How to Create and Manage Group Messages on the Web App

Group messages help you communicate with multiple related users—like teachers of a lesson or guardians of enrolled students—in one organized and private chat room. Whether you’re coordinating a class, aligning with staff, or sharing important updates, Group messages keep everything in one place. 

This guide walks you through everything you need to know about managing Group messages on AOne Schools Web App.  Use the table of contents below to quickly navigate to the specific topic or action you need:

1. Creating a New Group Message
2. Choosing and Selecting the Group Members
3. Completing Group Details
4. Managing Members Before Saving
5. Finalizing the Group
6. Edit Group Message Details
7. Clearing Chat in Group Chat Room
8. What Happens when a Group Member is Archived

Creating a New Group Message

Before you begin, make sure that you are logged in as a Superadmin, Admin or Teacher, and you have view and create permission for the In-App Messaging module. If you meet these requirements, you may follow the steps below: 

1. Log in to AOne Schools Web App
2. Click the Message icon on the page header
3. Click Create New Message
4. Select Group Message
5. Select the members you want to include 
6. Click Create Group
7. Fill in the Group Details
8. Click Save

Choosing and Selecting the Group Members

When the create group window opens, you will see all active users in your school, sorted alphabetically. To help you find the right people more easily, you can use the following features: 

• Search by Name
• Filter by Role
  Teacher, Guardian, Admin
• Filter by Lesson
  Select one active lesson to show teachers assigned to the selected lesson, and/or guardians whose students are enrolled in the selected lesson (Active and Frozen student statuses only) 

Once you have found the person you want to add, you can:

• Tick the checkbox next to the user’s name
• Selected members will move to the top of the list

Or, you can adjust your selection anytime by:

• Clicking the X on a selected member’s name
• Unticking their checkbox

Note: 

• If no users match your search or filter criteria, an empty state will appear. 
• You can combine multiple filters to narrow down the results. For example, you can use 
  “Filter by Lesson” together with “Filter by Role”
• As soon as at least one member is selected, the Create Group button becomes available

Completing Group Details

After selecting members and clicking Create Group, you will be directed to the Group Details section. This is where you finalize everything before the group officially goes live. 

Group Name (Required)
A group name is mandatory. Before entering the group name, please ensure it meets the following requirements:

• Maximum 120 characters
• Supports letters, numbers, symbols, spaces and emojis
• Cannot contain only whitespace
  
  

Group Profile Picture (Optional)
You can personalize your group by uploading a profile picture. Before uploading an image, please note the following requirements:

• Supported formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP
• Maximum size: 5 MB
• Images larger than 5 MB will be compressed automatically
• Once uploaded, you can preview, replace, or delete the images.
• If you choose not to upload a picture, a default group icon will be displayed. 
  
  

Group Description (Optional)
You may add a description to provide additional context about the group. This field may be left blank. But if you choose to do so, please note the following requirements:

• Maximum 500 characters
• Support letters, number, symbols, spaces, and emojis
  
  
  

Managing Members Before Saving

In the Members section, you (the group creator) will appear first, followed by the other members, who are sorted alphabetically (A-Z). At this stage, you can:

1. Remove members from the group
2. Assign members as group admins
3. Remove the admin role 

Finalizing the Group

Once you have reviewed all the information, and everything looks good, you may click Save. The system will then: 

1. Generate a Conversation ID
2. Display a success notification
3. Add the group to your message list
4. Open the newly created chat room
5. Show an information banner announcing the added members

Edit Group Message Details:

If you are a Group Admin, you can update the group information. Keeping the group details up to date helps members better understand the purpose of the conversation. Before editing the group details, please note the following:

What You Can Edit 

• Group Profile Picture
• Group Name
• Group Description
  
  

Who Can Edit a Group Message

• The Edit option is only available to Group Admin with the “Update” permission. 
• If a user does not have the “Update” permission, the system will prevent them from accessing this option, even if they are a Group Admin
  
  

How to Edit a Group Message

• Log in to the AOne Schools
• Tap the Message icon on the homepage
• Open the group message you want to edit
• Tap the Action button in the chat room
• Select View Details, and Tap Edit
• Click Save to apply the changes, or, click Cancel to discard the changes.
  
  

When the Changes are Saved:

• A success notification will be displayed
• You will redirected to the Group Details page
• An information banner will appear in the chat room to notify all members that the group details have been updated.

Clearing Chat in Group Chat Room

Sometimes a group conversation gets too long or cluttered, and you just want a fresh start. That’s exactly what the Clear Chat feature is for. 

• Clear Chat is only available for Group Messages. It will not appear in one-on-one personal chats.
• Clearing the chat only affects your view. Everyone else in the group will still see the full conversation on their end
• Any unread messages notification for that group are cleared
• Any files or images you had already downloaded to your device before clearing the chat will still be there on your device. [Only Applicable for In-App Messaging with Premium Feature]

There are two ways to do this on Web App

From the Messaging Page, without opening the chat first:

• Log in to AOne Schools and click the Message icon 
• On the Messaging page, find the group conversation you’d like to clear
• Click the Action ( : ) button next to that group conversation 
• Select Clear Chat from the menu
• A confirmation message will appear asking if you are sure. 
• Click Yes to confirm, or Cancel if you changed your mind
  
  

From Inside the Chat Room:

• Log in to AOne Schools and click the Message icon at the top of the page.
• Click on the group conversation you want to clear, to open it.
• Inside the chat, click the Action button at the top of the chat room.
• Select Clear Chat from the menu.
• A confirmation message will appear asking if you're sure. 
• Click Yes to confirm, or Cancel if you've changed your mind.

Additional Notes Regarding Clearing Chat on Group:

• Replies to old messages will show a placeholder
  If someone replies to a message that's now hidden on your end, you'll see a small notice saying the original message is not available. Tapping or clicking on it will not navigate anywhere.
  
  
• Old message notifications may not open correctly
  If you tap a notification that links to a message sent before the chat was cleared, you'll see an error — that's expected behavior.

What Happens When a Group Member is Archived?

If a member becomes archived at the school level, the system will automatically adjust the group accordingly. 

• The archived user will be removed from the group’s active member list, and will no longer be part of the ongoing conversation.
• An archived icon will appear next to the user’s name to reflect their updated status
• An information banner will be displayed in the chat room to notify members that the user has been removed because they were archived.