Exercise 07: Customizing Email and Document Templates

Introduction

Email Templates and Template Variables - Overview

• Use Email Templates to email custom messages on a specific Object record
• You can use Template Variables (availability depends on template type) to be replaced with:
  • Record data
  • Related Record data (if exist)
  • User data
  • Company Information
  • Date/Time
  • Comments and Notes
  • Global custom data (Custom Template Variables)
• Template Variables can be selected, copied and pasted from the Template Variable Tool at the top of the Email Template editor

Setting up Email Templates

Provide:

• Template Name
• Type
  • Determines where this Template can be used and which Template Variables are available
• From Name
• From Email Address
• Subject
• Message (see later)
• Attachments (optional)
  • One or more of the Document Templates created for your data (see later)

Email Templates – Compose the Email Message

• Build an Email message in one of the following ways:
  • HTML WYSIWYG Editor
  • Raw HTML Text Editor
    • Paste HTML copied from another HTML editor or another source
  • Plain Text
    • Paste or create a plain text email message
• Tip: Don’t switch editors for an existing template
  • Formatting typically gets lost

Template Variable Tool

• Use the Template Variable Tool to graphically get the syntax for a selected variable in a given context
• Tool available when building:
  • Email Templates
  • Document Templates
  • Formula expression in:
    • Custom Form Actions
    • Rules and Rule Sets
    • Web Tabs

(Syntax differs in different contexts)

Document Templates

• Use Document Templates to create prefilled forms, invoices, contracts, and other types of documents using data stored in a record of a specific Object
• Document Templates may also use Template Variables
• Can use a JSP/HTML Page hosted on AgileApps platform OR Can be created using an external document of type:
  • MS Word
  • MS PowerPoint
  • HTML
  • JSP Page
  • Compound, composed of multiple parts
• You can:
  • Attach a Document Template to an Email Template
  • Add a document as an attachment to an Object record

Create a Document Template using an External Document

1. Create a document of type Word, PowerPoint, or HTML on your local computer that includes all of the hard coded text and images

   • While creating the document, make note of the object data you want to add

2. Create a new Document Template for your Object in AgileApps

   • Use the Template Variable Tool to get the names of variables you need
   • Use the Reports Tool to get the identifiers for the charts you require

3. Add Template Variables and images depending on the type of external document to the document created above
4. Provide Document Template information:

   • Template Title
   • The Document Template name
   • Description
   • Ready to Use - {Yes | No}
   • Type:
     • File - to browse and upload an external HTML, Word, or PowerPoint file
     • Page - to use a JSP/HTML Page stored in the platform

5. Optionally, use the Apache Velocity scripting language to build logic into the template

Exercise

This exercise has two parts:

• In Part 1, you customize the Email Template you created in Exercise 5.
• In Part 2, you create a Document Template and add it to the Email Template defined in Part 1.

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