We have gathered up the most common communication questions from customers to help save you time as you explore all the benefits our email and alert feature has to provide.

We will continue to update this guide with frequently asked questions, so check back as needed. Feel free to reach out to our Customer Happiness Team if you do not find the answer to your questions below.

Covered in this Article:

General Communication Details

What permissions are required to send an email or alert?

Members with full Site Admin (red badge/label) access, and members assigned to a Role with Manage Communications permission can choose between sending an Email (detailed information) or sending an Alert (information you need to share quickly - meet delayed, practice canceled, etc.).

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communications: Emails and Alerts - Permissions

Can I add team or sponsor logos to emails?

Yes. Some customers have requested the ability for their team logo to automatically display in their communications, while others have asked for the ability to include sponsor logos in the footer, similar to how you can add these logos to the heat sheet footer (Meet Maestro users only).

You can even download a button image that you include in your emails linking directly to your registration, meet signups, event RSVPs, etc.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Adding Team Logos, Sponsor Logos, or Buttons to Emails

Can I BCC, include external emails, and resend or forward emails?

This tool is not intended to be equivalent to Gmail/Yahoo and facilitate back-and-forth communication or copy/paste of individual emails into the "To" field, BCC, or Forward.

The purpose of the Communications feature is to send pertinent team information to your membership as a whole or individual groups within the team, such as Athlete Age Groups, Roles, Athlete Roster Groups, etc. as outlined in our Communications: Emails and Alerts article.

Anyone included must have a parent or athlete account on your site. For instructions on creating accounts, ➞ See our Managing People Help Center article.

➧ Group Discussion Options: We suggest looking to a service like Google Groups or Yahoo Groups.

➧ Forward Option: I would suggest copying yourself when you send these emails and keeping them in a folder to forward as needed or copying details to paste when sending them out through the system. Your previous emails are stored for you to copy from in the system as well, but if you want to combine details from many emails, it might be easier to do that outside of the system.

➧ BCC Option: If you tend to reach out to a subset of your members or wish to BCC, we suggest creating a Role for this group, and then assigning these members to the role, so you could just type the role name in the To field and anyone assigned will receive it. ➞ See more information on Defining Roles and Assigning Volunteers to Roles.

Can I add a Reply-To?

The communications tool is not designed to work like regular email programs. Messages will come from the email you are logged in as, so replies can only go back to that email.

You could set up a general team email in Gmail (or wherever you choose), and assign multiple people to use that login in that email program, and then you all share that login on your team site to send communications. This will also make it easier when someone moves on from the role, so new volunteers can see the history of what has been sent in the past.

Can I email members from reports?

You can communicate with your members through most reports. After generating your report based on the provided filters, click on the Compose button.

You are brought to the Communications center and can choose whether to send an email or a push notification alert through the SwimTopia mobile app. If the user is not logged into their account on the mobile app or does not have notifications enabled for the app, they will receive the alert via their email.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Sending Email & Alerts to Groups through Reports and Meets

Communication with Specific Groups

What is the difference between "Members" and "Members (Previous Season)?"

"Members" is designed to reach those registered with an email address, in the current season, minus anyone who opted out. (based on what you have set as your current season under Schedule > Seasons)

"Members - Previous Season" is designed to reach members from the prior season, minus anyone who opted out of site-wide communication. This one is usually only used at the beginning of a season to alert people of registration coming etc. (seasons marked as "Unofficial" are skipped)

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communications - Reaching Specific Groups of People

How do I email my previous season members?

When you are ready to start sending out your new season registration and/or general season information, use "Members - Previous Season" in your communications to reach your registered families from the season previous to what you have set as your current season. (only official seasons are considered)

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communications - Reaching Specific Groups of People

How do I email my new/current season members?

Once you open registration and members register for your upcoming season, (or you manually assign members to your current season in their profile -- hint: registration will save you so much effort), you'll use the "Members" group to reach out to your current season's roster.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communications - Reaching Specific Groups of People

How do I email members in seasons before my previous one?

➧ Option 1: You can always reach parents or any groups in any season from the Reports tab using reports like the Registration Details/Data Export, Parents Information or Athlete Roster reports.

If you need to send to more than the last season, you can eliminate duplicate emails by sending to both at the same time from Reports > Registration Details / Data Export.

Filter by the season you wish to also reach, generate the report, and you'll see a Compose button. After clicking on the Compose button, add "Members - Previous Season" in the “To” field of the same email to reach the current and previous season members.

➧ Option 2: An alternate option for reaching prior seasons is to change your "current season" under Schedule > Seasons to that season and then send the communication to "Members." The message will reach anyone who was registered during that season. Make sure you go back to change the "current season" back when done.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communic.ations - Reaching Specific Groups of People

Are parents automatically included in communication to athlete groups?

Short answer is yes, if the athlete is under 18. Long answer...

Athletes Under 18: Each Parent/Guardian listed with an email is included in the communication sent to an athlete directly, or athletes assigned to an athlete group or role, and sent from athlete-specific reports (i.e., Athlete Roster). This happens regardless of whether the athlete has an email in their profile, or the parent/guardian chose to opt out of team communication (only acknowledged for "Members" groups).

Athletes 18+: Parents are not automatically included for 18+ athletes. If you want to include parents they must be added manually or assigned to a role that you include. Exception: if a team has a Masters program where adult athletes are also parents - the parent email will receive the communication.

Don't want to include a parent?: Click on “Expand Groups” and remove the parents. Proceed with caution - - The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") and SafeSport rules state that adults cannot communicate with minors under 13 (a parent or other adult must be copied).

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communic.ations - Reaching Specific Groups of People

How can I send meet information to my volunteers?

Click on a meet from your schedule, and then click the Jobs tab to view the jobs and shifts for your meet.

Click the All Assignees button to send an email or alert to all volunteers for that meet.

If you'd like to reach all volunteers who either signed up or were assigned to work any shifts associated with a particular job, click on the envelope icon located next to "Assignees" within that job section.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Sending Email & Alerts to Groups through Reports and Meets

Sending Alerts

How do I send an alert?

Alerts are sent through the Communications tool in your Manage Team admin console. You can log into your account on your team site to send an alert through a web browser on your computer OR on your mobile device.

Sending an Alert triggers a push notification to team members who have downloaded and are logged into the SwimTopia mobile app, AND have enabled notifications within their phone settings, removing the need for external texting apps. As a backup, the Alert will be sent via email if we do not detect the app is downloaded, or notifications are enabled.

» Note: Members do not need the Pro subscription to receive the Alert sent by the team, but upgrading to Pro enables them to also receive alerts when their athlete is about to compete or a job shift is about to start.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communications: Emails and Alerts and SwimTopia Mobile App

➞ Also see our Community Post to learn about more benefits of using our Alert feature.

Can I send an alert from the mobile app?

At this time, you can not send alert notifications directly from the mobile app itself, but if logged into the app, there is a key icon at the top for those with the correct permission and a "Manage Team" link that takes you into the admin console where you can access the Communications tab to send the alert.

Learn more about this topic ➞ SwimTopia Mobile App - Push Notifications

Is a phone number required to receive an alert?

No, alerts are not sent via text. As stated above, receiving the team alert on a mobile device will depend on whether the member has downloaded the mobile app, is logged into their account (using an email), AND has notifications enabled in their phone settings for the app.

As a backup, the alert will be emailed if the above conditions are unmet, so an email is needed, but not a phone number.

Learn more about this topic ➞ Communications - Team Alert Details

Communication Issues

I updated my season and now my roster is empty, how can I send a message?

Rosters and Registrations are affiliated with the season set as the “current season” when you open the registration form. After you update your season, your roster is based on the affiliations that are created when your members register for the new season, or you manually affiliate someone in their profile (using the registration process eliminates manual work).

Past season data can be found by selecting the season from a drop-down box (People), from the left margin where applicable (Registration/Schedule), or from the Reports tab.

This is mentioned in the - New Season Setup Guide (for Teams), which is an article we suggest team admins reference each year to help take you through the setup step-by-step.

➞ See the How do I email my previous season members? section above for instructions to reach these members.

My email did not reach everyone I expected, why not?

There can be many reasons for this, such as:

➧ A Season is Duplicated or Unofficial

➧ No Email Entered, or Unsubscribed During Registration

➧ Misspelled Email Address

➧ Team Messages Marked as Spam

➧ None of the Above...

Each of these possible causes is discussed in more detail here ➞ Communications: Email Delivery Issues

Communication FAQs

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