Purpose
The purpose of this technical bulletin is to provide a brief overview of the Event Alerts that are tied to the Alerts and Notifications utility. This document covers what the Event Alerts could be used for and to provide instructions for creating and linking confirmation and reminder notifications.
This technical bulletin contains the following sections:
- Overview of Event Alerts
- Creating New Event Email Drafts
- Creating a New Confirmation and Reminder Notification
- Linking Confirmation and Reminder Notifications
- The Notification History Tab
Note: Read the documentation completely before using the Event Alerts.
- Overview of Event Alerts
Event Alerts are a subset of the Alerts and Notifications utility. Event Alerts are email notifications that get sent out to users who sign up for an event using a web site created by the Tour de Force Web API. These notifications and reminders are then sent out to the user who registered for the event, and unlike the Alerts and Notifications utility, Event Alerts can be sent out to users who are not a registered user of Tour de Force.
Event Alerts can only be used to send out confirmations and reminders that are tied to an Event that has been created in the Event Manager. How an Event Alert is used, and how Event Alerts get tied to the Event Manager, is all dependent upon how the company is utilizing the Tour de Force Web API. For example, the Tour de Force Web API has the ability to create new Account and Contact records based on fields filled out by attendees on the web site. Once the new Contact record gets created that Contact record then gets linked to the appropriate Event automatically. The Account Package that these Accounts and Contacts get added to is dependent upon the Account Package that the Event has been linked to. This is just one of many examples of the capabilities of the Web API and may not even apply to how another company is utilizing the Web API and Event Alerts.
However, regardless of how a company plans to use the Web API, there are a few requirements that every company needs to follow in order for the Event Alerts to function correctly.
Requirements/constants related to Event Alerts:
- Email Drafts have to be created for the confirmation and reminder emails
- The Events have to have been created using the Event Manager
- Notifications have to be linked to an existing Event
- An email profile, separate from the Alerts and Notifications email, has to be set up for the Event Alerts
- The web site that is being used by attendees has to have been created using the Tour de Force Web API
- Creating new Event Email Drafts
Before any notifications can be created and linked to an Event Alert, a user with access to the Draft Editor needs to create new Global Email drafts. These drafts are then going to be linked to a specific notification that is going to be sent out either has a confirmation email or a reminder email.
For example, one email draft would be en email congratulating the user for signing up for the event and another email draft would be an email reminding the attendee that they had signed up for that specific event.
These email drafts could be generic enough that they could cover all Events and not just a specific Event. However, if necessary an email draft could be created in relation to a specific event. How email drafts are handled is going to be related to company practices and policies and there is no set standard.
Use the following procedures to create a new Global Email Draft related to an Event:
Note: The email draft has to be a Global Email draft and not a Personal Email Draft. For more information regarding categories, and other fields in the Draft Editor, refer to Technical Bulletin 6302 – The Draft Editor.
- Open the Draft Editor.
- Select File and then New Email Draft.
- In the Email Draft Subject field, type in the name of the Subject for the email draft.
- If an Event draft category has been created, select Event Drafts in the Category field.
Note: This is an optional step.
- In the Choose a draft type field, select Global. The Event draft has to be a Global draft.
- In the Body Control, type in the information that needs to be included in the confirmation or reminder email.
- To find Bookmarks related to Events, select Drafts and then Bookmarks.
- In the Bookmarks menu select Event and then locate the fields that need to be in the email.
- Once finished, click the Save button to save the email draft.
- Creating a new Confirmation and Reminder Notification
After an Event email draft has been created, that email draft needs to be linked to either a confirmation email or a reminder email. Users with access to the Alerts and Notifications utility can go to the Event Alerts section and begin creating new confirmation emails and reminder notifications. For more information about accessing and setting up the Alerts and Notifications utility refer to Technical Bulletin 6001 – Alerts and Notifications.
Use the following procedures to create a new confirmation or reminder notification:
- Access the Alerts and Notifications utility. Once the utility opens, click on Event Alerts.
- Once the Event Alerts screen displays, click the Create Notifications tab.
- Click the New button.
- In the Description field, type in the name of the notification. The name of the notification does not get added anywhere into the Email and is just a description to help organize the confirmation or reminder.
- In the Notification Type field, select which notification that this email is going to be.
For example, if this notification is a confirmation email then click the Immediate confirmation field. If this notification is a reminder then click the Periodic reminder field.
- In the TDF Global Draft field, select the Global Draft that needs to correspond with this notification.
- If the notification is a reminder email, select the number of days prior to the start of the Event to send a reminder email.
- Click the Save button.
The new notification gets added to the grid. If the notification is a confirmation then the Confirmation Icon displays next to the description.
If the notification is a reminder then the Reminder Icon displays next to the description.
- Linking Confirmation and Reminder Notifications
After a confirmation or reminder has been created, those notifications need to be linked to a specific Event. Linking these notifications allows the Bookmarks in the Email drafts to pull in the information related to that specific Event.
Use the following procedures to link a confirmation or reminder notification to an Event:
- On the Event Alerts screen click on the Link Notifications to Events tab.
- On the Link Notifications to Events tab, click the Open Folder icon next to the Event that needs to have the confirmation or reminder email linked.
Note: The Open Folder icon has to be clicked in order for that Event to be selected. Selecting the row does not open that Event.
- Click the Click here to add a new confirmation/reminder for the Event field.
- Click the Notifications available to this Event field, and select the confirmation or reminder notification.
- Click the OK button to link that confirmation or reminder.
Note: Only one confirmation notification can be linked to an Event; however Events can have multiple reminder notifications.
If a confirmation notification is linked to an Event, the Confirmation Icon ungreys in the Upcoming Events grid indicating a confirmation has been linked to the Event.
If a reminder is linked to an Event the # Reminders field displays the number of reminders currently linked to that Event. Linking a reminder is the exact same as linking a confirmation, simply follow the steps outlined above.
- The Notification History Tab
The Notification History tab can be used to view all of the notifications that have been sent out using the Event Alerts service. Every time a confirmation or reminder email is sent out, the notification gets added to the Notification History tab. This tab is useful for administrators to test if the Event Alerts are working or to see if a notification had been sent for any attendee that did not receive an email.
There several fields of note in the Notification History tab:
- Event Subject – This field displays the name of the Event that the notification is linked to.
- Description – This field displays the name of the notification that was entered in the Description field.
- Contact Name – This field displays the name of the contact that the notification was sent to.
- Notification Date – This field displays the time and date that the notification was sent.
- Contact Email – This field displays the email address of the contact that the notification got sent to.
- Session Count – This field displays the number of sessions that the user has been enrolled in for that specific Event.
Version: 6 Technical Bulletin 6003
©2013 Tour de Force CRM
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