scenario
OverviewWhy enable the Digistorm integration?How it works What are push notifications? Why should you use push notifications? How do push notifications work? When are push notifications sent?What data will be synced?PrerequisiteSetting up the integration Testing your Digistorm integrationTroubleshooting Why are my push notifications not working? Are my notifications successfully sent to Digistorm? Error: User doesn't exist?
FAQ Who is the Digistorm app for? Will my Digistorm be branded with my school colours and logo? How frequently does Clipboard pull data into Digistorm? Having trouble with Digistorm app authentication and push notifications? What could be the reason behind failed notifications and missing sessions? Can I create a notification of a session update in Digistorm? Is it possible to send text messages and/or emails to parents via Digistorm? Is there a way for parents to be able to make extracurricular selections within the Digistorm app? I have issues logging into Digistorm; what do I do? Do students or parents receive a reminder the day before a Fixture? How can we see whether notifications have been sent? Parents have more than one child; can they see both in Digistorm? How do I know that the Clipboard Schedule is filtering through to the student and parent's calendar in the Digistorm App? I received an alert that an API token was going to expire. Could you advise what I’m supposed to do?
Overview
Digistorm is an Australian-based software/product company for schools, and Clipboard is the only extracurricular integration that integrates natively with one of their products; the Digistorm App.
The Digistorm App is a mobile app for parents and students that acts like a portal, surfacing lots of important information from various parts of the school. Digistorm retrieves the list of Schedules, Teams, and Groups from Clipboard and presents them to the student and/or guardian user.
Already have Digistorm? Great, you can use the existing app and add an extra few tiles!
Why enable the Digistorm integration?
Are you constantly updating schedules, reposting times and locations of games on noticeboards, or frantically emailing students and parents on a Saturday morning because it's raining and sport for the day has just been cancelled?
Clipboard's integration with Digistorm allows you to share your Clipboard Schedule with your school community. Students and parents/guardians can view their child's extracurricular schedule and teams and receive push notifications from their school's Digistorm app when changes occur to their schedule.
When a change happens in Clipboard, it happens in Digistorm. This eliminates double handling!
What data will be synced?
The Digistorm integration provides your guardians and/or students with real-time communication. It personalises these details according to the specific student that is logged in, or based on the guardian's child/children.
The following will be synced between Clipboard and the Digistorm App:
Real-time community updates when Clipboard Sessions are created and edited include:
Any new Sessions or Fixtures
Fixtures that become a Bye
Cancellation or deletion of a Session, or if a Session is no longer cancelled
Time change
Location change
Link to your school's Activity Selection page; for easy Activity Selection for students and/or guardians
Prerequisite
The Digistorm App. Don't have it yet? Not to worry, you can learn more about it and book a demo here: Digistorm App.
To enable the integration, you require IT Admin access in Clipboard.
Only IT Admins have access to the Clipboard Integration page. If you are unsure whether your integrations with Clipboard are working, share this article with your Clipboard IT Admin user.
Setting up the integration
Don't have Digistorm? Reach out to the friendly team at Digistorm who can assist you with the setup of Digistorm for your school.
Already have Digistorm? Great, let us know who your Customer Success Manager is at Digistorm and we can begin the process of integration
Ready to integrate Digistorm with Clipboard?
Your Clipboard Onboarding Specialist will contact your Digistorm Customer Success Manager and assist with setting up the integration.
Once Digistorm has completed the setup with your school, we will configure the connection.
This setup will include giving a token to Digistorm.
Once everything is set up, the integration will be enabled.
You can follow the testing instructions below to make sure everything is set up correctly.
Note: If you are using push notifications, it is important that Digistorm and Clipboard match identifier types. This is to identify the student who needs the notification.
How it works
Digistorm provides us with a token for their "push API".
When a critical event - like a cancellation, time change, or venue change - happens, and the student/parent notifications checkbox is ticked (please see more under When are Push Notifications Sent? below), we POST to that API with the identifiers of the students and parents assigned to that/those Session(s).
The identifiers we send are set up at this link here in Clipboard: https://go.clipboard.app/integration/manage/configure-digistorm or by going to the Manage Integrations page and clicking the wheel icon next to Digistorm Integration. The identifiers for students can be: SIS ID, Secondary SIS ID, or Username. For parents, the identifiers can be: SIS ID, Secondary SIS ID, Username, Email, or Other Email (this identifier falls back to ‘Email’ if no data is entered in this field).
What are push notifications?
A push notification is a message that pops up on a mobile device and appears like SMS text messages and mobile alerts.
Users don't have to be in the app itself or using their devices to receive them. They appear like SMS text messages and mobile alerts, but they will only reach users who have installed and logged into your school's Digistorm App.
These notifications are personalised with the student’s information, updating parents/guardians and students on cancellations, key updates or changes.
Why should you use push notifications?
Notifications help keep students and parents updated on any schedule changes, and using the Digistorm App, these notifications are sent automatically whenever changes are made. This means less time wasted calling or emailing parents and students to notify them of the changes.
Some notifications parents and students receive include:
Cancellations of Sessions and Fixtures
Changes in time, date, and location
How do push notifications work?
Managers and Admins can send push notifications when they Create or Edit a Session or Fixture. In Clipboard, before a Session or Fixture is published or updated, a pop-up will appear asking if you want to notify Students and Parents. If you tick the option to notify students and parents, a push notification will be instantly sent to their mobile devices.
When are push notifications sent?
Push notifications are only sent for Sessions/Fixtures that meet these conditions:
The change was saved before the end of the Session/Fixture tim (i.e. not a past event)
When the update was made, the user elected to “send push notifications” (ticked the box)
Push notifications are sent on the following events:
Real-time community updates when Clipboard Sessions are created and edited include:
Any new Sessions or Fixtures
Fixtures that become a Bye
Cancellation or deletion of a Session, or if a Session is no longer cancelled
Time change
Location change
Removal of a student
For push notifications to be sent, this box must be ticked when creating, cancelling, or updating a Session or Fixture (see image below).
If a Session or Fixture has already been published, the pop-up will ask you to confirm the changes too. You can choose to un-tick the boxes if you wish and still update the Session or Fixture.
Top Tip: Adding Student & parent notes is particularly helpful in communicating additional information as it flows through to the Digistorm App!
Note: The parent/student notifications that are sent via Digistorm can’t be customised; they will appear similar to the examples shown below:
Testing your Digistorm Integration
Step-by-Step Guide
This is a step-by-step guide for an IT Admin to test the calendar and push notifications after setting it up with Digistorm.
This can only be completed by an IT Admin. If you have issues with your Digistorm integration, share this article with your Clipboard IT Admin user.
There are two parts to this integration:
Calendar integration
Push notifications
Part 1 - Calendar Integration
With your permission, Clipboard will provide Digistorm with an API token allowing the Clipboard Schedule to push through to the Digistorm App for parents and students.
What do you need to do?
Provide Clipboard with written permission allowing them to share your school's Clipboard data with Digistorm. Confirm with us that the schedule is appearing in the Digistorm App of whatever user you test with.
Part 2 - Push Notifications
Digistorm will supply Clipboard with an API token.
Your Clipboard Onboarding Specialist or Clipboard School Success Manager will then input the token into the Clipboard backend.
After this happens, you can configure and test Digistorm push notifications.
What do you need to do?
Navigate to the Digistorm configuration page under Integrations (Integrations > Digistorm Configuration).
This is the page used to test and set up Digistorm push notifications.
On this page, an IT Admin can set up the mapping of identification fields from Clipboard to Digistorm. These fields will be sent from Clipboard to Digistorm to identify the users to send a particular push notification to.
Whilst in test mode, Clipboard will disable the option for Clipboard users to send Digistorm push notifications. In test mode, you can only test push notifications on this screen. See the below example of how push notifications are disabled in Clipboard when in test mode.
Once you change to live mode and save the changes, users of Clipboard will be able to tick the box to send Digistorm push notifications.
On the Digistorm setup screen, change the details in the top setup card, and then run a test (you do not need to click save). Make sure you have a user logged in to the Digistorm App that you are happy to run tests with. They will receive a test push notification if it succeeds, and you will see an alert on the page saying it succeeded.
What should I enter for the Clipboard field and Digistorm ID types?
This depends on the school’s Digistorm setup. Clipboard passes two fields for a particular user to Digistorm
(1) some identifier
(2) what “ID type” Digistorm considers this as.
For instance, your school could be set up to require the primary SIS ID as “sis_id” type for students. This will vary per school. You can ask Digistorm what setup is required, or do trial and error while in test mode.
What does a successful test look like?
Don’t forget, this is based on a hypothetical school, and your school may be set up differently.
Set the parent identifier to ‘SIS ID’
Set the parent ID type to ‘sis_id’
Send to the selected parent - for example ‘Theresa Abbott’
Upon clicking ‘Send Test’, Digistorm will send a push notification to this user. To receive this notification on your mobile device, refer to (Demo/Test App) section of this guide.
We see the ‘Test succeeded’ alert showing us the integration was successful.
Here’s a failed test example
Again, this is a hypothetical scenario. In the below example image, the Parent identifier and ID type are both set to ‘email’. Imagine that Digistorm for this school does not have any user stored in their system with that email. You can see the failure alert show that it failed, providing some additional information on why.
For more information on how to best set up the integration with Digistorm, please refer to the following: how Digistorm push notifications work.
My setup is complete, what happens next?
When you’re ready to go live, switch from 'Test Mode' to ‘Live mode’.
You are now ready to communicate with your school community! Let everyone know that your school will use the Digistorm App to communicate extracurricular information.
Don’t forget that parents and students are required to log in to the Digistorm App in order to receive notifications. The error will appear as 'SIS ID/Secondary SIS ID/Email/Username (depending on the Identifier set) not found in the system' in the notification logs.
You can also share the following article with Admins & Managers of Clipboard, so they are aware of what happens when they choose to notify parents and students via Clipboard: push notifications.
Troubleshooting
After initial setup, if push notifications aren't working, follow these steps to identify the problem:
Has the student or parent logged in yet? If they haven't logged into the Digistorm App, the push notifications won't send. They will only send to devices with an authenticated user logged in. The error will appear as 'SIS ID not found in the system' in the notification logs.
After checking the above, if still not working, it implies that the identifier from Clipboard being sent to Digistorm is a mismatch (e.g. Clipboard sends 123 when Digistorm was expecting JOE_BLOGGS_1).
On the Manage Integrations page, click on the wheel icon next to Digistorm integration and check that the identifier set here matches what Digistorm is using to target the push notifications (see image below).
To check that the notifications are being sent, you can look at the Notification Logs in Clipboard and the webhooks in the Integration Logs - see Integration Issues article.
Are my notifications successfully sent to Digistorm?
The webhooks in the Integration Logs will give you details of whether notifications are successfully sent to Digistorm. By clicking on the webhook (sessions-new) in the Integration Logs, you can view the details and confirm that students received a notification via Digistorm for a new Basketball session (see image below).
Note: Admins and Managers can also check the Notification Logs to confirm whether there is an issue with Digistorm notifications sending.
Error: User doesn't exist?
First, double-check that both Clipboard and Digistorm are using and sending to the same SIS ID. Otherwise, the student or parent may have never downloaded and logged into Digistorm.
FAQ
Who is the Digistorm app for?
Any school that wants to improve the communication and experience for parents and students. The app is logged in by parents and students, not staff, so they can receive push notifications and view their child’s extracurricular schedule that is created within Clipboard.
Will my Digistorm be branded with my school colours and logo?
Yes, the Digistorm App is branded with your school colours and logo.
How frequently does Clipboard pull data into Digistorm?
Instantaneously! All updates between Clipboard and Digistorm are live.
Having trouble with Digistorm app authentication and push notifications? What could be the reason behind failed notifications and missing sessions?
Scenario:
Q: When Ms B went into the extracurricular section of the Digistorm app and went into sessions, the private music tuition sessions didn’t show up, but the Strings ensemble rehearsals did, so only Ms L’s Team sessions showed up, but not her individual session. Also, when the IT department looked at the Notification log, the notification had failed.
A: If the student or parent hasn't logged into the Digistorm app and authenticated, the push notifications won't reach the user. They will only send to devices that currently have an authenticated user logged in.
Can I create a notification of a session update in Digistorm?
Scenario:
Q: If a Clipboard Admin needs to cancel a training session due to inclement weather, how do I send the push notification?
A: Cancellation of Fixtures or a location change in the Schedule can be sent as a push notification. They will only reach users who have installed and logged into your school's Digistorm app.
When changing the Session/Fixture in the Schedule, the pop-up will ask you to confirm the changes and notify students and parents by push notifications.
Is it possible to send text messages and/or emails to parents via Digistorm?
Communicating with the Team will need to be done via the 'Email Teams' function within Clipboard.
Read more in: Emailing Teams of Students, Parents and Staff
Is there a way for parents to make extracurricular Activity Selections in the Digistorm app?
Schools can't have parents/students make actual selections in the Digistorm app. However, you can have Digistorm add another button (just like they have for 'Teams' and 'Schedule') that says, 'Activity Selection'. It will link the parent and student to the Clipboard Portal for Activity Selection.
I have issues logging into Digistorm; what do I do?
For any issues logging into the Digistorm app, please contact Digistorm to assist you.
My Guardians can't see their students' Sessions or Teams in the Digistorm App. What should I do?
For guardians to view their student's Sessions, you will need to provide Digistorm with mappings at the time of authentication. Please reach out to Digistorm for information on this process. If you are a school that already uses the Digistorm App and want to change current settings for students' Sessions or Teams, please contact Digistorm.
Do students or parents receive a reminder the day before a Fixture?
Only users who are assigned to the Fixture are notified with a reminder the day before. However, with the Digistorm app, students and parents are notified when a new Fixture is created or updated.
How can we see whether notifications have been sent?
In your Notification Logs, viewable by IT Admin Users. You can even filter to see only the Digistorm notifications.
If parents have more than one child, can they see both in Digistorm?
Yes, you can see both children's Sessions/Teams in Digistorm.
How do I know that the Clipboard Schedule is filtering through to the students' and parents' calendars in the Digistorm App?
If you are an IT Admin, you can view the integration logs page here.
I received an alert that an API token was going to expire. Could you advise what I’m supposed to do?
First, you will need to renew the token.
You can renew the token by:
1. Going to the Integration API page.
2. Select Issue New Token; input a name for the token and set the expiry date.
3. Select Generate.
You will only be able to see the token details once, so ensure you copy it immediately.
4. Add token details to this form: https://forms.digistorm.com/clipboard-token that Digistorm will receive.
5. Reach out to your Digistorm contact to ensure they have received the new token in the form submission.
6. After renewing the token and ensuring that Digistorm has set the new one, you can delete the expiring token.
Please see our API docs for more information.