Communications — News & Updates Tab

TraCorp LMS Quick Reference Guide (QRG)

Audience: Main Admin, Sub Admin, User Group Admin

Overview

The News & Updates Tab allows users to create news templates, use distribution lists to send emails to students, schedule news items to send to students, and view past news items to see which students have read them.  

Enabled Permissions Required to Complete the Following Steps

• Communications > News & Updates > News Templates (User Group Admin)
• Communications > News & Updates > Distribution Lists (User Group Admin)
• Communications > News & Updates > Schedule News Items (User Group Admin)
• Communications > News & Updates > History (User Group Admin)

Note: Sub Admin and User Group Admin without access to complete these steps should review Permissions with a Main Admin. 

Steps to Create a News Template

News templates are a way to create custom messages that will display in the News navigation section on the student interface. To create a News Template, follow these steps:

1.       From the Admin Navigation menu, click Communications.

2.       Click the News & Updates tab.

3.       Click Add New Template.

4.       Select one of the following options for Template Type:

• Click the News Template option button to set up a standard news template that will display in the News navigation section of the student interface.
• Click the Content Terms of Use option button to set up an End User License Agreement that a student must accept prior to accessing a piece of content.

5.       Enter the title of the news item in the Headline field.

6.       Enter a title in the Template Title field. This is optional.

7.       Enter the body text of the news item in the Text field.

• Personalize a news item by clicking the Placeholder Text link. Placeholders are text strings that are substituted for their corresponding value. Examples include:
  • [username]
  • [email]
  • [first_name]
  • [last_name]
  • [registered_date]
  • [last_login]
  • [field_1] … [field_64]

8.       Click Choose File to attach a file to the news item.

9.       Click the Required Reading check box to require students to read the news item the next time they log in, prior to continuing their training.

10.    Click the Require Password check box if a password is required.

Note: If checked, this must be set when first creating a news item. News items are not able to be edited after being saved. Users will be required to enter their password to verify they read the news item. If changes are needed to the text, remove the news item from circulation and create a new one with the updated text to which users will need to agree.

11.    Click the Allow template to be rated check box to allow users to give the news item a thumbs up or thumbs down.

12.    Click Save.

Steps to Delete a News Template

1.       Select a news template.

2.       Click Delete Selected.

3.       Click Yes on the Warning pop-up for Are you sure you want to delete the selected item? This cannot be undone.

Steps to Duplicate a News Template

1.       Select the news template to duplicate.

2.       Click Duplicate.

3.       The template fields are pre-filled up to the Choose File button for uploading an attachment, so no additional edits are needed.

4.       Click Choose File to attach a file to the news item.

5.       Click the Required Reading check box to require students to read the news item the next time they log in, prior to continuing their training.

6.       Click the Require Password check box if a password is required.

Note: If checked, this must be set when first creating a news item, and no part of the news item can be edited after saving. Users will be required to enter their password to verify they read the news item. If changes are needed to the text, remove the news item from circulation and create a new one with the updated text to which users will need to agree.

7.       Click the Allow template to be rated check box to allow users to give the news item a thumbs up or thumbs down.

8.       Click Save.

Steps to Set Up a Distribution List

Distribution lists are an efficient way to send notifications, announcements, or course updates to a group of users by addressing a single list name instead of individually entering each user’s email address. Follow the steps below.

1.       From the Admin Navigation menu, click Communications.

2.       Click the News & Updates tab.

3.       Click the Distribution Lists tab.

4.       Click Add New Category.

5.       Enter a Title and Description, then click Add Category.

6.       Click Add New Distribution List.

7.       The List Info tab defaults. Enter a title for the distribution list in the List Title field and click the Active check box to activate (or deactivate) the distribution list.

8.       Filter students based on the desired filter criteria. Enter filter information on the following tabs:

• User Groups: Select one or more user groups to add to the distribution list. All users in the selected groups will be included.
• Basic User Info: Filter users based on their basic information, such as email address, registration date, last login date, and user type.
• Custom User Info: Create custom SQL-like statements to add users to the distribution list. Click the Help and Examples link to see examples. Note: Custom rules can be used to select users based on any user field. Custom rules must take the form of the where clause in an SQL statement. Custom rules use the same syntax as the autoassignment rules for user groups. Once the custom rule(s) are created, click Check Syntax. If validated, a pop-up displays The pattern successfully passed validation. Click OK.
• Content: Filter users based on content assignment or whether users have or have not completed a piece of content.
  • All users who are assigned to this content will be added to the distribution list.
  • Users who have completed this content will be added to the distribution list.
  • Users who have not completed this content will be added to the distribution list.
•  Learning Tracks: Select a Learning Track, and add users assigned to the learning track to the distribution list.
• Class Sessions: Filter users based on enrollment in a class session.
• Webinar Sessions: Filter users based on enrollment in a webinar session.

9.       Once filter information is entered, click Test Filters.

10.    Click Save.

Steps to Schedule News Items

1.       From the Admin Navigation menu, click Communications.

2.       Click the News & Updates tab.

3.       Click the Schedule News Items tab.

4.       Click Add News Schedule.

5.       Click the News Information tab.

6.       Select a News Template from the drop-down menu.

7.       Select a Distribution List from the drop-down menu.

8.       Select an Effective Date from the date-picker for the news to be distributed.

9.       Effective Time: Select a time from the drop-down menu for the news to be distributed.

10.    Expiration Date: Select a date from the date-picker for the news to expire.

11.    Expiration Time: Select a time from the drop-down menu for the news to expire.

12.    Timezone Country: Select the country from the drop-down menu in which the news is being distributed.

• • Timezone: Select the regional time zone from the drop-down menu in which the news is being distributed.
• There are three setting options in the News Item Statistics section:
  • Will receive message: This is the number of users currently assigned to the selected Distribution List.
  • Have read message: This is the number of users within the selected Distribution List who have read the selected News Template since it was last updated.
  • Have pinned message: This is the number of users within the selected Distribution List who have pinned the selected News Template.

13.    Click the Email Information tab.

14.    Click the Notify Student check box to send email to the student if they have not read the news item.

15.    Enter a value in the Number of Days field. This will be the number of days past the effective date to email students if the email has gone unread.

16.    Click the Email Administrators tab to receive an email if students have unread news items.

17.    Double-click users or click the Select User button to add Administrators to receive the email.

18.    A Confirm dialog box displays Are you sure you want to add the selected users to the email list?

19.    Click Yes or No. An Info pop-up displays that user was added when Yes is clicked.

20.    Double-click a user to remove them.

21.    Click Save.

Steps to Review History

Use filters to narrow the search for news items.

1.       From the Admin Navigation menu, click Communications.

2.       Click the News & Updates tab.

3.       Click the History tab.

4.       Select filters to narrow the list of users.

• Username: Enter a username.
• Read After: Select a date from the date-picker to see news items that have been read after a certain date.
• Read Before: Select a date from the date-picker to see news items that have been read before a certain date.
• News Template: Select a specific news template from the drop-down menu to see who has read that template.