Print Letters & Send Email
The Print Letters & Send Email module provides a convenient way for administrators to send letters and forms to either a single person or multiple people at once. Formal, formatted letters can be created, saved, and reopened/edited directly within the Print Letters & Send Email module. The same letters and forms can be kept on hand for future use.
1. From the Students menu, click Print Letters & Send Email.
2. Click Print/Email a One-Time Letter to begin.
If wanting to designate a student, you can utilize the Student search module, in addition to the More Search Options button.
3. If searching for specific students by name or student number, type the information directly into the Student text box.
To generate letters for all students, leave the Student Search text box empty.
4. For a more advanced search and the ability to define a specific subset of students, click More Search Options. In the example shown, Grade 09 has been selected; therefore, the letter created will be sent only to students in 9th grade.
Use the Filter text box located at the top of each pull-down for a quick search. Begin typing the name or number of the desired field.
Click the Check all visible and Clear selected links for quick selections. In the example shown, the created letter will be generated for students in every listed Program.
5. Utilize the Letter Text - New File section to begin entering and formatting your letter. The open word processing box is equipped with a full formatting palette; note that hovering your mouse over any tool in the formatting palette will display a short description of what that tool will do.
6. Save, Open, and Preview. Save your content in Focus, open the file later, and preview a text-type version.
7. Correct spelling and grammatical errors with the SpellCheck tool.
8. Undo and Redo any actions while creating documents.
9. Link or Unlink hyperlinks using these two tools. There are several options for creating links with Phantom JS:
a. On the Link Info tab, enter how you’d like to see the link displayed in the Display Text text box. Choose a Link Type from the pull-down; options include: URL, Link to anchor in the text, and Email. Select a Protocol, such as http:// or news://. Then enter the URL in the text box provided. Click OK when finished.
i. Select Email under Link Type to create links for letter recipients to reply with an email. You can select to write automated subject titles and/or text, as well. Different information will be required, such as E-Mail Address, Message Subject, and Message Body.
b. If using a URL, you will see a Target tab. Select this tab to set a Target, such as <frame>, <popup window>, Same Window (…self), Parent Window (…parent), etc. This determines how you want recipients to open the link.
c. If desired, you also have the ability to upload a document as a link. Select the Upload tab to Choose File. Once uploaded, you can choose to Send it to the Server to be saved there as well.
d. For additional options for either a URL, Email, or Upload, click on the Advanced tab.
10. If you have applied a format or have copied and pasted text into the body of the word processing box, you can utilize the tool shown to Remove Format.
11. Use these tools to Cut selected text, Copy selected text, Paste text from another document, or Paste from Word.
12. You can also Bold selected text, use the Italics tool, Underline text, and Strikethrough text.
13. Use the X tools for Subscript and Superscript text as shown in the image.
14. Use the following tools to Insert/Remove Numbered List, Insert/Remove Bulleted List, Decrease Indent, Increase Indent, and create a Block Quote.
15. Use the following tools to Align Left, Center, Align Right.
16. To insert an image, click on the Image icon. This will allow you to browse for an image attachment. If there is a lot of data that you’d like to sort into a table, click on the Table icon. If needed, you can Insert Horizontal Line, or Insert Special Character. The last tool shown here can be used to Insert Page Break for Printing.
a. If Table is selected, a Table Properties pop-up will display. Here you can set the number of Rows, Columns, etc.
17. To change the font/format, use the Paragraph Format pull-down. Some of the options include different headings, Address, Normal (DIV), etc.
18. To change the size of the font, use the Font Size pull-down.
19. Click on the Source button for CSS/HTML embedding.
20. Select the Text Color button for a variety of text color options or the Background Color button to change the background color of the text.
21. Use this tool to Insert a Field from Focus. Depending on what is needed, select the correct header, such as Demographic, Enrollment, etc., then select the field.
To print or email letters that include a student ID barcode, click the Insert a Field tool. Click Student Demo or the applicable Demographic tab. Select Student ID Barcode. Click OK once the field is selected.
Upon printing or emailing the letter, the barcode displays, as shown in the image below.
22. At the bottom of the word processing box, you will see a description of each entered section. Clicking on any of them will highlight the corresponding section. For example, if you click on body, all of the text entered will be selected. Or, clicking on h1, will select the heading entered.
23. Select a Schedule Effective Date, if applicable.
24. Decide how you want the letters sorted using the Sort Letters pull-down, such as By Zip Code, by period and teacher, etc.
25. Then, select the desired Letterhead Template. This is very important to choose correctly before printing/sending, as it will impact the display of the letter. Note: Letterhead Templates are set up by the district (Setup > Letterhead Templates).
26. Select the check box to Search All Schools if you want the search criteria entered to pull from all schools.
27. Select the check box to Search the Entire School.
28. Select the check box to Include Inactive Students.
29. When the students have been defined and the letter has been created, click Continue… to go on to the next page. If needed, you can Reset to clear everything on the page and start over.
1. Click Continue… on the last screen to navigate to a new Print Letters & Send Email screen where you can choose to generate letters for selected students.
If Protected students are listed, select student data will be HIDDEN. If you have profile permission to “View Protected Students,” you will not see any changes. If you do not have “View Protected Students” permission but have permission to “Edit Student Addresses” and “Edit Student Contacts,” you will not see any changes. If you do not have profile permission to “View Protected Students” and do not have “Edit Student Addresses” or “Edit Student Contacts,” you will not be able to select the student in order to print their information.
2. To preview and print letters be sure the Method is set to Print Letters. Then, select the Recipient (Student, Parents, or One per Family). You also have the option to Add log entries for each student. If this check box is selected, the letter will be logged for each student selected under Students > Student Info > Letter Logging tab.
The Add log entries for each student check box will be selected by default when the Add student log entries by default when using Print Letters and Send Emails setting is enabled via Setup > System Preferences.
3. Select the Include student name/id on each PDF page (Print Only) check box when printing letters that are more than one page.
4. Select the students for whom you need letters by selecting the check box next to each student. As students are selected, the number of selections made will display next to the number of students pulled originally.
If you want to generate letters for all students displayed, select the check box in the header.
5. Once the students have been selected, you can either Preview the letter or Print Letters by clicking the corresponding buttons. Note: Previewing the letter here may not reflect the exact layout of the created letter.
6. Preview the letter then click Return to Focus to go back to the Print Letters & Send Email screen.
7. Click Print Letters to generate all of the selected students’ letters in a print preview screen. From this screen you have several options including, Rotate clockwise (circular arrow), Download as a PDF (down arrow), Print (printer icon), Fit to page (small inner arrows), Zoom in (plus sign), and Zoom out (minus sign). When finished, click Return to Focus to return to the Print Letters & Send Email screen.
Once the letter has been selected to be printed/generated, the letter will appear in the student’s Letter Logging information via Student Info, as shown in the image.
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.
1. Click Continue… on the last screen to navigate to a new Print Letters & Send Email screen where you can choose to generate letters for selected students.
If Protected students are listed, select student data will be HIDDEN. If you have profile permission to “View Protected Students,” you will not see any changes. If you do not have “View Protected Students” permission but have permission to “Edit Student Addresses” and “Edit Student Contacts,” you will not see any changes. If you do not have profile permission to “View Protected Students” and do not have “Edit Student Addresses” or “Edit Student Contacts,” you will not be able to select the student in order to print their information.
2. To preview and send emails be sure the Method is set to Send Emails.
3. Enter an Email Subject and a CC (Carbon Copy email address) if needed. You have the option to Only CC first message and to Send a copy to myself (your email address will display here).
4. In addition to emailing the letter to the student or parents, you can also attach other files to send with the letter, such as an additional image. You can attach up to 5 files. To select a file, click Choose File. To delete an attachment, click remove. To add another attachment/file, click Attach another file. You will be altered to how many more files can be attached.
5. Then, select the Recipient (Student, Parents, or One per Family).
6. You also have the option to Add log entries for each student. If this check box is selected, the letter will be logged for each student selected under Students > Student Info > Letter Logging tab.
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.
7. Select the students for whom you need letters by selecting the check box next to each student. As students are selected, the number of selections made will display next to the number of students pulled originally.
If you want to generate letters for all students displayed, select the check box in the header.
8. Once the students have been selected, you can either Preview the letter or Send Emails. It is recommended to Preview before emailing to be sure all required information has been included and that the correct letterhead template has been selected.
9. Preview the email then click Return to Focus to go back to the Print Letters & Send Email screen.
10. Select Send Emails to send the letters to selected students or parents. Once the email has been sent, you will receive a message saying Your letter as been emailed to the selected Students. You will also be taken back to the main Print Letters & Send Email screen where you can conduct a new search, etc.
Shown is an example of what the email would look like.
If the student does not have an email set up, you will receive an Error that no email was entered and the message was not delivered.
In order to create letters and emails you want to save and use multiple times or push out for others to use, you can log the letter or email and save it directly on the Print Letters & Send Email screen.
1. First you must add the letter/email body. Click on Edit to add the text of the message. For more information on entering text here and using the tools available, see Setting the Search Criteria and Data for a One-Time Letter and/or Email section.
When adding/updating letters via the Edit button, changes are automatically saved upon clicking out of the Edit pop-up screen.
You can move and relocate the Edit pop-up window anywhere on the screen.
2. Enter the Title in the blank row at the top of the logging field.
3. Select a Default Letterhead from the pull-down. Note: Letterhead Templates are set up by the district.
4. Once all selections have been made and all information has been entered, click into any of the fields and press Enter to save the data. The line will turn from white to yellow when the line has been committed. Be sure to click the Save button before navigating away from the screen. The line will then turn blue.
5. Then, you can utilize the Print/Email button that displays after saving. Selecting this button will navigate to the Print Letters & Send Email screen. For further instruction see the Setting the Search Criteria and Data for a One-Time Letter and/or Email section.
Above the listed students you will see a floppy disk icon, which allows you to export the listed data (in this case, students) to an Excel spreadsheet.
Click any of the headers to sort data. Click once for ascending results; click twice for descending results. In the image shown, results have been sorted by clicking on Student (name) twice; therefore, the listed students start with V.
To make the list full screen, click on the expansion icon (four arrows) under the Preview and Print Letters button. Once in full screen mode, click the icon again to exit full screen.
Click Filters to further breakdown data.
a. To add more than one filter to a column, click on the green plus sign.
b. To delete an added filter, click on the red minus sign.
c. Select the gray arrow for more filtering options.
For more information see Filters.