Chats

What it is for

The school's WhatsApp inbox: every number that wrote to the group is a chat, with its messages and the school's answers and notices. Replies arrive in the school's name, and the system records who sent each one. Beside the chat is the number's owner, and their children if they are a guardian.

Who uses it

The page opens for whoever holds “View WhatsApp chats”, to look only, or “Reply to WhatsApp chats”, to work in it. In the built-in roles: Owner. A group grants these to any role under Settings → Roles and permissions, and everyone sees only what is within their own scope.

Step by step

1. Choose the tab: “Guardians”, “Unknown” or “Blocked”, and narrow by label or “Assigned to me” if you like.
2. Open a chat from the list, write your reply under it, or choose a “Quick reply”, or attach a file or record a voice message, then send.
3. In the details: give the chat to a member of staff, label it, and write a “+ Internal note” for your colleagues.
4. For a number that is no guardian: “Name”. For a guardian whose number is not known: “Link to a pupil”, then choose the pupil and their guardian, or add one.
5. “Labels and quick replies” in the toolbar adds or removes the school's labels and ready replies.

How it works

Within 24 hours of the guardian's last message, a reply goes as written, with a file if you attach one. After that it goes by the approved general template, text only and up to 800 characters, and there is no reply until a template is approved. Opening a chat marks it read for whoever replies, the guardian's phone shows it was read, and the page refreshes itself every fifteen seconds. The number shows whole to those allowed to see guardians' numbers and masked to others, and every opening is recorded. An internal note never reaches the guardian, and everyone who opens the chats sees it. Linking to a pupil makes the number a guardian's number for that pupil, so the chat moves to “Guardians” and the pupil's notices reach it; only someone who may change the pupil's guardians links. Blocking stops the number's messages from being recorded and campaigns from reaching it, and is undone from “Blocked”. A number that asked to stop gets no campaigns or optional messages, but still gets the attendance notices and replies. The list shows the most recent chats.

On the page

• Unread chats, guardians' chats, and unknown numbers.
• “Labels and quick replies”: the school's labels and ready replies.
• The chats by tab, newest first. Narrow by label or to those assigned to you.
• The messages both ways, the notices among them. Write your reply under them.
• The number's owner and children, assigning and labels, blocking and linking to a pupil, and the internal notes.

Questions

Why can't I send a file?

24 hours have passed since the guardian's last message: the reply goes by the general template, text only. When the guardian writes, the window opens again.

Why “Cannot reply”?

24 hours have passed and Meta has not approved a general message template. Get it approved under WhatsApp templates, or wait for a message from the guardian.

Does the guardian see my name?

No. The reply arrives in the school's name, and the system records inside who sent it.