Mass Notification Import a text file with contacts

Overview:

Use a list of contacts to populate your Recipients list in Blackboard.There are two scenarios:

Recipients you want to message are located at your school location in MUNIS or SYNERGY. These will be recipients you can find by searching in the recipients box or list.
The recipients you want to message are not located at your school.

You will use a text (.txt) file:

Blackboard uses the text format to import recipients when you send a message.
A Text file is very easy to create and maintain, it is a simple list of data, just like a spreadsheet but using a Tab to separate data instead of Cells.
Blackboard imports a File with IDs and a File with Addresses. See how to create and upload below.

1. RECIPIENTS ARE AT YOUR SCHOOL: USE A FILE WITH ID (Student or Staff)

You have a random list of students or staff to send a message to; not a specific class/grade/Synergy Group already in Blackboard. You can compile the list manually or you could create the list from Synergy. Examples:

At-Home Learners - search for all "Y" in the At-Home Learner field to get a list.
No G-Suite students - search for students with "N" in G-Suite so you can message parents and explain why G-Suite is important.

Note: File with IDs works when the recipients are located at your school. If the recipient isn't in your list of student/staff in blackboard you need to use the second option below (File with Addresses).

Manually creating File with ID (Student or Staff)See More

A file with a list student or staff IDs that are assigned to your school

You need to create a separate staff and student file if you need to send to both.
Open a new text document; Rt. Click on your desktop, choose 'New'>'Text Document'. Save and include Student or Staff in the to indicate who will be on the file.
Open the file and type in the IDs you need to reach. Each row should be a new record and look like the example below. Use this file when choosing recipients in Blackboard.

Note: If you have a list of IDs in a spreadsheet you should be able to just copy and paste the column into a blank text document.

Creating File with ID from Synergy (Student)See More

Use Synergy search to quickly create a list of student IDs

If there is a field in Synergy that identifies the students you need, you can create a list easily with a 'matrix search'. This example will be all At-Home Learners in your school.

Go the Student Screen>MSBSD Tab>Prefer Remote Learning field. Mark 'Y'. Click Find to generate the list of students
On Find Result screen set Output Type to Excel (XLS) and Print. Text (.txt) is an option, but you will need to remove some columns and that is easiest in Excel.
This will export an XLXS file to your downloads folder. Open this file, it will be named with a random string of numbers and letters.
You may have to click on the 'Enable Editing' button at the top of the screen.
Highlight and delete all columns except the Student ID. After highlighting use Rt.Click and Delete and it will delete the columns not just the data in them.
Delete the Header row, Blackboard doesn't need it.
Save the file as Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt) from the file type list. Use this file when choosing recipients in Blackboard.

Using a File with ID in BlackboardSee More

Uploading a list of students or staff IDs as recipients

When sending message and choosing recipients you'll see a dropdown at the top; choose Add from a File with IDs.
Click 'Upload', navigate to your text file and double click it.
You should see a preview of your list, use the drop down to map whether these are Student or Staff IDs and Click 'Looks Good'.
Choose Who are you sending to? District policy is to always send Parents. Click 'Go'.
You'll see the Selected recipients side populated. Click on the link to open the list of students who are now recipients.
- On the left you'll also see a link with the number of students whose IDs couldn't be found in Blackboard. Click on it to see the list.
Click Done and you'll be back to the template page. At this point you can add other recipients, complete the message and send.

2. RECIPIENTS ARE NOT AT YOUR SCHOOL: USE A FILE WITH ADDRESSES

If you have a list of people you would like to be able to contact, but they are NOT recipients at your school you can maintain a file that can be uploaded at the time of messaging. This list can include anyone with an email, phone or sms number:

Staff not assigned to your school in Munis, i.e., itinerants.
Parents/Students during the summer (IT will maintain a file of students from the last day of school that you can use during summer).
Community Members
Contemp employees

Note: This file will be used by your school only. If a message is sent from the district it will only go to those located at the school. The school must follow up with their additional contacts to pass the message along.

Creating a File with Addresses (Students, Staff, External)See More

Create a file to send messages to recipients NOT at your school. Ex. Itinerants, Contemps, External addresses.

You can add contacts who are external and internal (but not at your school) to this file. You'll need the attached file template "File with Addresses". Download it and follow the instructions below to create the file you will use.

Open the file - it will open in Notepad and include mulitple headers.
Headers will include Phone, SMS, Email, FirstName, LastName and Language. You don't have to provide all contact types for a recipient.
Your headers and data are separated by a 'tab'. You can see the orange arrows below indicate a 'tab'.
Start a new row - Type in the phone number, push the tab button (right above Caps Lock), then type in the sms number. When you've completed a record click enter to move to the next row.
When you are done remember to delete row 2, (unless you really have a Mickey Mouse to message).
Save the file. You will use this file later when choosing recipients in Blackboard.

Note: You can also compile and maintain your list in Excel. Use "Save As" and choose Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt) as the output file. You can see the file is the same when opened in Excel.

Using a File with Addresses in BlackboardSee More

Uploading a list of address to send messages to recipients outside of your school.

When sending message and choosing recipients you'll see a dropdown at the top; choose Add from a File with Addresses.
Click 'Upload', navigate to your text file and double click it.
After choosing the file you'll see a preview of your list and all your headers to map.
- The headers in the template should be named so that you don't actually have to map anything but take a look at each one to make sure. Note the scroll bar at the bottom so you can see all the fields.
Click Looks Good and you should see the new recipients in the 'Address' group