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Must know
  • Web Only sends no email or text nudge — the family only sees the message when they open their portal.
  • Web & SMS requires the SMS plan plus a verified phone number and counts toward your SMS usage. Available on plans that include SMS — if you don’t see it, ask your Uplifter contact.
  • Chat has no attachments or photo sharing, but it is live: when a family replies, the thread and its unread badge update the moment they respond — no refresh wait.
When you start a chat, you pick one channel for that thread. It controls whether the family gets a nudge outside the portal:
  • Web Only — the message lives in the family’s portal. They get no email or text; they’ll see it the next time they log in. Best for low-urgency notes.
  • Web & SMS — the message is also sent as a text. This needs a verified phone number on the family’s account and counts toward your monthly SMS usage. It’s part of the SMS plan.
  • Web & Email — the message is also sent as a branded email with a link back to the portal. This needs an email address on the family’s account.
A family can reply two ways. When they open the portal, their reply is always stored as a plain portal message no matter the thread’s channel — so a parent answering an “SMS” thread from their portal costs you no text, and it isn’t relayed back out over SMS or email. But on a Web & SMS or Web & Email thread they can also reply straight from their own phone or email app without opening the portal; that reply is captured too, landing in the conversation as an actual text or email on that channel. Current limits. Chat doesn’t support attachments, photos, or file uploads on any channel. Replies from families do arrive live, though — the open thread and the unread-count badges update the moment a family responds, so you don’t have to reload to catch a new reply. Related: How do I chat one-on-one with a family? · What counts toward my email and SMS usage? · Chat channels explained (coach)