Notifications
The Notification system provides a mechanism for clients, candidates and secondary agencies to be notified of key events relating to vacancies, placements and shifts, by means of HTML email or SMS text.
This is achieved by the creation of message templates which contain substitutable merge fields similar to the merge fields in the IQX MS Word mechanism.
The creation of a template is all that is required to 'switch on' each notification mechanism.
The fields in the template record are:
ID - visible unique id
Description
Transmission Type - Email, SMS or Push
Notification Type
App_Favourites - used on the Favourites form to send to applicants
App_ProgressContact - used on the progress view of the Person record
App_SearchContact - used when searching for vacancies from the candidate record
Availability - used for the Availability view of the Temp Desk
ClientContact - used on Client form (notify button, top panel)
Com_Favourites - used on the Favourites form to send to client contacts
Compliance - used on the Temp Desk Compliance view
DiaryReminder - used on Diary→Reminder form
Expiry Dates - used in the Expiry Dates view of the Temp Desk
FillShiftPack - used on Shift Matching Forms to Send Docs
Job - used when a job calls a notification template
NotifyCancel - used on Shift Confirmation form re cancelling shifts
NotifyConfirm - used on Shift Confirmation form
PersonContact - used on Person form (notify button, top panel)
PersonContactPack - used on Person Progress view to Send Docs
PersonPack - used on Person and Person Selector Forms to Send Docs
PersonShiftPack used on Person/Vacancy Shift Views to Send Docs
PlacementConfirm - used on Placement form (notify button, top panel)
PlacementContact - used on the Placement selector
Placements - used on Temp Desk Placement view
PLC_Link - used on the Placement Link view of a placement record (2.23.30+)
ProgressCode<StatusCode> - used on Vacancy Shortlist view and Progress Forms(notify button) use individual codes eg ProgressCodeA
QueryBook - used by the query mechanism on the Shift Match/Book forms
QueryCancel - used by the query mechanism on Shift Conformation form
QueryConfirm - used by query mechanism on Shift Confirmation form
SHF_FillConfirm - used to confirm after booking a shift on the shift fill wizard
Temps - used on Temp Desk Temps view
TimesheetContact- used by notification mechanism on Tempdesk (timesheet) form
Vacancies -used on Vacancies view of a Shift Desk
Vac_Contact - used on the Vacancy selector
VacancyShifts - used on the Vacancy Shifts view of the Temp Desk
VacShortListPack- used on Vacancy/Shortlist to Send Docs
Vac_SearchContact - used on vacancy search final page (2.23.30+)
Recipient Type - Candidate, Client, Agency or Owner
Template - the text of the template. This will be
HTML for emails and plain text for SMS. For the substitutable fields see below. Note that for Emails the resulting text will be inserted into an
HTML wrapper - see below for details.
Sort Order - If there are multiple templates for the same notification type and different sort order when sending the notification you will be prompted to 'Select a Template' from a list. If there is only one Template this will be selected by Default. If more than one template shares the lowest sort order, all with that sort order will be displayed in separate forms. This allows for both SMS and Email notifications to be sent at the same time.
Group Code - can be used for identifying templates for a particular division, for example, and incorporated into the Template Selector function for multi-brand organisations
Defunct - if ticked the template will not appear for selection. Useful for old or partly written templates
Substitutable Codes
These are inserted into templates enclosed in {}. See Example Template below.
Client Codes
COM_NAME
COM_SALUTATION
COM_COMPANYNAME
COM_ADDR1
COM_ADDR2
COM_ADDR3
COM_TOWN
COM_COUNTY
COM_COUNTRY
COM_POSTCODE
COM_POSITION
COM_DEPARTMENT
COM_ADDRESSLONG
COM_ADDRESS
COM_PHN_DIRECT_TELEPHONE
COM_PHN_MOBILE
COM_PHN_DIRECT_FAX
COM_PHN_E-MAIL
COM_PHN_SKYPE
COM_PHN_FACEBOOK
COM_PHN_LINKEDIN
COM_HEADERNAME
Placement Codes
PLC_SALARY
PLC_POSITION
PLC_STARTDATE
PLC_LEAVEDATE
PLC_DEPARTMENT
PLC_PLACEDATE
Vacancy Codes
VAC_POSITION
VAC_ENTRYDATE
VAC_STARTDATE
VAC_SALARY
VAC_REFCODE
VAC_NOOFPOSTS
VAC_EXPIRY
VAC_SITEADDR1
VAC_SITEADDR2
VAC_SITEADDR3
VAC_SITETOWN
VAC_SITECOUNTY
VAC_SITECOUNTRY
VAC_SITEPOSTCODE
VAC_ADDRESSLONG
VAC_ADDRESS
VAC_SITENAME
VAC_SITECONTACT
VAC_SITEFAX
VAC_SITEEMAIL
VAC_SITEPHONES
VAC_SITEROLE
VAC_HEADLINEPAYRATE
Shift Codes
There may be multiple shifts in the notification, so these codes must be placed between SHN_BEGIN and SHN_END codes to define a repeating block. See Example Template below.
SHN_DATE
SHN_FROM
SHN_TO
SHN_NOTE
SHN_BREAKMINUTES
SHN_WHENCANCELLED
SHN_CLIENTNOTE
SHN_THEIRREF
SHN_CANCELREASON
SHN_WHENCANCELLED
SHN_PERSON
SHN_CLIENTCONFIRMED
SHN_TEMPCONFIRMED
SHN_STATE
SHN_STATEDESC
SHN_SERIALNUMBER
SHN_ORDEREDBY
It is possible to list all shifts applicable (up to 365 days in advance) to an applicant wrapping the fields in SHR_BEGIN & SHR_END. The shifts do not have to be referenced in the shift confirmation screen. 2.22.11+ to list a specific range of shifts e.g. for 7 days from this Monday you would use SHR_BEGIN_MON+7 & SHR_END.
Secondary Agency Codes
These are available when the recipient type is Agency
SAG_NAME
SAG_SALUTATION
SAG_COMPANYNAME
SAG_ADDR1
SAG_ADDR2
SAG_ADDR3
SAG_TOWN
SAG_COUNTY
SAG_COUNTRY
SAG_POSTCODE
SAG_POSITION
SAG_DEPARTMENT
SAG_ADDRESSLONG
SAG_ADDRESS
SAG_PHN_DIRECT_TELEPHONE
SAG_PHN_MOBILE
SAG_PHN_DIRECT_FAX
SAG_PHN_E-MAIL
SAG_PHN_SKYPE
SAG_PHN_FACEBOOK
SAG_PHN_LINKEDIN
SAG_HEADERNAME
Colleague Codes
It is possible to list colleagues associated with a shift. This is only available under shift confirmations and the information is taken only from the selected shifts. To list more that one colleague then the fields should be placed betwen COL_BEGIN and COL_END
COL_APP_NAME
COL_APP_MOBILE
COL_NOTE
Example Template
This is an HTML email template which includes a table containing a list of shifts. Note the date format string in the {SHN_DATE} code.
<h2>{APP_SALUTATION}</h2>
<h4>Can you work these shifts?</h4>
<p>{VAC_POSITION}</p>
<p>at {COM_COMPANYNAME}</p>
<table>
{SHN_BEGIN}
<tr>
<td>{SHN_DATE DDDD dd/mm/yyyy}</td>
<td>{SHN_FROM} - {SHN_TO}</td>
</tr>
{SHN_END}
</table>
2.23.1+ Save&Open button has been added allowing you to extract your template. If you save as an
HTML file it will also open in a browser where you can right click to inspect source and edit. If you then save the file you can load back into the notification template using the Load button.
HTML wrapper mechanism
When generating an email notification, the expanded template will be inserted into an HTML_WRAP email signature construct, replacing the {bodytext} token. By default the wrapper with ID 'HTML_WRAP' will be used, but you can over-ride this in the 'HTML Wrap ID' Notification function. Into the wrapper will also be inserted a generated email signature, replacing {signature}. The 'DEFAULT' signature will be used unless the 'Signature ID' Notification function is used to over-ride. Any {origmessage} token in the wrapper will be blanked.
Configuration Functions
Found under Maintenance - Database Functions - Notifications
Template Selector allows filtering of the list of available templates displayed on the combo - return 1 to include the template.
HTML Wrap ID allows over-ride of the default '
HTML_WRAP'
Signature ID allows over-ride of the default 'DEFAULT'
Staff ID used to populate the signature. The default is the logged in user.
Employment ID allows specification of a client contact other than the vacancy owner - perhaps from a Vacancy Role
Recipients allows specification of a comma-separated list of email addresses or phone numbers to either replace or add to the default, which is the normal email or phone number of the recipient. If the return value starts with a + it will be appended to the default, otherwise it will replace the default.
Attachments allows specification of a comma-separated list of attachments, either files or documents attached to records. Example: Company: *,C:\docs\toc.pdf,Report: details.rtm,CV which would attach all company documents, one static file, one dynamically generated report and the CV. Report templates must be located in the normal default report folder or specified by full pathname, they will receive the following parameters in order: PersonID, CompanyID, VacancyID, PlacementID, Agency CompanyID and will be be attached to the email as a pdf.
Email Subject allows over-ride of the email subject - default is the template description
Contact Event Type Code allows over-ride of the Contact Event Type the default comes from General Setting 'Notification Contact Event Type Code'
The notification send form allows you to insert a comment to be included with every message in the batch. This will be inserted at {MSC_COMMENT}, if present in the template, otherwise added to the bottom of the message (before the signature).
Adding a Thumbnail Photo
It is possible to include the thumbnail from a candidate record in a notification, this is useful if you are using notifications to send assignment confirmations. General Setting number 3040 ‘Display Thumbnail Photo on Person’ needs to be set to Y then in your notification template insert the code {APP_THUMBNAIL} where you want the photo to appear.
Adding an Image
Images can be included in the notification template by including something like <img width=300 class=“center” src=“file:/C:\IQX\Reports\logo.jpg”/> where you can set the file location and the name of the image. If you are an IQXAnywhere client then you need to include something like <img width= “739” height= “623” style= “width:7.7in;height:6.4916in” src=“https://pizza.iqxanywhere.net/assets/logo.jpg”> instead of the file path you use the web location. You will also need to upload the file to Email, Web Report Images and rebuild Web once it has been uploaded.
From 2.23.1+ it is also possible to send an ad hoc image to all recipients in your selection, this can be useful for sending marketing information that has been created as an image rather than a word document. If set up by your system administrator a new button will appear in the notification allowing you to browse your computer for an image to include in all notifications.
In the relevant template add the following :- <img src=“{GETIMAGE}” alt=“test” width=“500” height=“600”> to switch on the new image button in the notification.
Custom Merge Fields
Some custom merge fields should ONLY be used in notifications (for example some HTML coding), there is now a Notifications Only tick box in Maintenance – Database Set Up – Custom Word Merge Fields. If ticked the fields will not be available for adding to a document template, they will be accessible under the [Special] header in Notifications.
If using a custom merge fields that requires the information to be over multiple lines e.g. address in a block then the merge field will need to be amended to replace the carriage returns with HTML breaks. This needs to be in the custom merge field and the _literal_ needs to be the first part:
string('_literal_',
replace( Item to be Replaced) endif, string(char(13), char(10)), '<br/>'))
Adding a URL
It is possible to include a URL in the notification template so that candidates can click on it to take them direct to the portal to complete details, download forms or book in to shifts. To include a URL you need to create some boiler plate text with the following: _literal_<a href=“https://www.iqx.co.uk”> Home</a> where iqx.co.uk can be replaced with whatever URL you want to direct the recipient to, and then insert the boiler plate text into your notification template.
Save as PDF
If you require certain notifications to be saved as a PDF for re-use e.g. an ID badge the template needs to be enabled for saving as a PDF by ticking he 'Save to Docs' box. This will activate the Save to Docs button on the notification itself, users will need to press this button to save the notification as it does not save automatically.
Check Lists
Checklists can be sent from either the Person, Placement or Progress record - click the notification blue bell > Select Notification Template > click ‘Add’ button and select Checklist from the drop down > a window will open with the list of saved checklists > click ‘Create new document using selected template’ > this will open the checklist word doc, you can add/remove word merge fields or free type any info needed.
Click ‘Save to Documents’ > this will save the form into the corresponding documents (Person, Placement or Progress) and also attach the doc to the notification to enable it to be sent.
Checklists need to be set up and saved in Maintenance > Agency Setup > Document Templates > Checklists and Notification templates also need to be set up to run from Person, Placement and Progress. On the template ensure you have the Check List box ticked.