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Notification Templates: Instructions for Configuring Generic Email Notifications

Allyson Ryan
  • Updated

Creating generic email notification templates that are tailored for repeat district communications between the sender and the recipient, ensures consistency and saves time. This approach not only helps maintain a professional tone but also eliminates the need to compose individual messages each time a communication needs to be sent. It is recommended to set up generic email notification templates for each area of SchoolFront that uses notifications. 

Applicable Roles

  • Administrators
  • Teacher
  • Admissions
  • Academic Administrator
  • Business Office
  • Evaluation Administrator
  • Recruiting Administrator
  • Benefits Coordinator
  • HR Admin
  • HR Team

Prerequisites

Creating Notifications, Categories for Notifications, Notification Templates: Custom Fields

Contents

Create Email Template

Create Custom Field

Send Notification

Create Email Template

  1. Create your generic email template, see Creating Notifications for instructions, and click "Insert":

  1. Once the Template is created, the lower half of your screen will display the template information with the following tabs: Details, Custom Fields, Notification Sends, Notification HTML History. 

  2. Select the "Custom Fields" tab:

Create Custom Field

Creating a Custom Field, will allow the space for the email that you are sending, to be inserted into the Notification:

  1. In the Custom Fields tab, select "New Field" 

    *Note: See Shared Custom Fields for instructions on using shared fields in notifications

  2. The pop-up, "Mail Merge Custom Field Management" will display

  3. In the Custom Field Type drop-down, select "Formatted Text"

  4. Once the window refreshes, the options in the pop-up will then reflect the necessary fields to be entered for your multi-use, generic email:
    1. Enter Field Name
    2. Enter Custom Field Display Name
    3. Enter the Default Value of this field - this is where you enter your generic email body that will be used in the notification
    4. Complete selections in the Field Display section

    5. Click "Save" (Clicking "Save & Add Another" to continue to create templates and "Cancel" will back out and do nothing with the current window template you've started)

  5. Your Custom Field will now be listed in the grid:

  6. Click the Details tab

  7. Click the "Notification Builder" link

  8. Enter the following in the Template Builder:

    1. Type the salutation
    2. Click "Notification Markers" to insert a marker pertaining to the recipient
    3. Click "Notification Markers" to insert the Custom Field Email you have just created
    4. Type the closing 
    5. Click "Notification Markers" to insert the marker associated with the sender 

    6. Click Save

      Note: You are free to just add the Notification Marker containing your custom field, but it is recommended to include recipients and sender markers as well so that you do not need to enter these fields repeatedly

Send Notification

  1. Navigate to the area of SchoolFront you have created the template for (in our example we are using Active Employees to send an Open Enrollment reminder email)
  2. Select recipients

  3. Click "Send Notification"

  4. The "Send Notifications" pop-up will display

  5. Select the Notification Template you created in Step 1

  6. The Notification Template selected will then change the display of the Send Notifications Window, opening the "Form Fields" section to author your email (this is the Custom Field you created). Complete the Notification by filling out required (marked with *) fields

  7. Upon completion: 

    1. Click "PDF Preview" - to preview the Notification
    2. Click "Create Notification" - to send the Notification
    3. Click "Cancel" to back out of the Notification without saving 

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