Autoresponder customisation for newbies

[caseyclark]

Hey all,

I've been browsing through some posts in regards to the Autoresponder now, and whilst I seem to think I may have some of the answers I need, I still feel a bit lost. I'm sure this subject has been done to death, so if there's any previous threads on this please just link them and I'll be happy with that.

My company has multiple branded channels, as such I have created a different department and email queues for each of them. I need to use the Autoresponder so that our customers and resellers alike will receive a response with their ticket.

Unfortunately, the autoresponder emails always contain my basic hosted support site URL, not the specific template group URL for that department, and always say the one company name. The company name is not so much a problem, I just made that a generic support title, but the text body of the email and the link is what is important.

Also, not all of our customers will be allowed to register / login, so I need to remove that text from the autoresponder as well.

Now I know that you can customise these emails within Admin => Templates => Manage Groups => Templates => email_ but my problem is that I can not see how to alter this. Is there a WYSIWYG GUI for these alterations? I am not familiar with the code being used, and unsure where to find information on how to change it.

I greatly appreciate your help. =)


Casey

[supportskins]

Hi Casey,
The only method to edit the autoresponder template is by editing the code in each of these templates. Each template is divided into 2 parts - one for HTML mails while other for Text based emails. HTH

[caseyclark]

Originally Posted by supportskins

Hi Casey,
The only method to edit the autoresponder template is by editing the code in each of these templates. Each template is divided into 2 parts - one for HTML mails while other for Text based emails. HTH

I guess what I really need help with is how to edit the code ie. how does the syntax work? I have no idea. Also, how can I change the text in the emails that go out?

Cheers.

[supportskins]

Kayako softwares use the language phrase extensively in their templates. You can either edit these language phrases to change the text in the outgoing emails or you can set the text in the template itself while removing the language phrases.

[caseyclark]

Originally Posted by supportskins

Kayako softwares use the language phrase extensively in their templates. You can either edit these language phrases to change the text in the outgoing emails or you can set the text in the template itself while removing the language phrases.

Haha, yep, clear as mud. I got no idea.

[Jamie Edwards]

Hi Casey,

The template (which you have already found) is built of of "blocks". For example, take the first bit of the email_autoresponder template:

<{if $ishtml == true}><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2"><{$ticket[fullname]}>,<BR>
<{$language[arintro]}><BR>

This part;

<{if $ishtml == true}>

Is a decision rule. It checks to see if the type for outgoing e-mail set in your administrator control panel settings is set to "html" ($ishtml == true).

If it is set to HTML (which it is by default) the template code between that block and the:

<{else}>

block will be used for the main e-mail template. Note that everything proceeding this <{else}> will be used if the outgoing e-mail type if not HTML ($ishtml == false).

The conditionals work like this;

<{if $setting == ssomething}>
// output or do this stuff...
<{else}>
// otherwise, if $setting didn't equal something, do the stuff in this section
<{/if}>

Beyond code wrapped in <{ ... }> these symbols, the templates are largely made up using standard HTML, which is a declartive language that defines the layout of a page or areas of a page. You may find http://www.w3schools.com useful for learning about HTML.

[Jamie Edwards]

The text that makes up a template is pulled from the language tables - each phrase has an entry in the database, and is "pulled" into a template using a variable like:

<{$language[arintro]}>

This variable is used in the email_autoresponder template to output the introduction text for the autoresponder. To change the content of these phrases, you have to select the phrase name (<{$language[arintro]}>), look it up in the phrase manager (in the administrator control panel) and you can modify it there.

[caseyclark]

Ahhh ok, I can see this is going to take a bit to get my head around. So each part of the code refers to one of the language phrases that you can alter from the languages section of the Admin?

So essentially, I should create the phrases first for how I want them to appear, then set the code so it refers to each phrase 'code'? I guess it's the templates that are really going to confuse me the most though, I'm a networking tech, not a website developer. Haha.

Thanks for the help, this has given me the first steps in the right direction... I hope.

[Jamie Edwards]

Yes you can create your own phrases or you can simply type directly into the template (the shortcut way of doing things). The template engine is based on Template Lite - you will find the syntax documentation useful (for those IF bits etc.): http://templatelite.sourceforge.net/

[caseyclark]

Hey Jamie,

I've just had a chance to get back on to this, and I'm still having some problems. I understand how the $language system works now with the phrases, and can see how it's structured, but I'm still a bit lost on the rest.

I am trying to remove specific parts of the Autoresponder for specific groups. The departments that I have set up are actually separate entities within our company, so we are handling customer contact differently in each regard. So to give an idea of what I want to do, here is the standard Autoresponder message:

Casey Clark,

Your Ticket has been received and a member of our staff will review it and reply accordingly. Listed below are details of this Ticket. Please make sure the Ticket ID remains in the subject at all times.

Ticket ID: 902
Subject: Testing autoresponder 2
Department: Call Union
Priority: New
Status: Open

You can check the status of or reply to this Ticket online at: http://coms.helpserve.com/

Please do let us know if we can assist you any further,

VoIP Support
Call Union Support Team E: support@callunion.com W: www.callunion.com

-------------


I'd also like to know if you can fix the way the signature displays, as that should display in 3 lines, not 1, but that's another issue.

So, in my attempts to change the template, I have removed the following:

<{if $ishtml == true}><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2"><{$ticket[fullname]}>,<BR>
<{$language[arintro]}><BR>
<BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[articketid]}></b><{$ticket[fticketid]}><BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[arsubject]}></b><{$ticket[subject]}><BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[ardepartment]}></b><{$ticket[department]}><BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[arpriority]}></b><{$ticket[priority]}><BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[arstatus]}></b><{$ticket[status]}><BR>
<BR>
<{$language[arsubfooter]}><a href="<{$swiftpath}>index.php?_m=tickets&_a=viewticket&ticketid=<{$ticket[ticketid]}>"><{$swiftpath}></a><BR><{if $settings[u_sendpw] == 1 && $user[userpasswordtxt] != "" && $user[loginapi_moduleid] == 1}>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[aremail]}></b><{$ticket[email]}><BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b><{$language[arpassword]}></b><{$user[userpasswordtxt]}><BR>
<{/if}>
<BR><{if $newscount != 0}>
<{foreach key=newskey value=newsitem from=$news}>
<b><{$newsitem[index]}>.</b> <a href="<{$swiftpath}>index.php?_m=news&_a=viewnews&newsid=<{$newsitem[newsid]}>&group=<{$ticket[tgroup]}>"><{$newsitem[subject]}></a><BR>
<{/foreach}>
<BR>
<{/if}>
<{$language[arfooter]}><BR>
<BR>
<{$settings[general_companyname]}><{if $queuesignature != ""}><BR><{$queuesignature}><{/if}></font><{else}><{$ticket[fullname]}>,
<{$language[arintro]}>

    <{$language[articketid]}><{$ticket[fticketid]}>
    <{$language[arsubject]}><{$ticket[subject]}>
    <{$language[ardepartment]}><{$ticket[department]}>
    <{$language[arpriority]}><{$ticket[priority]}>
    <{$language[arstatus]}><{$ticket[status]}>

<{$language[arsubfooter]}><{$swiftpath}>index.php?_m=tickets&_a=viewticket&ticketid=<{$ticket[ticketid]}><{if $settings[u_sendpw] == 1 && $user[userpasswordtxt] != "" && $user[loginapi_moduleid] == 1}>

    <{$language[aremail]}><{$ticket[email]}>
    <{$language[arpassword]}><{$user[userpasswordtxt]}>
<{/if}>

<{if $newscount != 0}>
<{foreach key=newskey value=newsitem from=$news}>
<{$newsitem[index]}>. <{$newsitem[subject]}>
<{$swiftpath}>index.php?_m=news&_a=viewnews&newsid=<{$newsitem[newsid]}>&group=<{$ticket[tgroup]}>

<{/foreach}>

<{/if}>
<{$language[arfooter]}>

<{$settings[general_companyname]}><{if $queuesignature != ""}>
<{$queuesignature}><{/if}><{/if}>

Now is this right? What am I missing? I tried it from both the department, and the default template and it makes no difference.

Code breaks my brain. Thanks for the help!

[Jamie Edwards]

You need to remove:

<{$language[arsubfooter]}><{$swiftpath}>index.php?_m=tickets&_a=viewticket&ticketid=<{$ticket[ticketid]}><{if $settings[u_sendpw] == 1 && $user[userpasswordtxt] != "" && $user[loginapi_moduleid] == 1}>

    <{$language[aremail]}><{$ticket[email]}>
    <{$language[arpassword]}><{$user[userpasswordtxt]}>
<{/if}>

Instead of:

<{$language[arsubfooter]}><{$swiftpath}>index.php?_m=tickets&_a=viewticket&ticketid=<{$ticket[ticketid]}><{if $settings[u_sendpw] == 1 && $user[userpasswordtxt] != "" && $user[loginapi_moduleid] == 1}>

    <{$language[aremail]}><{$ticket[email]}>
    <{$language[arpassword]}><{$user[userpasswordtxt]}>

Otherwise, you would have a "dangling" end-if:

<{/if}>