Communication: questions and conversations

On the Communication page, questions and messages arrive from parents, students, members and website visitors. The board can also start a conversation itself. You work in a conversation view: the list on the left, the open conversation on the right (on mobile a separate screen). This used to be called "Complaints"; the menu and title now say Communication everywhere.

Where to find it

Sidebar → Communication → Communication. At the top are the counters Total messages, New questions for the board, In progress and Closed. Below them you choose Inbox (all conversations) or Sent (what the board sent itself).

Who can do this

• Permission Manage communication (manage_complaints). Since August 2026 Manage announcements no longer gives access here.
• The Communication module must be on. It is in the Education Light, Education Complete and Members + Education Complete plans, not in Membership System. You can see the modules in Settings → Settings, tab Features (read-only). If the module is missing, ask Aqlemy or change the plan (tab General, "Change plan").
• Teachers also see this page (without a permission, if the module is on), but only the conversations they belong to: questions and messages addressed to them, messages they sent themselves and messages a colleague sent to the parents of a shared class. They can reply and close a conversation, but cannot start a New message and do not see Sent. They send a message to the parents of their class from the mobile app.

Step by step: answer a question

1. Click a conversation in the list. You see the subject, the sender, the participants and all messages with name, role and time.
2. Type your reply in the field at the bottom. Add attachments if needed.
3. Send it. The sender gets a notification in the app; the status becomes Answered.
4. When the question is handled, click Close conversation and confirm. The status becomes Closed.

An admin can always reply, also to a closed conversation. That reply re-opens the conversation: the status becomes Answered again and the conversation is open again in the app. Teachers and app users cannot reply to a closed conversation.

Step by step: start a conversation yourself

1. Click New message.
2. Fill in Subject and Message and add an attachment if needed.
3. Choose the Recipients: Pick manually (search by name), Parents and carers, Teachers, Students with an account, Members or Everyone. With Limit to class you send it only to one or more classes.
4. Choose the Conversation type: Separate conversation per recipient (recommended: nobody sees anyone else's reply) or One shared conversation (all recipients see each other's names and replies).
5. Check the line "This message goes to … recipient(s)" and click Send.

The recipient sees the message in the app under Communication and can reply directly. Archived accounts are skipped. There is a limit of 250 recipients per send.

Step by step: view Sent

1. Choose Sent. You see one row per send, with the number of recipients and conversations.
2. Click Recipients for the list: per person Unread, Read or Replied, with the time.
3. Click Show conversations to see only the conversations of that send in the Inbox (One send). Show all conversations removes that filter.

Filter, search and sort

• Status chips: New, In progress, Awaiting Parent, Answered, Closed. The count is on the chip.
• Source chips: All sources, App (mobile app), Website (contact form on the public website) and Portal (started by the board).
• Search box: searches subject, text and names (sender, recipients, whoever replied, the child, the website visitor).
• Sort: Latest activity, Newest created or Oldest created.

Deleting

You remove a single message with Delete message; the conversation then shows "This message has been deleted". An admin can also delete a whole conversation (with confirmation). A teacher can only delete their own conversation as long as nobody has replied. Deleting cannot be undone; closing is usually better.

I don't see it / it doesn't work

• I don't see the menu Communication → Communication. You lack the Manage communication permission, or the Communication module is not in your plan (Membership System does not include it).
• A conversation is missing from the list. Check whether a status or source chip, a search term or the One send filter is still active.
• New message gives an error about the class. The chosen class was not found. The message is then deliberately not sent to everyone; choose the class again.

Frequently asked questions

Can I reply to a closed conversation? Yes, as an admin always. Your reply re-opens the conversation.

Do I get an email for every new question? For a question to the board you get a bell notification, an email and a push. For a question addressed only to a teacher you only get a bell notification. You turn email off per person in your notification preferences; there is no switch for the whole organization.

Do recipients of New message see each other? Only with One shared conversation. With Separate conversation per recipient everyone only sees their own conversation with the board.

Can I forward a conversation to a teacher? No, that is not possible from this screen.