PDF Uploader

If you need to send out contact-specific attachments such as fee statements, report cards, or really any attachment containing confidential information, you can use the PDF Uploader option to have BrightArrow parse out the PDF files so that you can send a whole batch of documents in one go. As long as certain keywords are present our parser will know which page goes to which recipient.  

In the past we've had you upload to a specific folder using sFTP. Now you can upload using the PDF Uploader built into the interface. Please note that in order to use the PDF Uploader, we will first need to set up a report emailing list for you. Contact us if you do not have a report emailing list set up already. 

The PDF Uploader can only be used to parse out email attachments to each respective recipient. If you need help adding a generic attachment to an email where the same attachment sends to all recipients, see Adding Attachments and Links to Messages. 

Important details to know before getting started with report emailing

At BrightArrow, we try to make the process of emailing confidential reports as easy and straight-forward as possible, but due to the confidential nature of the items you'll be sending through the report emailing feature there are some important notes and details you should know before you send the reports to your recipients.

We consider "report emails" to be emails that have a recipient-specific attachment added, such as report cards, health statements, or other confidential information. In this process you send an email to a batch of recipients and add a file that contains documents where each document is specific to a different recipient. 

  • A dedicated report emailing list must be configured before using the feature.
  • The PDF must contain a readable and valid identifier that matches the contact ID contained within the report emailing list being used.
  • The report emailing parser will look for the matching identifier in the list. If none is found, no email will be sent for that recipient.

How to use the PDF Uploader in Revere

In Revere, you can upload PDFs to be parsed out to your contacts. Revere boasts added functionality in comparison to BrightView as well, including the ability to preview reports before sending them. A report emailing list must be configured before sending the PDFs. PDF Uploader is not available for use with regular every day contact lists. Attachments to report emailing lists are parsed out based on a certain identifier that must be included on the first page of each recipient's PDF. 

  1. In Revere, navigate to the Compose tab or find the report emailing list you wish to use in your Contact Lists. Notice that PDF Uploader option appears once the report emailing list is selected. If you do not see the PDF Report Uploader options, you are not using a list that is configured for report emailing. Locate the correct list or contact our support if you cannot find it. 
    1. In Compose, start by selecting your report emailing list. This will change the available messaging options to meet the report emailing configuration. 
      In Compose, start by selecting your report emailing list. 
    2. In Contact Lists, find your report emailing list then click the icon to add or manage a list message.
      In Contact Lists, search for your report emailing list, then click the message icon to add a list message or manage the existing list message. 
  2. Compose or update the body of your email message content as needed. 
  3. In the PDF Report Uploader section, click the button to Find and Upload PDF, then upload the combined PDF document from your files.  
  4. Notice that the PDF file you added now appears in the PDF Report Uploader section. If you uploaded the wrong file, use the options to Replace PDF or Remove it. 
  5. If Report PDF encryption is enabled by your organization, you can optionally turn on the toggle to send PDF reports password protected. The password that will be used is set up by your system admin. 
  6. If your reports contain more than 1 page per recipient, indicate the correct option in the section "Pages without a Contact ID go with the...". Ideally, the valid contact identifier will be on all pages of the report, but it must be on either the first or last page of each recipient's respective report. This option is only available in Revere! If you are using any other BrightArrow interface, the identifier must be on the first page only. 
    1. If the contact's ID is located on the first page of the report but not any subsequent pages, mark the radio dial for "previous report." When the system finds pages that do not have an identifier, it will automatically attach and send those pages to the last valid ID it found. 

      Example: Each person's report is 3 pages long but only the first page has the identifier on it. Mark the "previous report" option to send all pages (1,2, and 3) together. Pages 2 and 3 will be sent based on the last ID the system recognized. 
    2. If the contact's ID is located on the last page of the report but not the previous pages, mark the radio dial for "Next report. When the system finds pages that do not have an identifier, it will automatically attach and send those pages to the next valid ID it finds. 

      Example: Each person's report is 3 pages long but only the last page has the identifier on it. Mark the "previous report" option to send all pages (1,2, and 3) together. Pages 1 and 2 will be sent based on the next ID the system recognizes.
  7. Preview reports before sending. Once the message sends, there is no undoing it. This option is only available in Revere! If you are using any other BrightArrow interface, you will not be able to preview the actual report. For more help with the report previewing option, see here. 
  8. Once you're done previewing the reports and have clicked the back arrow at the top of the report preview window to get back to your message, you can make any adjustments as needed. When you're ready to send, click "Send # Reports" in the green box. The number of reports showing in the green box is the number of reports that will send, regardless of how many contacts are enabled in the report emailing list. If the number of reports showing in the green send box is different than the number of reports you intended to send, stop and review. Either you have extra reports contained in your file, reports missing from your file, or the identifier is not being picked up correctly. 

    For example, maybe your report emailing list contains 1,000 contacts but you are only sending reports to 100 contacts. The green box will show "Send 100 Reports." If the green box shows "Send 98 Reports" but you thought you were sending 100, you may be missing 2 peoples' reports or the identifiers are not mapping correctly. Preview the reports again to review before sending. 

Previewing report emails - only available in Revere!

BrightArrow understands how important it is for our customers to have peace of mind knowing their report emails will send to the right contacts every time. We have now added functionality to Revere to allow you to preview report emails. Follow the steps below to see exactly how your reports will be parsed out and get an accurate count of the number of reports that will send. 

  1. Start by following the steps above to select your report emailing contact list, craft your message, and upload reports. Before hitting "send" click Preview Reports. 
  2. The "Preview of reports to email" screen will open. Each report PDF along with the associated recipient will appear in a column on the left, indicating each respective recipient and the number of PDFs that will be sent to them. 
  3. Click on any recipient to see the document that will be sent to them. If each person will receive multiple pages, be sure to scroll through the pages to ensure the parser mapped them correctly.

    Note that the document will be parsed and sent to recipients based on what shows in the preview screen. If documents are incorrectly mapped here, you must adjust the documents accordingly before sending to recipients. For example, if you see an error like "no reports to show" that is indicating that the parser could not identify the ID correctly and will not send reports to anyone. If the pages associated with any one recipient are incorrect, the parser did not recognize the IDs correctly per step #6 of the previous section in this article. Make adjustments as needed, then preview again. 
  4. Other options available on the report emailing preview page: 
    1. Search for a specific contact by email, name, or contact ID to make sure their report is included and correctly parsed.
    2. Send a test email to yourself. This will allow you to send the email body to yourself, but it will not have an attachment included and mail merge fields will not be filled in. 
    3. View email body to see the body of the email without sending it to yourself via email. 
    4. Move to the next page of reports to check additional recipients.
    5. Number of contacts in the list that have a corresponding report. 
    6. Number of contacts in the list who do not have a corresponding report and will not be sent a message/report. 
    7. Use the back arrow to return to the message sending screen. 
  5. Once you are finished previewing and ready to send or make adjustments, click the back arrow in the upper left of the report email previewing window. 
  6. Make adjustments as needed and preview again, or if you're ready, click "Send [#] Reports." Remember that the number that shows in the "send" box is the number of contacts who will be sent an email, regardless of how many total contacts are in the report emailing list. 

How to use the PDF Uploader in BrightView

  1. Log into BrightArrow.
  2. Click the My Lists button.
  3. Find the Report Emailing list you'd like to send through and click on it's name to open the list details page.
    ex: zzAll Parents for Report Emailing
    1. If you click on a non-report emailing list the PDF Uploader button will not be present. Attaching a file to a message will not separate the report by individual and instead send the entire file to all recipients.
    2. Reminder: Report Emailing lists can ONLY email to contacts that have a linked report. If your list has 1000 records in it but your report file only contains 20 then only those 20 matching contacts can receive an email from that task. You do not need to deactivate the other 980 to accomplish this, it's automatic.
  4. Click the PDF Uploader button.
  5. Follow the steps to upload the PDF.
    1. Note: there is a 50MB size limit when uploading reports.
    2. Remember that each PDF document must contain an identifying phrase (example: Student Number: 1234). For our system to be able to read the phrase, make sure you can select / highlight it on your documents. The identifying phrase may be different than the example based on how your list is set up. If you are not sure which identifying phrase is required for your list, contact us. 
    3. Ideally the identifying phrase should be on every page of the document, but it must be on at least the first page of each respective recipient's document. If a page is missing the identifying phrase, that page will be sent based on the last identifying phrase that was found.

      Example: You are sending a confidential 3-page letter to each student's family. The first page of the report contains the identifying phrase: Student Number: ~([01]student_number). The next 2 pages of the report do not contain an identifier. The fourth page contains the same identifying phrase but with a different student's number. BrightArrow will recognize the identifier on page 1 and send all subsequent pages (pages 2 and 3) to that student/family, until a new unique identifier (student number) is found (page 4). BrightArrow recognizes the different student number on page 4 and parses the document to send page 4 and subsequent pages with no identifier to that student/family. If page 4 did not contain an identifier it would be included in the attachment for the first student, based on the last student number that was found on page 1. Since page 4 contains a different student number with identifying phrase, it will be parsed and sent to the selected recipients who match that criteria. Additional subsequent pages in the report will send to those same recipients until the next student number is identified. It is important to ensure that page 1 of each report contains the unique identifier, as any subsequent pages will be sent to the recipient until a new identifier is found. 
    4. The identifying phrase/ID number must correspond with the Contact ID that is found in the report emailing list you are using. To find this, click on the report emailing list then click the edit pencil for a specific contact in the list. The contact ID number that shows in the upper right of the page is the ID number that will be used to parse and send the documents.

      The following phrases work, though if you need more please let us know:
      1. Student Number: ~([01]student_number)
      2. Student Number : ~([01]student_number)
      3. Student_Number: ~([01]student_number)
      4. StudentNumber: ~([01]student_number)
      5. Student #: ~([01]student_number)
      6. Student # : ~([01]student_number)
      7. Student ID: ~([01]student_number)
      8. StudentID: ~([01]student_number)
      9. ASN: ~([01]student_number)
      10. MET #: ~([01]student_number)
      11. SASID: ~([01]student_number)
      12. State ID: ~([01]student_number)
      13. ID: ~([01]student_number) *Only if none of the above are found first. Always prefer the methods above.
  6. Once the file is uploaded, click either Create Message (starting from a blank email) or Edit Message (starting from previously saved email) to start creating the message for this report.
  7. Use the buttons on the PDF Uploader screen to create your message or edit the message that was previously saved to the report emailing list. 
  8. Click Next.
  9. Click Send Message Now.
    1. * Note: leaving the Create Message screen will lose the PDF and you will need to re-upload before sending.
    2. Report emails sent through the PDF Uploader cannot be scheduled to send at a later date/time. 
  10. Once the message is sent you can see the results by clicking the Reports button in BrightArrow Home (the dashboard).
Did this answer your question? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.

Related Articles