sign to the left of the text field. Then tap Take Photo to open your mobile device's camera or Media Library to open your device's photos and videos. (You'll have to give the app permission to access your camera and/or media library.)
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    3. Send a voice message: Tap the microphone icon to the right of the text bar to record a voice message.

See below for a screenshot of each step:

💡To quickly add all guardians in a classroom, type the classroom name in the recipient field. Playground will automatically populate every guardian associated with that room.

Chat replies

Reply Directly to a Message on Chat on Mobile

  1. To reply directly to a message on mobile, open the chat.
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  2. Long press the message you want to reply to and then click Reply.
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  3. The selected message will appear at the bottom of the screen.
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  4. Type in your message and then tap the blue arrow to send.

See below for screenshots of each step:
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Reply Directly to a Message on Chat on Web

  1. From your admin dashboard, click on Chats.
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  2. Open the conversation that contains the message you want to reply directly to.
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  3. Hover your cursor over the message.
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  4. Click on the arrow to the right side of the message.
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  5. The selected message will appear at the bottom of the screen.
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  6. Type in your message and then tap the blue arrow to send.
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See below for screenshots of each step:

Chat translations

Translate chats directly between Spanish and English using Camber AI

  1. From your admin dashboard, click on Chats.
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  2. Open the conversation that contains the message you want to translate.
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  3. Hover your cursor over the message.
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  4. Click on the translation icon to the right side of the message.

  5. The translation language options appear under the icon, allowing you to select whether you'd like to translate from Spanish to English or vice versa.
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Add People to a Conversation

  1. To add people to an existing conversation, open the Conversation.
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  2. Tap the info icon on the upper right of the screen. The Chat Settings screen will open.
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  3. From here, tap + Add people. Search teachers or parents by name, select as many names as you'd like, and tap Done.
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  4. You'll return to the Chat Settings screen, now updated with the new members. To return to the Conversation screen, tap Done in the upper right corner of the screen.

💡 The steps above apply to the Playground mobile app and website.

Remove People from a Conversation

🚨 Only administrators can remove chat members.

  1. Open the chat you would like to remove someone from.
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  2. Tap the info icon on the upper right of the screen. The Chat Settings screen will open.
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  3. Tap the three dots next to the person you would like to remove.
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  4. Then click Remove From Chat.
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Rename & Update a Group Chat

You can rename a group chat and update its photo from both the Playground website and mobile app.
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  1. Open the chat you would like to name.
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  2. Tap the info icon on the upper right of the screen. The Chat Settings screen will open.
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  3. Tap Change chat name or photo.
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  4. To update the photo, tap Set new photo and select your image.
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  5. To rename the chat, tap the Chat name field, type your desired name, and tap Done in the upper right corner.
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  6. The name is updated when you return to the chat screen; you'll receive a notification that says the group name has been changed.
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💡 When you add a group name, the conversation will appear as the group name instead of a list of members in the conversation. Renaming a group chat only updates the name you and your team see, it does not notify participants or affect any message history. All previous messages remain in the conversation under the new name.

Leave a conversation

  1. Open the chat you would like to leave.
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  2. Tap the info icon on the upper right of the screen. The Chat Settings screen will open.
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  3. Tap Leave this Conversation and then tap Leave Conversation to confirm the action or Cancel to remain in the conversation.

💡 The steps above apply to the Playground mobile app and website.

Archive and delete individual chats

Admins can archive or delete chats. See below for the differences between archiving and deleting a chat.

Archive a chat

Admins and chat members can no longer send messages. However, they will be able to view the chat content.

Delete a chat

The chat will be permanently deleted. Admins and chat members can no longer send messages or view the chat content.

Archive a chat

  1. Click into the chat you would like to archive.
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  2. Click the blue information "i" icon, then click archive chat.
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  3. Text will appear on the chat screen: "This chat has been archived by [Your Name]"
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  4. Chat members will no longer be able to send messages, but they will be able to view the chat contents.

💡 After a chat has been archived, you can unarchive it by clicking unarchive chat. This will allow chat members to send messages again.

Delete a Chat

  1. Click into the chat you would like to delete.
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  2. Click the blue information "i" icon, then click delete chat.
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  3. The delete chat window will appear. Click delete chat to confirm this action.

🚨 If a chat is deleted, the conversation will be removed from all members’ accounts. No one will have access to any messages, photos, or videos in the chat.


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Bulk archive and delete chats

💡Bulk actions for chats can only be done via the web

Bulk archive chats

  1. From your admin dashboard, click on the Chats tab.
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  2. Click on the three dots and choose Select Chats
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  3. Check off the chats and click the Archive button in black bar
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  4. Enter confirm in the confirmation window and click Archive # chats
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Bulk unarchive chats

  1. From your admin dashboard, click on the Chats tab.
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  2. Click on the three dots and choose Archived chats
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  3. Click on the three dots and choose Select Chats
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  4. Check off the chats and click the Unarchive button in black bar
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  5. In the conformation window and click Unachieved # chats
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  6. Click the X next to the Archived bar to close this view and return to your regular chats.
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Bulk delete chats

  1. From your admin dashboard, click on the Chats tab.
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  2. Click on the three dots and choose Select Chats
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  3. Check off the chats and click the Delete button in black bar
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  4. Enter confirm in the confirmation window and click Delete chats
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Managing Chat Read Status

Mark all Chats as Read on Mobile

  1. Open the chat screen by clicking the chat icon in the upper right corner.
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  2. Tap the black text at the top of your screen that says Chat.
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  3. A blue button at the bottom of your screen will appear that says Mark all chats as read. Tap this button to confirm the action.


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Mark a Chat as Unread on Mobile

  1. Open the chat screen by clicking the chat icon in the upper right corner. Tap the black text at the top of your screen that says Chat.
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  2. Long press on the chat you would like to mark as unread.
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  3. A blue button at the bottom of your screen will appear that says Mark as unread. Tap this button to confirm the action.





Mark Chats as Read on Web Platform

  1. From the Chat tab, locate the chat you would like to mark as read.
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  2. Click on the chat to open it. It will automatically be marked as read. Note that marking all chats as read at once is only available on mobile, however, any chats marked as read on the app will also reflect as read on the web platform.
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Mark Chats as Unread on Web Platform

  1. From the Chat tab, click the three dots at the top of the chat list and select Select chats.
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  2. Check the box next to the chat or chats you would like to mark as unread.
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  3. Click Mark unread at the bottom of the screen.
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Download Chat Transcripts

Chat transcripts can be downloaded as .txt files.

💡 Chat transcripts can only be downloaded on the web version of Playground.

  1. Click on the chat you would like to download the transcript of.
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  2. Click the blue information "i" icon, then click download chat transcript.
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  3. The transcript will be downloaded as .txt file on your computer.

🚨 Chat transcripts will not include any photos, videos, or voice memos from the chat.


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FAQs

Can I start a group chat with all families in a classroom at once?

Yes! When creating a new chat, type the name of the classroom in the recipient field and Playground will automatically add all guardians associated with that room. You don't need to add families one by one.
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Can I send a message to all staff at my location?

Yes. When creating a new chat, type in the name of the staff members in the recipient field. Select everyone you want to include and start the chat. The group will be saved so you can message them again without re-adding participants.

Can I chat with someone at a different location?

If your organization has multiple locations, your chat access is limited to the locations you're connected to. To message someone at a location you're not part of, you'll need to either switch to that location in Playground and start the chat from there, or have enterprise admin access, which gives you visibility across multiple locations in your organization.
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Can families message staff directly, or does the admin control that?

Both. As an admin, you control the baseline chat permissions for your location. From Settings, scroll to Communication and toggle the options to decide whether families can message teachers, whether teachers can message families, and who can initiate conversations.
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Individual staff members also have their own control on their end. In the staff can go to Settings on the web platform and the app and toggle off Discoverable under the Chat section. When this is turned off, families won't be able to initiate a new chat with that staff member directly, but the staff member can still message families and participate in conversations that were already started or initiated by themselves or other staff.
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How do I remove someone from a group chat?

  1. Open the chat and tap the info icon in the upper right corner. The Chat Settings screen will open.
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  2. Find the person you want to remove and tap the three dots (. . .) next to their name.
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  3. Tap Remove to remove them from the conversation.

Only administrators can remove participants from a group chat.

Can I download a record of a chat conversation?

Yes, chat transcripts can be downloaded as .txt files, but only from the web version of Playground.

  1. Open the chat you want to download.
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  2. Click the blue i icon, then click Download chat transcript.
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  3. The file will download automatically to your computer.

  4. Transcripts do not include photos, videos, or voice memos shared in the chat.

How to Enable the chat feature on my account?

  1. Click the settings button on the bottom left hand side of your screen.

  2. Click the general button and scroll down to communication.

  3. Toggle the chat button and confirm that it turns green.

  4. The chat feature will now be visible on the tools bar on the left hand side of your screen.

Related Articles
Chat for Families
Chat for Teachers
Guardian App Overview
Add & Manage Guardians as a Family
View and Manage Feed as a Family
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