Communication & Notifications

Tawaasal communicates with your school community through multiple channels: email, SMS, push notifications, and in-app notifications. The Communication settings let you customise notification templates and configure which channels are used for each type of event.

Accessing Communication Settings

1. Log in as a school administrator.
2. Click your account card at the bottom of the sidebar, then select Templates under Settings.

Notification Channels

Tawaasal supports four notification channels:

Channel	Description
Email	Full-featured notifications with rich text, images, and attachments
SMS	Short text messages for urgent or time-sensitive notifications
Push	Mobile push notifications for instant alerts
In-App	Notifications displayed within the Tawaasal application

Notification Templates

Templates define how notifications look and what they say. Each template is associated with a specific event type and can be customised for your school.

Viewing Templates

1. Go to your account card > Templates.
2. Browse the list of notification templates, organised by category (e.g., homework, attendance, announcements, finance). Use the channel, language, and category filters to narrow the list.
3. Each template shows its name, channel, and language, with the template's current version.

1. 1Switch to Event Configuration to control which channels each event uses.
2. 2Filter the list by channel, language, or category.
3. 3Preview shows how the template will look with sample data.
4. 4Edit opens the template in the editor.

Editing a Template

1. Click Edit on a template to open the editor.
2. Use the rich text editor to modify the template content.
3. Insert template variables to include dynamic content from the Available Variables panel. Available variables vary by template type. Common variables include:
   • {{ student_name }} — The student's full name
   • {{ guardian_name }} — The guardian's full name
   • {{ school_name }} — Your school's name
   • {{ due_date }} — A relevant date
   • {{ teacher_name }} — The teacher's name
4. The Template Preview panel on the right updates automatically as you edit, showing the subject and body with sample data.
5. Click Save Template to apply your changes.

1. 1Save Template applies your changes.
2. 2Switch Language to edit or review this template in another locale.
3. 3Available Variables — click a variable to insert it into the template.
4. 4The rich text toolbar formats the email body: bold, headings, lists, links, and inline images.

Template Variables

Template variables are placeholders that get replaced with real data when the notification is sent. Always use the variables listed in the editor — do not invent new ones, as they will not be replaced.

Subscription Tiers

Viewing templates is available on all subscription tiers. Customising templates requires the Professional tier or higher. Schools on lower tiers use the system default templates.

Template Resolution

When a notification is sent, Tawaasal looks for the right template in this order:

1. Your school's custom template for the user's language
2. Your school's custom template for the school's default language
3. The system default template for the user's language
4. The system default template for the system default language

This means you only need to customise templates where you want to change the default wording. Uncustomised templates automatically use the system defaults.

Event Configuration

Event configuration controls which channels are active for each notification event. For example, you might want homework notifications sent via push and in-app, but not via email or SMS.

Configuring Events

1. Go to your account card > Templates, then switch to the Event Configuration tab.
2. For each event type (e.g., "Homework Created", "Attendance Marked", "Announcement Published"):
   • Toggle channels on or off — Enable or disable email, SMS, push, and in-app for this event.
   • Select template — Choose which template to use for each active channel.
3. Changes are saved automatically.

Common Event Types

Event	Description
Homework Created	Notification when a teacher creates new homework
Homework Due Reminder	Reminder before homework is due
Attendance Marked	Notification when attendance is recorded
Announcement Published	Notification when a new announcement goes live
Grade Published	Notification when grades are released
Invoice Created	Notification when a new fee invoice is issued
Payment Received	Confirmation when a payment is processed
Event Created	Notification about new school events
Trip Consent Required	Request for guardian consent for a school trip

Email Features

Rich Text Content

Email notifications support rich text formatting including:

• Bold, italic, and underlined text
• Headings and lists
• Links
• Inline images

Inline Images

Images included in notification templates are automatically embedded in emails as inline attachments (CID attachments), ensuring they display correctly in email clients without requiring the recipient to download them separately.

File Attachments

Some notification types support file attachments. For example, homework notifications can include attached files. Attachments are handled automatically based on the entity that triggers the notification.

Tips

• Customise key templates first — Focus on the templates that guardians see most often: homework notifications, attendance alerts, and announcements.
• Use the preview — Check the Preview button on the list and the live Template Preview panel in the editor before saving, to ensure the template looks correct.
• Be mindful of channel fatigue — Not every event needs every channel. Use SMS sparingly for truly urgent matters to avoid notification fatigue.
• Keep templates concise — Especially for SMS and push notifications, keep the message short and actionable.
• Review templates at the start of each year — Update any references to dates, terms, or staff names that may have changed.
• Consider every language your school uses — Tawaasal supports customising templates in each of its available languages, so switch Language in the editor to customise a template for every language your community reads, not just your school's primary one.