Custom groups are a great way to group existing students into groups not synced from your SIS. Some examples of groupings are sports teams, all students absent on a given day, clubs, bus routes, etc. Learn how to create groups within your TalkingPoints for Districts account.
Screenshots below may look slightly different as TalkingPoints is constantly evolving! Don't worry, we periodically make sure our guides are up-to-date so that you have the latest how-to's.
Create a Group
Step 1: Click 'Groups'.
Step 2: Select 'Add Group.'
Step 3: Name the group and click 'Create.'
Add Staff
By default, all district administrators 1)have access to and 2)can send messages to a district group. Staff outside this role cannot complete these actions.
Allowing staff who aren't district administrators to send messages to district groups is part of a future TalkingPoints feature!
Add Students
Option 1: Add Students Individually
Step 1: Within your group, select 'Add Students.'
Step 2: Select 'Add Students individually.'
Step 3: Filter by school, or type the students' names. Click the checkmark next to the students you want to select.
Step 4: Confirm by clicking 'Add Selected.'
Option 2: Add via .csv
To bulk add existing students to a group, they must already be in TalkingPoints through the Clever, ClassLink, Infinite Campus, or TalkingPoints Connector sync with an SIS ID or added to TalkingPoints via the self-serve .csv Uploader.
Step 1: In our template or a spreadsheet tool of your choice, please format your file as follows:
Title Column A, Row 1 with
sisId,studentid, orid(not case sensitive, but it must be one word)
In all subsequent rows within this column, please list out the SIS IDs of the students you would like to be added to the custom group you’re creating. Only one SIS ID per cell should be listed.
For Clever: The field we're pulling as the SIS ID is the value your school or district sends to the {sisID} field in Clever. Please ensure that the IDs in the spreadsheet match this value.
For ClassLink: The field that we're pulling as the SIS ID is the {identifier} field in ClassLink. Please ensure that the IDs in the spreadsheet match this value.
For IC OneRoster (infinite campus): The field that we're pulling as the SIS ID is the {identifier} field. Please ensure that the IDs in the spreadsheet match this value.
For TalkingPoints Connector: The field that we're pulling as the SIS ID is the {identifier} field. Please ensure that the IDs in the spreadsheet match this value.
For .csv Uploader: The field we're pulling as the student ID is the Student ID from the first column of your student list tab from your .csv that you uploaded using the TalkingPoints self-serve .csv uploader.
Tip: It is recommended that only this single column be in the .csv file. However, if it makes it easier for you to add additional columns with the student's first and last names as a reference for yourself, you may do so, but it could increase upload times. Our system will only use the first column.
Column A, Row 1 must have a matching title because our system will not recognize this cell as an ID.
Step 2: Download the sheet as a .csv file.
Step 3: Drag and drop the .csv file you downloaded, or browse your computer files.
Step 4: The 'override group with this student list option will appear. Check the box if you would like to replace a current student list with the student list in the new .csv file. Leave the box unchecked if you would like to add the students in the .csv file to the students already in the group.
Step 5: Select 'Add.'
A popup at the bottom of the screen will let you know the number of students who were not found by our system. This is either because they are a manually added student with no student ID, or the student ID in the .csv file does not match a student ID in the TalkingPoints platform.