The Letter Queue is tied directly to the Workflow Triggers. Letters that are created by a workflow trigger are stored in the queue until a designated person prints or sends the letters. Example: A workflow trigger is set up to create a letter if a student is absent more than 3 days. When a student is absent 3 times, the workflow trigger sends a letter to the queue. The designated person must then pull up the queue and print those letters.
Several other features can send a letter to the queue, such as when a grade is posted or changed; for more information on set up, see System Preferences > School Preferences/Default School Preferences > Grading tab or Students > Print Letters & Send Email.
1. In the Students menu, click Letter Queue.
2. Enter all applicable search criteria and click Search.
See Searching for Students for more information on conducting a student search.
Conducting the student search yields specific results, as shown in the image below via a new Letter Queue screen where additional settings are available.
3. Set a Report Timeframe using the day, month, and year pull-downs or by clicking the calendar icons to select a date. The date selected here will pull students who meet the criteria set up in the Workflow Triggers.
4. Select the Include Printed/Emailed Letters check box to display records that have been printed or emailed. If selected, the Printed column displays the date that the record was printed.
The Letter Queue date Printed database value is populated only when letters or emails are generated using the following options:
- Email Letters & Add Log Entries (Emails)
- Print Letters & Add Log Entries (Letters)
Generating letters/emails without the Add Log Entries option will not populate the Printed column or stamp a date in the database. These options are described in detail in the following steps.
5. Click Update to refresh the data displayed based on the Report Timeframe selected.
Students who meet Workflow Triggers set up within the selected Report Timeframe and student search criteria are listed in the Simple List and Customized List.
To return to the Search Screen to start again and conduct a different student search, click the corresponding tab.
6. Select the Method of how the letters should be distributed, by print or email. Select Print Letters to print physical letter for select students. Select Send Emails to email the letter to select students.
a. If you elect to Send Emails, you must also select the Recipient; options include Email to Student, Email to Primary Contact, or Email to All Custodial Contacts.
7. Select the check boxes next to the Recipient name to delete, preview, print, or email the letter.
Select the check box in the header to select all students listed at once.
8. Click the gear icon to set Typography Settings.
a. Select the Font from the pull-down to determine the font used in the letter preview and generated PDF. Options include Default, Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New.
b. Enter a Size in the text box to determine the font size used in the letter preview and generated PDF.
c. Enter the Line Height in the text box to determine the spacing between lines of text in the letter preview and generated PDF.
d. Select the No Bootstrap Stylings check box to remove Bootstrap styling from the letter preview and generated PDF, allowing the communication templates custom formatting and styles to display without Bootstrap formatting overrides.
e. Click Reset to restore the typography settings to their default values.
f. Click the X to close the Typography Settings window.
9. Once you have selected the appropriate recipients, select the desired action button.
a. Delete: Click the Delete button to delete selected students' letters from the queue.
b. Preview: Click the Preview button to review the letter before printing. When finished, click Return to Focus.
c. Option 1: Print Without Adding Log Entries: Click Print Without Adding Log Entries to open the letter in a PDF print preview where you can print the letter without the letter being logged via Students > Student Info > Letter Logging tab.
c. Option 2: Email Without Adding Log Entries: Click Email Without Adding Log Entries to open a preview of the email sent and view a confirmation message ensuring you that the emails have been sent without the letter being logged via Students > Student Info > Letter Logging tab.
d. Option 1: Print Letters & Add Log Entries: Click Print Letters & Add Log Entries to open the letter in a PDF print preview where you can print the letter and record the letter history via Students > Student Info > Letter Logging tab.
d. Option 2: Email Letters & Add Log Entries: Click Email Letters & Add Log Entries to open a preview of the email sent and view a confirmation message ensuring you that the emails have been sent. Once emailed, a record of the email(s) is stored via Students > Student Info > Letter Logging tab.
ii. If the letter has been printed or emailed with log entries, the letter will be logged in Student Info, as shown in the image below.
From the Letter Log, you can view and edit the Recipient, the Date, the Subject, the Body, the Sender, the Time, and the Recipient Email. You can also download the letter as a PDF (Download File icon) or delete the file generated (Delete File icon). Hover over the (Save to Upload) fields for additional options: Scan, Upload, Take Photo, and expand.
See Additional Features for details on Exporting, Printing, Filtering, and more.