Communications Orientation

Overview

Learn about groups, distribution lists, channels, Composer, the basics of security roles and user accounts, and the fundamentals of portals.

Communications Homepage

After watching this video answer or complete the following:

1. Name the sections of the Communications homepage. 
2. What is a channel?
3. What are themes and templates?
4. What is a distribution list?
5. What is Composer?
6. "I need to find that email we sent to parents of seventh graders three months ago." Where would you go to start looking for this?

Channels

After watching this video answer or complete the following:

1. What are some questions that would be helpful to ask when determining what channels you should use?
2. How are channels organized?
3. What is channel blocking?
4. Where can you find email drafts in a channel?

Distribution Lists and Composer Emails

After watching this video answer or complete the following:

1. What are  distribution lists? How they be used to send emails?
2. What is Composer? What's the difference between "a distribution list email" and a "Composer email"?
3. "I think a student might have copied down a parent distribution list. Can they now email those parents?" What prevents a student from sending emails via distribution lists?
4. When you click "Send" on a distribution list email, where does the email go?
5. Where can a parent go to find Veracross emails they have received other than their own inbox?

User Accounts

After watching this video answer or complete the following:

1. What is a user account? Will a database typically have more user accounts or person records? What is the difference between user accounts and person records?
2. On a person record, where you can you see if that person has a user account?
3. How do you create a person's user account? What happens when you do this?
4. Where can you find people's user accounts?
5. What is a security role? Is it the same thing as a person role?
6. "I want my parents' VC usernames to be their email address." Where would you go in the system to double-check username conventions for new accounts?
7. "Shoot. We just sent a welcome email to a staff member and it had a bad link in it. Where can I update the email template that staff members get as a welcome email?"

Parent, Student, and Teacher Portals

After watching this video answer or complete the following:

1. What is a parent/student/teacher portal?
2. What kind of things can go in these portals?
3. Where can portal screens be edited?
4. How do you add elements to portals?

Group Events

After watching this video answer or complete the following:

1. What is a group event?
2. Where are group events managed in Veracross?
3. Why might you choose to use Veracross for your calendars rather than Google, Microsoft, etc.?