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Editing a Notification Template

Editing a Notification Template

Overview

Notification templates are Microsoft Word-based notifications used to merge data from specific functional areas. Notification templates can create notifications for a variety of activities, including item status changes, account-related notifications (such as expiring passwords or account invitations), and deadline reminders.

The AceOffix browser plugin and Microsoft Office must be installed to use the notification template editor. Although notifications are created in Microsoft Word (using AceOffix), they are converted to HTML before being sent via email. 

Editing a Notification Template

To edit a notification template:

  • Navigate to Admin > Notification Templates.

  • Click the Open button next to an existing template, or click the Add New Notification Template button to create a new one. Clicking either button opens a page on which a template can be configured.

  • Click the Edit button. This opens the template in an AceOffix window, where the notification appears as an editable Microsoft Word file with a list of available insertable fields in a panel on the left side of the screen.

To preview the template with actual data merged from the selected source, click the Preview button.

The AceOffix editor

Creating a notification template is the same as creating a document in Microsoft Word; the only difference is that a notification template can include words or values that change dynamically based on the permit information, inspection, or any other data that may vary from one notification to another. These dynamic values are added via insertable merge fields.

Insertable Fields

The following insertable fields can be added to templates to dynamically merge data from the system into a notification:

  • Single Insertable Fields: Appear in non-bold text and are inserted as placeholders (for example, <<[FieldName]>>).

  • Looping Insertable Fields: Appear in bold text and represent repeating data structures (for example, a list of contacts). These use <<foreach [item in items]>> … <</foreach>> syntax.

If you know the name of the field you’d like to use, begin typing it in the filter field at the top of the fields list. The list will dynamically updates to display all fields that match the entered value.

For a list of all standard insertable fields, see the Common Document/Notification Template Merge Field List page.

To insert a field:

  • Double-click a single (non-bold) field to insert it at the cursor location.

  • Double-click a looping (bold) field to insert a loop structure at the cursor location.

  • Click a looping (bold) field once to display its available subfields.

For more information on looping and advanced syntax, see the Using Loops in Document Templates page.

Variables, Formulas, Formatting Content and Controlling Logic

Notification templates are powerful tools that can generate complex notifications using conditional logic and a variety of data sources. They can also perform data manipulation and calculations. For more information and to explore some of the codes that can be used in a notification template, see the Document Template Syntax Guide page.