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Customize e-mail messages to patrons

You can customize e-mail messages to your patrons to communicate more effectively with them. For a description of the messages, see E-mail messages to patrons.

Notes

The From address and the Custom Reply Text are the same in all e-mail messages to patrons. You can change each of them in the Administration module.

You can also control whether information about patron accounts is included in or excluded from messages to your library's patrons. For more information, see Include/exclude patron account information in custom messages.

Procedure

To customize e-mail messages to your patrons:

  Action Result
1 Log on to QuestionPoint using your administrator authorization number.  
2 If the Administration module is not displayed, select Administration in the Select Service drop-down list at the top of the screen. The system displays Create New Librarian Account.
3 Click Settings below the Institution tab.

The General Settings screen appears.

4 Click the Custom Messages tab. The Custom Messages screen appears.
5 Click the Edit button for the message to patrons that you want to view or customize:
  • New Account
  • New Question
  • Answer
  • Clarification Request
  • New Account from Chat
  • Chat Transcript

The Custom Messages screen for that message appears.

6 Click the Test button at the bottom of the screen to view the current version of the message. The Test E-mail Template for the message appears in a separate window.
7 View or print the template, note any changes you wish to make, and close the template window. The Custom Messages screen for the message reappears.
8

If you want to change the From address, see Notes.

  
9 Skip the To address. You cannot change it. QuestionPoint supplies the patron's address when a message is sent.  
10 Skip the Subject line. You cannot change it.  
11 To change the Greeting:
  • Click the Default button if you want to use the default greeting.
  • Click the Custom button and type your greeting in the box if you want to use a custom greeting.
 Notes about custom greetings:
  • Be sure to read the message that follows the greeting to determine if you want to refer to it in your greeting.
  • If you want no greeting, click the Custom button and delete any text in the box.
  • Your greeting can contain up to 2048 bytes of data (about 250 words).
  • To include the patron's name in your greeting, type [XXXXX] where you want the name to appear. Be sure to include 5 uppercase Xs in brackets.
  • Press the Enter key on your keyboard to add line breaks and space between paragraphs.
12 Skip the Message section. You cannot change it.  
13 To change the Additional Text:
  • Click the Default button if you want to use the default additional text. For some messages, there is no default additional text.
  • Click the Custom button and type your additional text in the box if you want to provide any.
 Notes about additional text:
  • If you want no additional text, click the Custom button and delete any text in the box.
  • Your additional text can contain up to 2048 bytes of data (about 250 words).
  • You cannot include the patron's name in additional text.
  • Press the Enter key on your keyboard to add line breaks and space between paragraphs.
14 If you want to change the Custom Reply Text, see Notes.  
15 Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen. QuestionPoint acknowledges that your changes have been saved.
16 Click the Test button at the bottom of the screen to view the new version of the message. The Test E-mail Template for the message appears in a separate window.
17 View or print the template, note any further changes you wish to make, and close the template window. The Custom Messages screen for the message reappears.
18 If further changes are needed, repeat steps 11–17. Otherwise, go to step 19.  
19 If you want to customize another e-mail message to patrons, repeat steps 4–18.  

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