Which communication tool should I use? (email, text, announcements, App Chat)

Use Send Communication (Communications > Send Communication) to email any group your organization manages, such as program registrants, team rosters, team contacts, officials or your own contact lists, and add a text for people who opted in to texts. The other tools below cover automatic game and practice change emails, messages from your website's Contact Us page, team-level email and announcements on Team Sites, and App Chat in the TeamSideline app.

Applies to: Admins (Team Site tools: coaches, managers and team members) · All plans; Location Contact Lists, Surveys, read and click tracking and 300-character texts need Enhanced or higher · Legacy and Editor 2.0 websites

Where: Communications > Send Communication; Communications > Communication Logs; a division's 1 Configuration > Communication; a team site's Communications page

Pick the right tool

You want to	Use	Where	Plan
Email registrants, rosters, team contacts, officials, volunteers or account holders	Send Communication	Communications > Send Communication	All plans
Text people who opted in to your texts	The Text Message box in Send Communication (a text always goes out with an email)	Communications > Send Communication > Create Your Message	All plans: up to 100 characters, 300 on Enhanced and higher
Email people who aren't in your registrations, such as board members or sponsors	Custom Contact Lists, then Send Communication	Communications > Custom Contact Lists	All plans
Tell teams automatically when games or practices change	On Game Change and On Practice Change	Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > (division) > 1 Configuration > Communication	All plans
Include field or facility contacts in those change emails	Location Contact Lists, with Include Location Contacts	Communications > Location Contact Lists	Enhanced and higher
Reuse a message you send often	Communication Templates	Communications > Communication Templates	All plans
Ask families questions	Surveys, sent with Send Communication	Communications > Surveys	Enhanced and higher
Send each family a personalized letter or form	Mail Merge (Send Communication has no merge fields)	Reports > Mail Merge	All plans
Read messages sent from your website	Contact Us Tickets	Communications > Contact Us Tickets	All plans
Email one team as its coach, manager or a member	The team site's Send Communication page (email only)	Team site > Communications	With Team Sites
Post news on a team's home page	Announcements (team staff)	Team site > Announcements	With Team Sites
Chat quickly with a team	App Chat in the TeamSideline mobile app	The TeamSideline app	With Team Sites

Send Communication: email and text

Go to Communications > Send Communication, check each list you want (click a list's arrow to see who's in it) and click Next.
On Create Your Message, check the From, Friendly Name and Reply To choices, then enter the Email Subject and the email message. To start from a saved message, choose it in Template and click Retrieve Template.
To text as well, type up to 100 characters (300 on Enhanced and higher) in Text Message. It goes only to people whose cell phone shows (Text Enabled) after their name.
Click Next. On the send options you can attach a file, add a Team Roster Link or Team Schedule Link, set Delay Sending Until, and turn on Read Tracking and Click Tracking (Enhanced and higher).
Click Send. You'll see "Your email will be sent out shortly."

Everyone gets the same message: there are no merge fields for names, balances or enrollment details.
Members opt in to texts themselves; admins can't opt anyone in. Replies to texts don't reach you, and any reply that contains the word "stop" turns off your texts to that phone.
Your yearly email and text allowance is under Communication Credits on Administration > Subscription. The Text Message box disappears once your organization has used its texts for the subscription year.

Automatic game and practice change emails

Each division decides whether TeamSideline emails teams when its schedule changes. On the division's 1 Configuration > Communication page:

On Game Change: Yes sends change emails for visible game schedules. On Practice Change does the same for practices.
Send To: All Teams or Impacted Teams. The email goes to each team's Primary and Alternate Contacts on the division's 2 Teams page.
Include Rosters also emails the people on each team's roster. Include Officials adds the Pending, Requested and Confirmed officials for the games affected. Include Location Contacts adds the Location Contacts for the locations affected.
Defaults for new divisions are in Schedules > Configurations > Sport Defaults, under Communication Configurations.

These emails are listed on the System Log tab of Communication Logs.

Contact Us messages from your website

Visitors pick a subject on your website's Contact Us page. Each subject sends the message to up to five email addresses you choose under Communications > Configurations > Contact Us > Add Contacts, and the visitor gets a confirmation email. Each message is also saved on Communications > Contact Us Tickets, where you can open it and click Mark Complete. Reply to the visitor from your own email.

Team Sites and App Chat

On a team site, anyone on the team can email the Entire Team, the Staff or Specific Individual(s) from Communications > Send Communications; Received and Sent show their messages. Team sites send email only.
Team staff post Announcements, which appear on the Team Home page. Team sites also hold the team's Events, Attendance and Files.
App Chat in the TeamSideline mobile app is where teams talk day to day, in a team chat, staff and group chats, and direct messages. It replaced texting from team sites.
Team site emails come from TeamSideline.com. Someone who unsubscribes from one also stops getting your organization's emails, and your website doesn't show that opt-out.

What admins can see

Page	What it shows
Communications > Communication Logs	Everything sent with Send Communication: date, subject, sender and status. Click a subject for the message and its email and text recipients, with delivery details. Read and click tracking need Enhanced or higher.
System Log tab	Emails TeamSideline sends automatically for your organization, such as confirmations and schedule changes, by message type and recipient.
Team Site Log tab	Emails sent from team sites: team, sender, recipient and time.
Team Site Chat Log tab	Messages in your teams' App Chat team, staff and group chats: team or group, sender, message and time.
Communications > Contact Us Tickets	Messages from your website's Contact Us page, with their status.
Communications > Email Filters	Addresses TeamSideline isn't emailing (red flags) and why.

The Team Site Log and Team Site Chat Log tabs show only if your admin role includes Team Site communication logs.

Good to know

Members decide what they receive: they opt in to texts themselves and unsubscribe from emails with the link in each email. Admins can't opt anyone in to texts. If someone asks to stop your emails and can't use the link, TeamSideline Support can opt them out.
If someone isn't getting your emails, look for a red flag next to their address. Remove an email filter only when the person asks.
To add email or text credits, email support@teamsideline.com.
On Editor 2.0 websites, see CMS: Legacy Survey Feature Sunset: Why Your Survey Links Redirect and What to Use Instead before you send a survey.

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