Send a Message

This guide covers sending a one-to-one message, called a conversation, to a single member or one of their contacts. To message many members at once, see Send a Broadcast instead.

Before you start

The member (or the contact you want to reach) needs at least one usable contact method: an email address, or a phone number if you want to send SMS. Add one from the member’s Edit Member page or their Contacts tab if it’s missing.

Start a conversation from the Inbox

1. Go to Messages in the sidebar.
2. Click Compose.
3. Leave the recipient mode on Individual (this is the default).
4. In the To box, search for the member or contact by name and select them. You can add more than one recipient.
5. Click Templates if you want to start from a saved template, or write the message from scratch.
6. If you’re sending by email, enter a Subject. Subjects aren’t needed for SMS.
7. Write your message in the content editor.
8. Optionally, set a date and time to send the message later instead of right away.
9. Click Send (or Schedule, if you set a send time).

Kanri creates one conversation per recipient. If you selected several people, each gets their own separate thread, not a group thread.

Tip

Type {{ in the subject or content editor to insert a placeholder, like the recipient’s first name. See Message Placeholders for the full list.

Start a conversation from a member’s profile

If you’re already on a member’s page, you don’t need to search for them:

1. Open the member from the Members list.
2. Click the Messages tab.
3. Click Compose.
4. Pick which contact method to use: the member’s own email or phone, or one of their linked contacts.
5. Follow the same steps as above (template, subject, content, send).

This starts the same kind of conversation as composing from the main Inbox. It will also show up in the school-wide Inbox, not just on the member’s profile.

Message an email address or phone number that isn’t in Kanri yet

On a member’s profile and their Contacts tab, email addresses and phone numbers are clickable. Clicking one opens Compose in the main Inbox with that address or number pre-filled, even for a contact who isn’t fully set up with their own member profile. This only works from the school-wide Inbox, not the member-scoped one.

Note

If a phone number or email doesn’t match any member or contact, Kanri can still send the message, but only if it doesn’t contain a personal placeholder like the recipient’s name. Since there’s no member or contact to pull that value from, Kanri blocks the send instead of letting a broken, unfilled placeholder go out.

If the same contact info is shared by more than one member

If the email address or phone number you’re sending to belongs to more than one member profile, Kanri won’t send the message until you sort out which member it actually belongs to. This usually means two member profiles were created for the same person by mistake — see Merge Duplicate Members.

Next steps

Reply & manage conversations Reply, flag, and archive conversations in your Inbox.

Send a broadcast Message a program, group, or custom list of members at once.

Create a template Save a message you send often so you can reuse it.

Add a contact Give a member's guardian or emergency contact their own contact details.