By selecting the Relative date option, an announcement can be sent at a time relative to the current date, instead of immediately or at a custom date and time.
The "When" (to send) options available in Announcements are:
- Custom - the announcement will be sent at the date and time specified.
- Now - the announcement will be sent immediately upon save.
- Relative - the announcement will be sent a specified number of days before or after the system date
Relative date announcements set up at the term level will send within each session, if sessions are being used. This lets users set up reminder announcements that will send at intervals and copy between terms, negating the need to manually set reminder announcements within sessions.
Using the Relative Send Option
1. Tap Announcements From the Configuration Menu
2. Click the New Announcement Button
3. From the Dropdown box, Select who the Announcement will be Sent to:
- Students - All
- Students - Incomplete
- Instructors - All
- Instructors - Question Reminder
- Administrators
4. For the When Option, Select Relative
The Relative option lets you:
- Set an announcement send time/date based on a system date or event (the start or end of an evaluation period, or the availability of reports).
- Send the announcement within a relative (or suitable) time period for that event as opposed to the moment of the event itself.
5. Select When the Announcement Will Send
Select a number of days before/after the event for the announcement to send (Start), along with the time it will send.
- If the relative date has passed, the system will not treat the date as valid and will not send the email.
For the example below, the announcement will send two days before the start of an evaluation period, at midnight.
Image: Choose when the announcement will be sent.
6. Choose a Repeat Option
To send announcements with repeating relative date options, (i.e., "repeat every two days until term end") select the Repeat checkbox. Then, enter the number of days to repeat sending the announcement and when to stop it. In the example below, the announcement will send every two days until two days before the evaluation period ends.
Image: Announcement repeat options.
Once you have set the Relative and Repeat options, complete the remainder of the announcement.
7. In the From the Dropdown box, Choose the Sending Email Address
8. Enter the Title of the Announcement in the Subject Field
9. Enter the Announcement Text and Format the Announcement
10. Click the Save Button
For additional information on Announcements, please see Creating and Sending Evaluation Email Announcements.