To begin a new communication, go to People > New Communication. The first screen you'll see, pictured below, is where you'll pick who you want to send the communication to. There are many ways to arrive at the Communication Wizard, Select ti ti-message-circle comment from a gridNavigate to the page yourself then you can:Add individuals manually with a Manual Recipient ListUse a Communication List 1 Use Simple Editor - Click this button to launch the Simple Editor. 2 Communication Name - This is the name of the communication you’re sending, for internal use only, to help you identify which communications were sent as you look through your history of communications. The name you provide here will not be included in the communication you send. 3 Topic - Specify which campaign or communication topic this falls under (e.g.: Missions Update). This is used to group communications, making them easier to find in the future. You can update topics in Admin Tools > Settings > Defined Types > Communication Topic. 4 Communication List - If you want to select individual recipients manually, you can do that here. This lets you create a list of people without using a configured Communication List. If there are more than 1,000 recipients you'll only see a summary of those who may not receive the communication because, for instance, they don't have an email address or SMS phone number. 5 Bulk Communication - Here you choose if it's a bulk (group) communication. When you enable this option, Rock includes a link for the recipient to unsubscribe. Recipients can opt-out of bulk communications as well. You can change the default for this option in the block settings, but we recommend leaving it on. Note, this will be hidden and automatically enabled if the recipient count exceeds the threshold set on the Communication Mediums page. See the Configuring Email chapter for more information. 6 Segments - The Segments feature lets you filter people in the Communication List according to your selections. For instance, you could apply the '35 and older' segment to only communicate with people from the 'Members and Attendees' list who are 35 and older. Only segments under the 'Communications' category are shown. This category can be adjusted in the block settings. To learn more, see Segments. 7 Recipients Must Meet - If you’ve chosen more than one Segment then this lets you decide if the people who receive the communication should meet all of the segment requirements, or any one of them. 8 Prevent Duplicates - This setting is only visible if enabled in the block's settings. People within a family will often share an email address or SMS phone number. Selecting this option will cause only one communication to be sent per email address or phone number. For instance, if spouses share an email address, then only one of them will receive the communication, personalized to that person. In most cases you don't want this set as the communication will be personalized to only one of the recipients. 9 Medium - The options you see here may vary depending on your Rock configuration/data. In this case we can choose to send an email, an SMS text message or a push notification. Or we can send it using different mediums based on each recipient’s communication preference. 10 Schedule Send - Select when a communication sends, even down to the minute. By default, the communication will be sent immediately after it has been created (and approved, if applicable). Click Next to advance to the Choose Template screen. This is where you’ll select the email template you want to use to create your communication. You can imagine how, after you’ve created a number of templates, having a Template Image Preview (i.e., thumbnail) will help you easily locate the template you want. Use the category filter dropdown to help you locate your template. If you don’t see a template listed, you may not have permission to use it, or it might not be set up for use with the wizard. You can learn more about template security and support in the Email Template Survival Guide. Rock ships with these three templates out of the box, but the list will expand as you create your own. Remember, these templates are a starting point for your communications, later, you can customize them to your heart's content. Once you have a well-crafted email, SMS message or push notification, you can use it as a template. To learn more, see the Templates section below. NoteStarter TemplatesTo save your template under Starter Templates, find your desired template in the Communication Templates settings and check the box "Is Starter". Also you can select Starter when saving a new template. Pick the 20% of templates you use 80% of the time. After selecting your template, click Next to advance to the Email Settings screen. This is where you specify the sender, the subject and any files you want to attach to the message. NoteCC, BCC and PersonalizationIf you use the CC or BCC fields, be aware that each communication is personalized for each recipient, so each email is unique. That means your CC/BCC recipients will receive many messages. Be careful about providing a value here as the recipient can get overwhelmed. Click Next to advance to the Email Builder. If your communication will be sent by SMS or Push only, then the wizard will skip this screen.