“Support” for students: how they ask and what they see
To tell your students where to ask, it helps to see what they see. Your school’s portal has a **“Support”** page: the student asks about a lesson, a payment or their account, attaches a photo of the exercise or the receipt if they like, your team receives it with a notification, and the answer arrives on the same page and in their notifications, under the name of whoever answered. They always know where their question stands: sent, seen by your teacher, reply received. In this lesson, Yacine Bouzid, a student in Sara Makhloufi’s “Video editing from scratch” at “En-Nadjah Academy”, reports the lesson 3 video, and Karim Haddad answers. The same path serves a language student asking about pronunciation, or a trainee who photographs an exercise to show their trainer.
- About 5 minutes of reading
- 4 steps
Who can do it: Every active student of your school asks from their portal. Answering, in the school’s dashboard, takes “Answer support”.
In 4 steps
- 1Asking: “Support” in the portal → “New question” → course (optional), subject, message and up to 4 photos → “Send”.
- 2Waiting: “Waiting for a reply”, then “Seen by your teacher” once your team opens it; everyone who answers support is notified.
- 3The reply: “Reply to your question” in the bell and on the phone, the status “Reply received”, a count on “Support”, and the author’s name above it.
- 4Closing: “My problem is solved” sets “Resolved”; writing again reopens it for their teacher.
Before you explain it to students
- The student needs an active account in your school; a visitor without one writes from the site’s form, not from here.
- At least one person on your team holds “Answer support” and has notifications on in “My account” → “Phone app”.
- Ask students to turn on notifications in their portal, so answers reach them in time.
- Step 1 of 4
The student asks
In your school’s portal the student opens “Support”: “Ask your teacher directly; the answer arrives here and in your notifications.” Under it, the “My questions” list and the “New question” button; before the first one: “No questions yet” — “A lesson, a payment, an account problem: ask and the answer arrives here.” — with “Ask a question”. Under the list, “Before you write”: three frequent questions whose answer opens in place: “Paid but the course didn’t open?”, “The code doesn’t work?” and “Forgot your password or can’t sign in?”. A click on “New question” opens a window in the middle of the screen: “It reaches your teacher with a notification; the answer arrives here.” If they’re enrolled in courses they pick “Course (optional)” from theirs, or leave “General”; then “Subject” — “e.g. The lesson 3 video doesn’t play” (at least 2 characters) —, “Your message” — “Explain your question…” —, and “Attach a photo”: “Photograph the exercise, the receipt or the error message — up to 4 photos.” A subject and a photo with no text is enough. Then “Send”: the question shows in “My questions” and its conversation opens. What they ask from inside a lesson with “Ask the teacher” also shows in “My questions”, with a play mark.
On screenSupportMy questionsNew questionAsk a questionBefore you writePaid but the course didn’t open?The code doesn’t work?Forgot your password or can’t sign in?Course (optional)GeneralSubjectYour messageAttach a photoSendAsk the teacherTipPicking the course helps you: its name shows on the question in your dashboard, so you know from the first line which course they mean. And a photo of the receipt with the question saves you a “please send me the receipt”.
Heads-upA student gets 5 new questions a day in your school. Beyond that they read “Many questions today. Continue in an open one.”, and can still write in an existing conversation.
- Step 2 of 4
They wait, and your team knows
In “My questions” the student sees the question as “Waiting for a reply”, with the course and the last line “You: …”. At the same moment, every member holding “Answer support” — Owner, Admin, Teacher and Assistant with the default roles, and in a “School” whoever its scope covers — gets the notification “New question from Yacine Bouzid” with the subject and the start of the message, in the “Inbox” and on the phone if notifications are on; the question shows under “Needs your reply” in the dashboard. As soon as someone on your team opens the question, the student’s chip turns to “Seen by your teacher”. In the conversation, a line tells the journey: “Sent 10:05 · Seen by your teacher 10:20”, then “Reply received 10:31” once you answer; before anyone has seen it, they read “Not seen yet”. Above the list, a line such as “Your teacher usually answers within 2 hours”: the median time to a first answer over the last 60 days, shown only after 5 answered questions. If the student adds a message while waiting, the team gets “Yacine Bouzid replied”; messages in a row within 15 minutes stay one notification while unread.
On screenWaiting for a replyYouNew question from Yacine BouzidNeeds your replySeen by your teacherSentReply receivedNot seen yetYacine Bouzid repliedTipThe “Your teacher usually answers within…” line is worked out from your real replies. Answer the same day: your students read a promise you keep, and the question doesn’t come back on WhatsApp.
- Step 3 of 4
The reply arrives, under its author’s name
When someone on your team answers, the student gets “Reply to your question” in their portal’s bell with the name of who answered and the start of the reply — “Karim Haddad: We re-uploaded the video, try it now.” —, and on their phone if notifications are on: “Profile” → “Notifications” → the “Notifications on this device” switch, or from the bell with “Enable notifications” (on iPhone, add the site to the Home Screen first). The notification opens the conversation. “Support” in the portal’s menu carries the number of answers they haven’t opened yet, and on a phone a dot shows on “More”. In “My questions” the question carries the orange “Reply received” chip, with the last line “Your teacher: …”. In the conversation, above every message, its author’s real name and Algiers time; their own messages under “You”, and photos under their message. Your team’s internal notes never show to them. If they answer in “Write your message…” — with a photo from the camera button if they like —, the question goes back to “Waiting for a reply” and your team hears.
On screenReply to your questionProfileNotificationsNotifications on this deviceEnable notificationsSupportMoreReply receivedYour teacherWrite your message…Take or attach a photoTipIn a new student’s first week, have them turn on “Notifications on this device” in front of you: one minute that saves them waiting for an answer they already got.
Heads-upNothing reaches the student by email or SMS. Without notifications they only see the reply when they open their portal, and the count on “Support” reminds them.
- Step 4 of 4
“My problem is solved”
Under the writing box is the “My problem is solved” button. When the student taps it, the status turns “Resolved”, for them and in your dashboard, and they read: “This question is closed. Writing again reopens it for your teacher.” Closing sends your team no notification; but if the student writes in a “Resolved” question, it reopens, returns to “Needs your reply” and you’re notified. Lesson questions follow the same statuses, and the student can attach photos when answering in the lesson’s question window. In one conversation a student can send 30 messages an hour, otherwise they read “Too many messages in a short time. Wait a moment.” And if their account is no longer active in your school, they read “You can no longer write in this conversation.”
On screenMy problem is solvedResolvedWrite your message…Waiting for a replyReply receivedTipEnd your reply with a short question: “Does the video play now?” If they say yes, ask them to tap “My problem is solved”, close it yourself with “Resolved” in the conversation’s head, or send your reply with “Send and close”.
Once your students know the way
- Answer from your dashboardThe one list, statuses, saved replies and “New conversation”: the “Student questions” lesson.
- Turn on your notifications“My account” → “Phone app” → “Turn on for this device”, so every question reaches you in time.
- Know your studentTheir courses, enrollments and account status: the students directory lesson.
Questions
Can the student attach a screenshot of the error?
Yes. Up to 4 photos in the question, with “Attach a photo”, and in each reply with the camera button. A subject and a photo with no text is enough. Only images attach, not other files.
Does the student get the reply by email?
No. It arrives in “Support” in their portal, in the bell, and on their phone if notifications are on.
How does the student know their teacher saw the question?
When someone on your team opens the question after the student’s last message, its chip turns to “Seen by your teacher”, and the journey line shows “Seen by your teacher” with the time.
Where does “Your teacher usually answers within…” come from?
From the median time between a question and its first answer over the last 60 days. It doesn’t show before 5 answered questions, so it never rests on two.
Does the student see other students’ questions?
No. “My questions” shows only theirs: what they asked from “Support” and from inside lessons, plus the conversations you started with them.
Does the student see the team’s internal notes?
No. An “Internal note” is for the team only: it doesn’t show in their conversation and sends them no notification.
Can the student delete their question?
No. They can close it with “My problem is solved”; it stays in their list.
Can a visitor without an account ask from here?
No. The portal’s “Support” is for enrolled students. A visitor writes from your site’s contact form, and the message lands under “Site visitors” in “Support” in your dashboard.
Does the student know who on the team answered?
Yes. Above each reply is its author’s name. In the list, the team’s last line shows under “Your teacher”.