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Configuring Message Templates

This topic is subject to expert review. Please provide any feedback to Alemba Support.

Within any organization, email is often the keystone needed to notify Users or alert Analysts. vFire Core provides a standard set of email templates which are fully configurable through the Designer, whether it is to change the subject line (when configuring Mail Message Types), the standard message text supplied, or even add your corporate logo to an email used to communicate with a User regarding a call they have logged.

Before you start

Before configuring templates, we strongly recommend that you undertake appropriate training on the Designer.

Exercise caution when using the Designer to modify designs which have been customized by Alemba Professional Services. Contact your Alemba account manager if you are uncertain about whether your actions will impact these customizations.

To configure fields using the Designer, you must have Designer selected in your General Access Security Role.

To maintain an audit trail of changes made to screens, forms and message templates, Designer must be selected in the Auditing window.

Find the screen, if it is not already displayed.

Make the Find a Screen tab uppermost, if necessary.

The left pane contains an alphabetical list of the main entity types in vFire Core (such as, Agreement, Bulletin, Call, etc) with which screens are associated.

The main pane has a set of filters across the top of the window, beneath which there is a browse table, which is currently empty, containing the following fields:

Name	name of the screen, template or form
Screen Set	to which the screen, template or form belongs
Screen Design	which could be Service Desk Form (linked to a particular entity, eg Call Default Form), Service Desk (the details screen used in the main application), Self Service Portal (submission or review screen) or Message Template (for emails generated by the system following certain events, eg Availability Breach)
Customized	Whether the screen, template or form has been customized outside the system. This field will be selected if the item has been imported.
Last Modified	The date and time of any modification, including when a field was created, linked to a screen set and any other modifications to field properties

Select the entity type (such as Call) from the left pane. The table displays the configurable screens, templates and forms associated with the selected entity, with the first one highlighted. Items you cannot create or configure are not included. The number of screens associated with the selected entity is displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the window.
Filter and sort the screens if you wish:

To filter the number of entries displayed on the table, use the fields at the top of the window:

Screen Name

Type a name and select

Screen Set

A drop-down list of all screen sets. Each entity type has a standard screen set which has the same name as the entity. For example, the default screen set for calls is Call Screen Set.

Certain entity types, such as Organization, Person, Agreement and Location, only have default screen sets. Others, such as Call, Request, Task, CMDB item, Contract and Knowledge can have custom screen sets and these will appear on the list. Only one Details screen and one Submission screen can exist per screen set. You can have multiple message templates and service desk forms in the same screen set.

Screen Design

A drop-down list of available designs

To sort the information, click on the required column heading (such as Name). The entries are displayed in alphabetical order for that column.

Select the template you wish to work with, and select at the bottom of the window. To select multiple templates, select one and hold down the Shift or Ctrl key and select the rest.
The window changes and if you look in the top left corner, you will see that the View Screens tab is now uppermost.

You can select the Find a Screen tab again if you wish to select a different screen.

Select to display the template details, if they are not already displayed. Each field is shown in [square brackets] in the main pane of the window.
Make the necessary changes, adding and deleting fields and layout widgets.

When inserting a field into a message template design, at Data fields for you can select Sender and Recipient to filter and add details relating to the relevant person.

On the email template body, you can add standard fields related to the email template, and use the HTML editor to format the template.

The subject line of a message template is edited in a subject editor accessed from the Message Type Map window.

If you are updating font sizes, note that Designer manages text elements in pixels, while applications like Outlook and MS Word use points to determine font size. In order to achieve the desired font size, you should specify a pixel value that is about one third larger (divide your required size by 3 and multiply be 4). So, for example, if you want your output to display at 12pt, specify a value of 16pt; to achieve an output of 30pt, specify a value of 40, and so on.

Select at the bottom of the window to save changes to the current screen or to save the content as an HTML file. The file can then be edited with any HTML editor. However, you should be aware that any instability as a result of modifications made outside the Designer is not covered by your Alemba support and maintenance agreement. When you export a screen, form or message template, images embedded on to the template are not exported. When you load an exported screen, form or message template into vFire Core, you will need to re-add any images. saves changes to all open screens. If auditing is turned on, the Change Reasons window will display, prompting you to add a change reason.

Using the HTML Editor to format your Message Template

You can use the HTML formatting toolbar to format the text in the message template.

With the template details on screen, click in the screen, avoiding any of the fields.
The formatting toolbar is displayed. Use the buttons to apply the formatting you want.
Select at the bottom of the window to save changes to the current screen or to save the content as an HTML file. The file can then be edited with any HTML editor. However, you should be aware that any instability as a result of modifications made outside the Designer is not covered by your Alemba support and maintenance agreement. When you export a screen, form or message template, images embedded on to the template are not exported. When you load an exported screen, form or message template into vFire Core, you will need to re-add any images. saves changes to all open screens. If auditing is turned on, the Change Reasons window will display, prompting you to add a change reason.

Find a Screen	Can be used to search for and work with specific screens, forms or message templates, as well as create new in-house screens
View screens	Displays details of currently selected screens and is used to modify screens
Skins	Enables you to create and modify skins for your vFire Self Service Portal(s)