Creating new alerts

1. From the Staff site, go to RiSE > Process automation.
2. Select the Tasks tab. A list of existing tasks displays.
3. Click Add new task.
4. Enter a Name that indicates the purpose of the task.
5. (optional) It is recommend that you enter a task Description.
6. Select Alert display as the task Type.
7. (optional) (Data sources tab) Create and manage query data sources for the task.
Click for details
All query data sources created for this task are listed. The name of all data sources will populate in a drop-down when defining a Condition or Alert. You cannot delete a data source if the data source is selected within a Condition or Alert, however not every data source you have defined must be used when creating a Condition or Alert.
1. Select Add data source.
   1. Enter a Data source name. It is recommended that you choose a name that indicates the type of records returned by the data source.
   2. Select an existing query or click Create source query to add a new query.
      • If you select an existing query, the $/Common/Tasks/Queries folder opens by default.
      • If you choose to add a new query, you are taken to the Intelligent Query Architect where you can define a new query.
2. Save your data source.
3. If needed, add additional data sources.
8. (Conditions tab) Specify the Conditions that must be met in order for the task to run.
Click for details

1. If a query data source was defined on the Data sources or Alert tab, select one of the following options:
   • Use existing data source - select a previously defined data source from the drop-down that will only display data sources that are not being used in any other Conditions.
   • Use results of IQA query as data source - select this option to define a new data source.
     • Enter a Data source name. It is recommended that you choose a name that indicates the type of records returned by the data source.
     • Select an existing query or click Create source query to add a new query.
       • If you select an existing query, the $/Common/Tasks/Queries folder opens by default.
       • If you choose to add a new query, you are taken to the Intelligent Query Architect where you can define a new query.
2. If there were no previously defined data sources from the Data sources or Alert tab, provide the following required information:

   • Enter a Data source name. It is recommended that you choose a name that indicates the type of records returned by the data source.

     Select an existing query or click Create source query to add a new query.

     • If you select an existing query, the $/Common/Tasks/Queries folder opens by default.
     • If you choose to add a new query, you are taken to the Intelligent Query Architect where you can define a new query.

3. Save your data source.
4. If needed, add additional data sources.

Note: This data source will populate on the Data sources tab once you click Save.

When the task is called to display the alert, it displays if any of the selected data sources return one or more records or if no Conditions are defined.

See Creating data sources (queries) for your alert task for more information about creating a query to use as a task data source.

9. (Alert tab) Create the Alert that the task generates when the conditions are met.
Click for details
1. (optional) To insert fields (such as a contact’s name) from data sources in the defined Data sources or Conditions into the alert, specify the Data sources you want to use. To learn more about how to format and utilize these options, see Using placeholders.
2. You can also Add a new data source to be used as a source for merge fields. New data sources added on the Alerts tab are not added as task Conditions.
   1. Enter a Data source name. It is recommended that you choose a name that indicates the type of records returned by the data source.
   2. Select an existing query or click Create source query to add a new query.
      • If you select an existing query, the $/Common/Tasks/Queries folder opens by default.
      • If you choose to add a new query, you are taken to the Intelligent Query Architect where you can define a new query.

Note: This data source will populate on the Data sources tab once you click Save.

Note: If the Conditions data sources apply the @SelectedUser value to a filter, any new data sources that you create for merging purposes should also use @SelectedUser with the same filter.

3. (optional) Add to alert set to include the task in an alert set. You can choose from existing alert sets or select Add new set to create a new alert set. The task can belong to multiple sets. (You can also add tasks to an alert set when editing the set. See Creating an alert set.)

In order to display an alert to users, you must include it in an alert set and configure an Alert Display content item on your website to display the alert set.

Note: The task is added to the bottom of the alert set. Alerts display to the user in their order in the set. To rearrange the order of tasks in the set, you must edit the alert set.

4. Enter and format the Default message.
   1. (optional) To insert icons in an alert, use the Image Manager.
   2. (optional) To insert fields from the selected Data sources into the alert, use the Insert data source field drop-down.
   Click for details

   You can reformat these fields with a formatting string. To specify a format, add format=”FORMAT_HERE” inside the brackets, with FORMAT_HERE specified by .NET Framework Standard Format Strings. For example: {#iqa.DataAdded format="d"}.
   
   There are both Date/Time and Number formats available:

   • format=“C” - Currency: Convert 123.456 to $123.46 ("C", en-US)
   • format=“d” - Short date: Convert 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM to 6/15/2009 (en-US)
   • format=“D” - Long date: Convert 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM to Monday, June 15, 2009 (en-US)
     

   Note: For more information on formatting types, please reference the .NET framework.

   3. (optional) To include repeating data from a data source in the alert, use the {foreach} placeholder. See Using the foreach placeholder for more information on the {foreach} placeholder.
   4. (optional) You can use the Apply CSS Class drop-down to apply styling and formatting to specific portions of the alert message. Select the area you want to style and choose a CSS class from the drop-down.
   5. (optional) To insert a link to a content record in the message, use the Insert link drop-down to select Alert link
   Click for details
   • You can select a content record or enter a shortcut as the Link Target. If you enter a shortcut, it should include the [Website] variable. This format points users to the web page within the correct site, ensuring that the page displays with the correct theme. For example, if you want to link to the EventDetail shortcut, enter Website/EventDetail or [Website]/EventDetail.

   • Enter the Link text that will display in the alert message.

   • If needed, enter the Url parameter of a web page. For example, you can enter ProductCode=FR004 to use the page for a specific product as the link destination. You can also use a variable as the Url parameter, such as ProductCode={#product.ProductCode}.

   • If needed, enter or select a Source code to associate this link with a marketing campaign.
   6. (optional) To create a second version of the alert that only displays when a contact views their own record, select Display personalized message if a contact is viewing their own record. Enter and format a Personalized message. For example, you might want a membership renewal alert to use different wording when displayed to a contact (“Your membership expires soon.”) than when displayed to a staff user (“John Smith’s membership expires in the next 60 days.”).
10. To activate the task, select Enabled.
11. Save the task.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you test the alert message to confirm that the formatting and styling is correct. After adding it to an alert set used by an Alert Display content item, find a contact for whom the alert displays and view the alert to verify its appearance.

Do the following to create an alert set:

1. From the Staff site, go to RiSE > Process automation.
2. Select the Alert sets tab.
3. Click Add alert set.
4. Enter a Name for the new alert set.
5. Enter a Description for the new alert set.
6. (optional) To restrict the users who can view alerts for other contacts to authorized users only, click Limit users who can view alerts for other contacts. Authorized users include staff users and Company Administrators for groups to which a contact belongs. Users can always view their own alerts.
7. Save the alert set.
8. Click Add new to add an alert task to the set.
   1. Select a Task.
   2. Click Save.
9. If needed, add other tasks to the set.
10. Use the arrows to rearrange the tasks in the set. The alerts display to the user in the set order.
11. Save the alert set.

Syntax of conditional functions

To insert a conditional function in the HTML body of one of the supported areas, use the syntax:

{if (conditions)}
     Text or HTML to appear if condition is true
{/endif}

If the conditions evaluate to FALSE, then the text or HTML is not shown.

Available conditional functions

This section covers the specific conditional functions supported in alerts, communication templates, Data Showcase, and Query Template Display.

Important! All conditional functions are case sensitive and must be upper case.

COUNT

Counts the number of items in a collection and returns an integer value.

Example:

{if (COUNT(#party.AdditionalAttributes) GT 0 AND #party.AdditionalAttributes[1].Name EQ
'IsMemberRecord' AND #party.AdditionalAttributes[1].Value EQ true)}
Is a member.
{/endif}

LENGTH

Determines the length of the value and returns it as an integer.

Example:

{if (LENGTH(#query.TAX_EXEMPT) GT 0)}
Contact is tax exempt.
{/endif}

ISTRUE

Tests whether the specified parameter is true.

Example:

{if (COUNT(#party.AdditionalAttributes) GT 0 AND #party.AdditionalAttributes[3].Name EQ 'IsMember' 
      AND ISTRUE(#party.AdditionalAttributes[3].Value))}
Contact is a member.
{/endif}

ISFALSE

Tests whether the specified condition is false.

Example:

{if (ISFALSE(#query.IsMember))}
Contact is not a member.
{/endif}

ISNULLOREMPTY

Indicates whether the specified string is null or empty. Returns true if the value parameter is null or an empty string; otherwise, false.

Example:

{if (ISNULLOREMPTY(#query.Website))}
Please add your website!
{/endif}

ISNOTNULLOREMPTY

Indicates whether the specified string is not null or empty. Returns true if the value is not null or empty; otherwise, false.

Example:

{if (ISNOTNULLOREMPTY(#query.PaidThrough) AND #query.PaidThrough LT Now)}
Contact is not yet expired.
{/endif}

DAYSBETWEEN

Returns the number of days between two dates as an integer value.

Example:

{if (DAYSBETWEEN(#query.RenewedThrough, #query.PaidThrough) GT 90)}
Member is due for renewal.
{/endif}

DATE

Makes sure date or literal date value is culture safe.

Example:

{if (ISNOTNULL(#query.JoinDate) AND (#query.JoinDate GTE DATE('12/31/2021')))}
2022 MEMBER
{/endif}

CONTAINS

Checks whether a particular sequence of characters is part of a given string. Case is ignored and true or false is returned.

Example:

{if (CONTAINS(#query.JoinDate, '2022'))}
New member in 2022.
{/endif}

NOTCONTAINS

Checks whether a particular sequence of characters is not part of a given string. Case is ignored and true or false is returned.

Example:

{if (NOTCONTAINS(#query.City, 'Austin'))}
Member is not an Austin resident.
{/endif}

STARTSWITH

Check whether the beginning of the current string instance matches with a specified string or not. Case is ignored and true or false is returned.

Example:

{if (STARTSWITH(#query.City, 'Aus') OR STARTSWITH(#query.City, 'Dal') )}
Member may live in Austin or Dallas.
{/endif}

ENDSWITH

Check whether the end of the current string instance matches with a specified string or not. Case is ignored and true or false is returned.

Example:

{if (ENDSWITH(#query.FullName, 'Smith') OR ENDSWITH(#query.FullName, 'Richards') )}
Last name ends with Smith or Richards.
{/endif}

The letter expressions are case sensitive and must be upper case. The following are acceptable condition operators:

• GT - Greater than
• GTE - Greater than equal to
• LT - Less than
• LTE - Less than equal to
• EQ - Is equal
• EQUALS - Is equal
• NEQ - Not equal
• OR - Logical Or
• AND - Logical And
• == - Is Equal, but preferred syntax is EQ
• != - Not equal, but preferred syntax is NEQ
• || - Logical Or, but preferred syntax is OR

Example: The association is offering a gift to members and donors on their birthday and is customizing the gifts based on their age. If they are over 25, they will receive a Gold gift, and if they are under 25, they will receive a Silver gift.

Do the following to update the out-of-the-box birthday alert to display a conditional gift based on age:

1. Go to RiSE > Process automation.
2. From the search, locate the Contact birthday alert.
3. Select the Name of the alert to open it for edit.
4. Click the Alert tab.
5. Click the HTML tab.



6. Directly under Today is {#Birthday.FirstName}'s birthday, paste the following:

{if (#Birthday.CurrentAge) GTE 25}
    Send them a Gold Gift!
{/endif}
{if (#Birthday.CurrentAge) LTE 25}
    Send them a Silver Gift!
{/endif}



Continue customizing the alert message.
7. Click Save & Exit.

The alert displays on the member’s account page on their birthday and conditionally displays a Gold or Silver message based on the age defined in the function defined in the alert.