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Messaging
The Messaging area is where you create and manage email campaigns: send emails to specific groups of members (e.g. everyone in a class, all active members, or all users). You pick a template, choose who receives the email, edit the subject and body with placeholders like {first_name}, and send now or schedule for later. The system counts how many people match the audience, sends emails in the background (respecting rate limits), and records who received the message and whether it was sent or failed.
Used by: Admin.
What the Messaging System Does
The messaging system lets staff send emails to targeted groups of members. Common use cases:
- Class reminder — Send a reminder to everyone enrolled in a specific class (e.g. "Spanish A2 — reminder: class starts tomorrow").
- Event reminder — Target everyone registered for a specific event (same audience picker as classes, but choose an event).
- Membership renewal notice — Email members whose membership is expiring soon.
- General announcement — Send an update to all active members or all users (e.g. event calendar, policy change).
You control who receives each campaign by selecting an audience (e.g. all enrollees in a class or event, all active members, or all users). The system shows how many people match before you send.
Routes and Where to Go
| Where | Path | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign list | /admin/messaging/campaigns | See all campaigns (draft, scheduled, sending, sent). |
| Campaign detail | /admin/messaging/campaigns/[id] | View one campaign and its send status. |
| Edit campaign | /admin/messaging/campaigns/[id]/edit | Change subject, body, audience, or schedule. |
| New campaign | /admin/messaging/new | Start a new campaign. |
How to Create a New Campaign
- Go to https://admin.uibeta.org/admin/messaging/campaigns.
- Click + New Campaign.
- Choose a template (or start blank) — templates give you a starting subject and body; you can edit both.
- Select your audience — Choose who receives the email: All Users, Class Enrollees (pick one or more classes — see below), Event Registrants (pick an event), Members (all active members), or Teaching Staff (see below). The page will show the recipient count; double-check that this matches who you intend to reach.
- Edit subject line and body — Use placeholders such as {first_name}, {last_name}, {class_name}, {membership_level} so each recipient gets a personalized message. Do not remove placeholders the template relies on.
- Preview the email — Use the preview option to see how the email will look before sending.
- Send now or schedule — Choose Send now (starts within 30 seconds) to start sending right away, or pick a date and time to schedule for later.
WARNING
Once a campaign is sent, it cannot be unsent. Always preview and send a test to yourself before sending to the full audience.
TIP
Use audience filters carefully. Double-check the recipient count before hitting send so you don’t send to the wrong group.
Emailing Several Classes at Once
With the Class Enrollees audience you can tick as many classes as you like in one campaign. The list shows the classes in the active semester.
- Type in the Filter classes box (for example "Spanish") to narrow the list by name.
- Tick classes one at a time, or click Select all matching (N) to tick every class the filter shows. With no filter typed, the button reads Select all (N). Click it again (Clear matching / Clear all) to untick them.
- Your picks show below the list as chips, with a count such as "3 classes selected". Click × on a chip to drop one class, or Clear selection to start over. Changing the filter does not undo classes you already ticked.
- Check the recipient count. A student enrolled in two or more of the selected classes is counted once and gets one email, not one per class.
In that student's email, {class_name} shows the first selected class they are enrolled in. If your message names a specific class, send to that class on its own instead.
The campaign detail page lists every class the campaign was sent to, under Classes (N). Campaigns saved before this change, with a single class, open with that class ticked and keep working.
Emailing Teachers and Club Facilitators
Choose the Teaching Staff audience to write to the people teaching or leading this term.
- Pick a Semester (the active one is marked "(active)").
- Under Who, choose one:
- Current teachers only — instructors assigned to a class in that semester.
- Current club facilitators only — members who signed up to facilitate a conversation club session during that semester's dates.
- Both, combined (deduplicated) — everyone from both groups. Someone who is both a teacher and a facilitator gets one email, not two.
- Check the recipient count before sending.
Why the facilitator count can be small
Club facilitators are not an assigned role. Members sign up for facilitator spots session by session, so if few people have claimed a spot this semester, Current club facilitators only may find few or no recipients.
As with other audiences, people who have unsubscribed and test accounts are left out automatically.
How Placeholders Are Filled In
Each placeholder is replaced with the recipient's own details exactly as they are stored. Values are always shown as plain text: a name or class title containing symbols such as $, &, or < appears as typed and cannot change the layout or wording of the rest of your email.
Sending a Test First
Before sending to the full audience:
- Use Preview to review the email.
- Send a test email to your own address (use the test option in the campaign edit screen).
- Confirm the subject, body, and placeholders look correct.
- Then send or schedule the campaign for the real audience.
How to Find and Edit a Draft Campaign
- Go to https://admin.uibeta.org/admin/messaging/campaigns.
- In the list, find campaigns with status Draft.
- Click the campaign to open it, then click Edit (or open Edit from the campaign detail page).
- Change subject, body, audience, or schedule as needed and save. You can send or schedule from the edit screen when ready.
How to View Sent Campaigns and Send Status
- Go to https://admin.uibeta.org/admin/messaging/campaigns.
- Use filters or the list to find campaigns with status Sent.
- Click a campaign to open its detail page.
- Check send status: see who received the email and whether each send was sent or failed. Failed sends may show a reason (e.g. invalid address).
Older template-based campaigns may show false failures
Until a fix in August 2026, campaigns built from a template recorded a false failed result for every recipient, even though the emails were delivered. Those old results were not corrected. If an older campaign shows 100% failed, check the Email Log for a recipient before assuming the send did not go out. Campaigns sent since then report correctly.
"Sent" means the email service accepted the message. To see addresses that later bounced or reported spam, open Email Log and expand Undeliverable addresses (see Email Templates).
Campaign Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Not sent yet. You can edit and send or schedule. |
| Scheduled | Set to send at a future date/time. You can still edit or cancel before that time. |
| Sending | The system is currently sending emails in the background. |
| Sent | Sending is complete. You can view who received it and any failures; you cannot unsend. |
Summary
- Create: + New Campaign → template → audience (one or more classes, an event, members, users, or teaching staff) → edit subject/body → preview → Send now (starts within 30 seconds) or schedule.
- Drafts: Find them in the campaign list, edit, then send or schedule when ready.
- Sent campaigns: Open from the list to view send status (sent vs failed).
- Always send a test to yourself before sending to the full audience, and verify the recipient count.
Need help? Contact Andrew.