Using Templates for Defaulting Messages
Often when you create lists you may want to specify settings to be included in those new lists automatically without you having to adjust them manually. If you create lists that contain special phrases within their names, those lists serve as Template Lists. A Template List does not need to have any contacts in it; it exists primarily to let you program the settings the way you want when you create new lists or adjust existing lists.
Here are the types of Template Lists available to you:
- Template New List
- Template Emergency
- Template Informational
- Template PowerSchool
In fact, because you can have different users and user groups, you can have many template lists and choose who they apply to. In that case, which template list it uses is based on the user hierarchy. If there is a template list for the current user or group user, it uses that one. If not, it uses the template list for the admin group user.
Template New List
This is the base template that is applied to new lists when another template does not apply. When a Template New List exists any new list created in BrightArrow will start with the settings from the template. You may also have group level templates which will take precedence over the top level template where appropriate.
For example if you have a Template New List assigned only to the master account then all new lists will use this template.
If you also have 3 groups, Adams Elementary, Bernaby Middle, and Cedar High then the users in those groups will use the Template New List assigned to them if one exists rather than the district version. Adams Template New List assigned to Adams Elementary would take precedence over the district Template New List. But if Bernaby Middle doesn’t have it’s own template then it will inherit the district template.
Template Informational/Emergency
Note: Your account will need to be updated to use these templates. Please email GetTechSupport@brightarrow.com to have us add this capability to your account.
Another use for template lists is to take full advantage of the differences between informational messages and emergency messages. Maybe you want to use one group of settings for Informational messages and another for emergency messages. The new Expanded Message page lets you toggle between those message types, and the list templates let you customize how the settings vary based on the distinction.
For example, let's say you wanted to call all phone numbers in the case of emergency calls but only the first number for informational calls, and maybe you want the email default subject to be different too. You can setup your Template Emergency and Template Informational lists as follows:
