Social Good Software

Creating amazing guest experiences through innovative software solutions for the social good community

Rick Hernandez

Types of emails for eTickets

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eTicket-email-optionsDownload

Introduction

Email designer is an app that allows you to customize and send automated emails for your Altru transactions. This tool is useful for different types of emails for eTickets because through it you can send messages with tickets in PDF form. Guests are no longer need to click on the link to download the ticket since it was already replaced by a ticket in PDF form.

In this guide, you will learn what are the types of emails for eTickets, the components of each email, and some of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that we received regarding this topic. 

How to set-up your emails in three (3) steps:

1. Write your email in Google Docs or Microsoft word

  • We recommend that you first draft your email to Google docs or Microsoft word and check that you include all the merge fields that you need.

2. Create your query and note type with Altru for your email

  • Make sure that your query identifies who the receivers of the email are. Create a Note type in Altru to be able to monitor if the emails were sent.

3. Setup the Email Designer with your content and query.

  • To be able to send out this email, put together the content and the query to the Email Designer. 

The process of setting up your emails starts from running the query and feeding it to the Email Designer. If there are individuals who match the query, an email for that particular person will be sent out. Once the email was sent out, the app will grab a copy of it and attach it to Altru as Note Type so there will be an email attached inside the particular sales order.

Three (3) Types of Emails for eTickets

1. eTicket Email is great for sending out a PDF that auto generated an eTicket number and a PDF with their tickets.

types of emails for eTickets

There are two emails that Altru sends out. The first email is about what the guests’ purchased and the second is the link to their eTicket. 

With the use of the Email Designer, we will replace the second email that Altru sends which is the link to their ticket with our eTicket email where we will instead attach a PDF to the tickets.

2. Reminder Email is great for sending out a reminder of their upcoming visit with tickets attached as a PDF. This email can go out the day of or one day before.

types of emails for eTickets

3. Post Visit Email is great for following up with guests who have visited. You can send a membership offer or just collect feedback on their experience. 

types of emails for eTickets

It is an email to thank  the guests for visiting. Typically sent out the day or the following day after the visit.You can send this email without PDF or tickets.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Do these emails account for sales orders over the phone, online and in person?

  • The discussed type of emails above will account for all three types of sales methods. You can also exclude a specific sales method at the query level.

2. If I manually resend an email, will my tickets be updated?

  • Yes, If you resend an email the tickets will be generated at the time the email is being sent.

3. If I delete the note type from the sales order, will the email go out with the right tickets?

  • Yes, the query is looking at sales orders that do not have a note type and sends an email. If you remove the note type from the sales order, another version of an email will get off with another PDF. Typically, you won’t be doing this unless you need to resend it.

4. If I open the eTicket preview on the Email Designer, will I see the latest ticket available?

  • Yes, you will see the latest ticket  available whenever you click on the link

The purpose of this documentation is to help you understand the three (3) types of eTicket emails, and how these emails work so that it will be easier for you to create and set up eTicket emails based on their type for your organization.

How to create reservation note types in Altru

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Introduction

Having reservation note types inside the Altru is very helpful when you create your reservation emails with Email Designer. Reservation Email is handy in group sales like field trips, weddings, venue rentals, or any activity that involves sales in groups. When you have Note Types, it will be easier to create a query that helps to exclude or include individuals.

Create your Reservation Note Types Inside of Altru:

1: Go to your Altru account and head over to Administration.

2: Proceed to Code Tables.

reservation note types

3: Select Ticketing on the drop-down menu and click Apply.

reservation note types

4: Proceed to Reservation Note Type and click on Add.

reservation note types
reservation note types

5: A dialog box will pop out wherein you can type in the name. In this case, we can call it a Confirmation Email. Once done, Click OK. 

You now have your Reservation Note Type called Confirmation Email. You can also set up another Note Type for your Reminder Email and Post Visit Email by clicking on Add if you are already in the Reservation Note Type Table Entries or follow the same step above. 

How to assign a role for membership cards in Altru

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Introduction

To generate digital membership cards, you need to assign the development data entry role for membership cards to an account that you linked up with Social Good Software. Take note that any account does not apply to this role but only the account that can talk to Altru. 

Steps on how to assign a role for membership cards: 

1: Log in to your Social Good Software account. Proceed to Settings then click on Altru which is on the upper right side of the window. Note that the email account under Altru Username is the right account that you can assign for the role.

2: Now that you have the right account, head over to Altru and click on Administration. Proceed to Application users, and find the specific email account linked to Social Good Software.

assign a role for membership cards

3: For illustration, we will use the account rick@socialgoodsoftware. To assign the development data entry role for membership cards in Altru, we have to first search for this account and click on Edit.

assign a role for membership cards

4: A Dialog box will pop out where you can find and check the development data entry role. Once done, click Save.

assign a role for membership cards

Summary

With that, the account linked to Social Good Software which can be found under Altru Credentials of your SGS account can now take the role as Development Data Entry and so can generate digital membership cards.

If you have more questions and clarifications please reach out to us through our support channel.

How to backup your Altru website

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Introduction

Backing up your Altru website will help you recover from unplanned events that result in primary data loss or corruption. Backups are handy in restoring your website after an error occurs without losing any data. We highly recommend that you do a backup, especially if you are working on any online template and checkout flows. 

We understand how important to have backups, so we created a step-by-step guide on how you can back up your Altru website. This process is done using Mac but is also applicable to Windows.

Backing up your Altru Website

1: Go to your Download folder and create a new folder. Name it Backup.

2: Open your newly created Backup folder and add the following files:

  • Open your Text Edit/Notepad > Name it Header.html > Save > Use .html.
  • Open another Text Edit/Notepad > Name it Footer.html > Save > Use .html.
  • Open another Text Edit or Notepad for the third one > Name it Style.css > save > Use CSS.
  • Another Text Edit/Notepad to use as a reminder note of what you have done already. You can name it README.md (markdown). Click on Save.

3: Proceed to your Altru account and go to the Web. Click on Page Designer and make a backup of the Layout.

4: Under Select Layout, copy the Header and Footer, Responsive. Go to your Readme.md Text Edit/Notepad and paste the layout name: Layout: Header and Footer, Responsive. It is a reminder that you already have a backup for the layout. The layout might not match the above sample name, but do not worry is just a backup. Save and close the Readme.md. 

backing up your Altru website

Backing up the Style of your Altru Website

5: Go back to Layout and proceed to the Colors & Styles tab. Select Advanced colors and styles and click the Edit style sheet.

backing up your Altru website

6: Click your cursor inside the style sheet box. Do Control+A for Windows or Command+A for Mac to select all the CSS and copy it. Click on the Cancel button and go to the Text Edit/Notepad named Style.css to paste the copied CSS. You now have a backup of all your CCS. Save and close

backing up your Altru website

Backing up the Header of your Altru website

7: Go back to Altru and proceed to Configure Content tab to see the header and the footer. Proceed to the Header first and click the little gear on the top left side. 

backing up your Altru website

8: Once you’re in the Header Design, proceed to the View tab and click the Code button for the HTML code.

backing up your Altru website

9: On the HTML Source Editor, select all the code using control+A for windows or command+A for Mac and do control/command+C to copy it. Click on the cancel button.

10: Proceed to your Header file to paste the HTML code. Once done, click close and proceed to the next step.

backing up your Altru website

Backing up the Footer

11: Go back to Configure Content to back up the footer of your Altru website. Move to the footer and click the little gear. Same as the header, click on the View tab and then Code. Using Control+A for Windows or Command+A for Mac, select all the HTML code for the footer and copy using Control+C for Windows or Command+C for Mac. Find your Footer file and paste the copied HTML code. Save and Close

12: You now have the backup files that you can use if you ever need to restore your template, 

We suggest emailing all these files to support@socialgoodsoftware.com so we can back them up and have access to them if needed. We also encourage you to back it up to your local storage, cloud storage, or any storage you have access to just in case we need it in the future.

Please reach us for your questions through our support channel. We are always happy to help!

Automated welcome email query

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We use queries in Altru to gather information from the database so we can create memberships, send emails, and so on. An automated welcome email for first-time membership purchases is a query that is useful to your organization. It will save you time to send emails to new members, deliberate their digital membership card, and send a welcome message for first-time membership purchases.

You do not have to wait until the back-end batching processes are complete. You can assure your members that their membership is well accepted with an automated welcome email. In this tutorial, we will go over creating this automation query so your new members can receive these benefits immediately, and there’s one less thing you need to do every day.

Sample Automated welcome email query

automated-welcome-email-query
automated-welcome-email-query

Summary:

This query helps you send emails that welcome new members and create membership cards automatically, providing greater ease of access in using Email Designer. Please contact us through our support channel if you have questions or clarifications about the query or other topics. We are always happy to help!

How members’ names work on the digital membership card

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In this article you will be able to learn how members’ names work on a digital membership card. It will also guide you on how to enable this function which is important especially if there are more than one members in a membership.

How members’ names work on a digital membership card:

1: Log in to your Social Good Software account. 

2: Proceed to Apps then click on Development

3: Go to Membership Card Designer.

4: You can now modify your existing Digital Membership Card. Scroll down to the bottom and find the Members Names in which if enabled will put together the names of members on the membership. 

5: You can also drag the Members Name up to make it appear in the first row. If Members Names were enabled together with other two (2) options, you will not be able to enable other functions. It is because the Members Names takes up the full row of the membership card.

Note: Level Name and Amount was enabled together with the Members Names for illustration only. Feel free to change it to your preference.

Note: if the Members Names was enabled and there are more than two members in a membership the first two members will be shown in the membership card but the additional members will not be displayed.  

6: Click Save Design if you’re done with the editing.

7: Click on the drop down menu. Select Web Back to go to the back side of the Digital Membership Card.

8: You can enable the same three (3) functions that was enabled in the front side of the Membership Card plus the Barcode. With this, you will not be able to enable additional options. It is because of the same reason that Members Names take up the full row like in the front side.

You must not forget to click on Save Design once you’re done with the editing. If you have more questions please reach out to us through our support channel.

Emails you need to set up for Digital Membership cards

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Introduction

There are many transactional emails for Digital Membership Cards that we can configure with Email Designer. Because of that, we create this documentation for you to fully understand the functions and importance of these emails.

Knowing how these emails work and when to use it will help you better understand what emails you need to set up with your Digital Membership Cards and which one applies for your Membership Portal.

Different emails for Digital Membership Cards :

Launch Email

Useful in announcing your new Digital Membership Cards to the entire membership base of all active members of your organization. 

  • It is an automated email that you send out to the entire membership base of active members. You can use this launch email to inform members about the new Digital Membership Cards that the organization is officially launching or about the Membership Portal.
  • It is a one-time email announcement that you can send out to your active members. Receivers of this email are between 2,000 to 50,000 constituents depending on how many members your organization has.
  • Launch email will not be of use anymore after sending it to all active members. But there is an exemption which is when the organization resends it to their Board Members in the following year. You can turn on this email for that particular one-time communication.

Automated Welcome Email

Use to welcome all your new members who purchase online, advance, and daily sales. You need to have a sales order to be able to send this email.

  • An email that runs continuously in which once triggered will automatically send out to welcome those individuals who signed up and become new members as well as those who renewed their membership.
  • It is an automated welcome email that requires a sales order. If someone purchases through online, advance and daily sales, he/she will get a welcome email informing that he/she  purchased this particular membership.

Back Office Gift Email

Welcome email for the recipients or givers of the members who purchase through the back office. Useful for automatically sending out gift emails with gift messages.

  • It is an automated welcome email that you can send to the recipient and gift-givers of the members. Members who purchase through the back office that contain gift messages that can customize are the receiver of this email.

Automated Gift Email

Welcome email for recipients or givers of the members who purchase online, advance, and daily sales. Useful for automatically sending out gift emails and gift messages.

  • An automated welcome email sent to recipients and gift-givers for purchasing online, daily, or in advanced sales. It contains a gift message that can customize depending on how the organization wants to set it.

Back Office Email

An email that welcomes all your new members who purchase via mail-in or you enter manually. A sales order is not necessary to send this email.

  • A welcome email that automatically triggers to welcome new members who purchase through mail-in, entered manually, or through the batch. Sales order is not necessary for this kind of email to receive.

Reminder Email

Send out reminders for your members 120, 60, 30, 15, 7 days before the membership’s expiration date.

  • An automated email that you can send out to remind members to renew their membership. You can set it up once to send out on certain days before the expiration date.
  • You can also customize the specific day you want to send the reminder email.

Lapsed Membership Email

Send out follow-up for your members 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 days after their expiration date.

  • A follow-up email that you can set up once and send out at a specific time after the expiration date of membership to those members who haven’t renewed.

Manual Tagging Email

Useful for those that want to receive the email again regardless of the method of how they purchased their membership. To be able to trigger the email, you have to do manual tagging with note type.

  • A welcome email that you can trigger by tagging a membership. Use this email when a member requests to resend the welcome email due to some reasons like they lost the original message, lost access to their email or just wants to email them again the welcome email.
  • Manual Tagging is useful whenever there are requests to receive their welcome email again regardless of the method they use to purchase their membership. It also required notes for this email to be triggered. 

Auto Renew Email

Send auto-reminders for payments on credit cards being used for auto-renewing memberships. This can go out relative to the expiration date.

  • This email is for everybody who is auto-renewing their membership.
  • Auto-renew email is sent out informing members who use credit cards for payment about their membership renewal which will automatically charge to their cards. 
  • This email can go out before or after the credit card gets charged. It is up to you when you want to send the auto-renewal email but we recommend sending this email out 2 weeks before the credit card gets charged to catch any changes on the card.

Below is a matrix that you can use as a guide. It will let you know what activities each of these emails covered.

Emails for Digital Membership Card

Summary

You now have an idea what are the different emails for Digital Membership Card that you can configure with Email Designer. This will make it easier for you to identify which email is applicable for a certain activity and which one is sent out for a specific transaction.

If you have more questions please reach out to us through our support channel.

How to download stats for barcode scanners

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Scanning tickets and memberships using the SGS Barcode Scanner will make your work easier and faster. It is an app that you can download to any mobile phone and tablet . You can also download backups of your stats from the scanner for record purposes or to check the result and analyze. This article will guide you on how to download stats for barcode scanners which also applies to any scanner you have set up.

Guide on How to download stats for barcode scanners:

1: Go to your Social Good Software account

2: Proceed to Barcode Scanner then click the scanner that you want to download its stat.

3: Click on STATS located at the left side of the window. 

S4: On the bottom part lies two options on how you want the data to be downloaded. You can download it as a CSV file or in Excel/Spreadsheet format.

Sample of Stat downloaded in CSV format:

Sample of Stat downloaded in Spreadsheet format:

Step 4: You can also choose a date and then the app will provide you all the data from the date you selected down the first day you use the Barcode Scanner. Click either CSV or Spreadsheet to download the data based on the selected format. If you need data from a particular date, we recommend just deleting the data you don’t need.

Note: The downloading option will download everything that was stored in it from the latest date you use the scanner or the date you selected to the first day you started using the Barcode scanner.