Getting Started with TLDR Parents Beta

Welcome! TLDR Parents remains in active development, and we're counting on feedback from early users like you to help shape the future product.

What is TLDR Parents?

TLDR Parents is an AI-powered family email and calendar assistant that reads your email, extracts events and details important to your family, and helps add those to Google Calendar. No more combing through pages of dense newsletters and manual data entry - just share your school emails, team updates, and event announcements, and we'll extract the relevant events for you to review and approve.

Opening the App

For the beta release, you'll access TLDR Parents through your web browser. 

Getting Started

TLDR Parents offers flexible ways to share emails with us, giving you control over your privacy. Choose the approach that's right for you—from maximum privacy (manual forwarding) to maximum convenience (Gmail sync). You can use multiple methods simultaneously.

1. Connect Gmail (Recommended)

This is our most convenient method - it gives you the most flexibility with full privacy protection:

1. Connect your Gmail account to TLDR Parents in the Connected Accounts section in the Settings page
2. Create and apply a "tldrparents" label to any email containing events:
   • Manual labeling: Select emails one-by-one or in bulk and apply the label
   • Automated with Gmail rules: Create a filter to auto-apply the label (see tips below)
3. We sync every 1-2 minutes and you can click "Sync Now" in the app for on-demand processing

Gmail Rule Tips: When creating filters to auto-apply the "tldrparents" label:

• ✅ Do: Filter by known school/activity platforms (smore.com, parentsquare.com, teamsnap.com)
• ✅ Do: Filter by your school domain (*@yourschool.org)
• ⚠️ Don't mark as read unless you're certain the filter only catches emails that never need a response (like newsletters)
• Why? If your filter is too broad and marks emails as read, you might miss correspondence that needs your attention
  
• See Setup Gmail Filter for more detailed guidance

2. Manual Email Forwarding (Alternative)

Prefer not to connect Gmail? You can still forward emails manually - this gives you maximum privacy control:

Forward any email containing future upcoming events to TLDR Parents:

email@tldrparents.com

This address is our general forwarding address and TLDR Parents routes emails securely based on the sender. You may continue to use existing Gmail auto-forwarding rules if you've already set them up. 

3. Review Extracted Events

View Email Source - Click "In <email subject>" link on any event card to see the extracted details

Click the "In <email subject>" link on any event card to see:

• The original email text - Shows the entire email where we found the event
• Highlighted section showing precisely where we extracted event details

4. Add to Your Calendar or Dismiss the Event

5. Recommended/Optional - Add Your Family Members and Family Guests

Select the  button to add event invitees via text field per Event or in the Edit Event Details modal. Each invitee you add via text field will persist as a Family Guest and visible in the Members screen.

• View and invite your Family Members to create a TLDR User account and collaborate with you on your family's calendar event management.
  

• When you join a family on TLDR Parents, you get shared access to the TLDR Inbox—where school and activity emails are turned into organized, actionable events. From there, family members can:

  1. Spot potential conflicts across family calendars

  2. View full email details behind any event or update

  3. Be added automatically as invitees to family events

  4. Help confirm, edit, or manage events across the existing calendars you already use

  5. All within your current calendar permissions—nothing changes unless you approve it
     

• View, invite, edit and delete your Family Guests.
  
• Family Guests are not required to have a TLDR Parents user account and may be added to your events either by default or per event
  

Tips for Success

Use Gmail sync for the best experience
Connecting Gmail and using the "tldrparents" label gives you the most flexibility - manual control when you want it, automation when you need it.

Share entire emails
Whether forwarding or labeling, don't edit or trim emails. Our AI works best with full context.

Share new or recent emails
We're forward looking in proposing event suggestions and do not show past events.

Be careful with "mark as read" filters
Only use "mark as read" in Gmail filters if you're certain the filter catches only emails that never need a response (like newsletters from smore.com or parentsquare.com).

Use on-demand sync
Connected Gmail and need immediate processing? Click the "Sync Now" button rather than waiting for the automatic 1-2 minute sync.

Archive unwanted emails
If you're done referencing an email in TLDR Parents, you may archive it by selecting the X in the TLDR Parents Inbox view, per email. This will remove the email from the Inbox view, and any extracted Events and source references will remain actionable.

Processing takes time
Emails may show "in-process" for a few moments after submission. An Email that has not processed as expected will display an "error" state. Please Contact Support if you see an error state on an email.

Need Help?

• Check the Release Notes to see what features are available in this beta
• See Coming Soon to see what we're building next
  
• Review Get Support and Offer Feedback for tips on getting in touch with us.
  

Next Steps

1. Connect Gmail and apply the "tldrparents" label to a school newsletter or team email (or forward one if you prefer)
2. Explore the Inbox and Events screens
3. Review Events and add them to your family calendars
4. Set up a Gmail filter to auto-apply the label when you're ready to automate
5. Share feedback with our team

Welcome aboard! We're building this for busy parents like you, and your feedback will help shape the product.

We'd love to hear from you at support@tldrparents.com.

Last updated: December 2024 | Beta Version 0.3