Importing and Editing Sample Forms |
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Sample templates that duplicate the canned formats as close as possible have been created, so you can edit the form as a fully customized form with all of the individual elements. There are a few aspects that aren't quite possible to duplicate (or were too difficult to be worthwhile), but for most users this won't be a problem.
To use these templates, you must first Import them. Click the Import Form(s) button, and you'll get a typical Windows file dialog labelled "Import Forms". You need to locate the sample Forms folder, which is typically C:\Program Files\Campground Master\Samples (most likely you just need to double-click the "Samples" folder to get there). Now select the appropriate file, for instance "Sample Form - Ticket Form" to get the Ticket Form template, and Open.
Note that the import/export files use the "CSV" file extension (e.g. Sample.csv), which means it's a comma-separated-value text file. Windows may recognize this file extension as something another program can open like Excel, but these are in a special format for importing records to Campground Master and should not be used in other functions. Also avoid opening different kinds of samples which use the same extension (e.g. don't open a Form sample from an Import Script function).
When you're importing sample Forms, it may also import Macros or Scripts that are used in the Forms. If these are already defined, resulting in a duplicate name, then a warning will be shown listing the duplicates and what their names were changed to during the import. These might be safe to delete, assuming the imported version does the same thing as the original version. Otherwise you will need to change any expressions in the Forms that use the Macro or Script so that it uses the correct name.
Once the sample is imported, you'll see it appear in the Forms list (probably with a name starting with "Custom". You'll probably want to move it to the top of the list for easier location. Now you just need to Edit the Form to make any changes you need. You'll notice that the sample Forms make heavy use of Regions to sub-divide the Form's data areas. This is recommended so that you can do things like export/import regions, move entire areas easily, and "name" regions for easy reference when editing.
Note that these sample templates do contain the entire Form defined as Form Elements, so any aspect of the Form can be changed. Even if you want to create your own Form that's nothing like one of the others, for instance a letter that's nothing like the normal confirmation letter, you might as well import the confirmation letter template and delete everything except the header regions (the park & customer address information) so you have a good starting point.
You may also notice that the sample Forms use the settings from Printing Options and Park Setup wherever it's applicable, e.g. to show the site name, abbreviation or type, and to get the text to be shown at the bottom of receipts. This is done by using functions like SettingText() or SettingLocalBool() in the Data or Condition expressions of the Form elements. If you're making your own custom versions, you may want to replace these with your own text or conditions as appropriate, or you may prefer to leave them so that changes to Printing Options still affect your custom Form.
E-mail Forms and HTML E-mail
One of the common issues is creating or enhancing new E-mail forms, e.g. for confirmation letter variations, other types of E-mail like cancellation letters, thank-you letters, etc. There are several sample forms available for import that will help you get started with making your own set of E-mail forms, including several varieties of confirmation letter formats, a cancellation letter, and a thank-you letter.
Note that the samples with transactions have 2 versions -- "(old)" and "v9.1". Older versions only supported one compact transaction format due to the limitations of text E-mails, so those are now called "(old)". As of version 9.1, HTML E-mails are supported and in particular can be Fixed-pitch text (using the HTML tag "<pre>"), so columns will come out correctly in the transaction table.
There are some specific requirements for all E-mails, but in particular for using HTML coding in E-mails.
•Any Form to be used as an E-mail must have the Form Type set to "E-mail". This also means it will use "Character positions" for the format (in versions prior to 9.2, this had to be set manually, in addition to setting the Printer to "Text output").
•If the "Fixed Pitch Text" option is selected, it will use HTML automatically (with the entire E-mail text enclosed in a <PRE> tag before sending). This is the way E-mails with transactions are set up by default, so that columns are aligned.
•If you want something other than fixed-pitch normal text included anywhere in the E-mail, you must include the <HTML> and <BODY> tags as text elements manually to make it HTML (and then be sure to use <PRE> for the fixed-pitch sections like the transaction table).
The way Campground Master allows HTML E-mails is by recognizing the "text" output of the E-mail as an HTML document instead of plain text. While full HTML editing (and previewing) within Campground Master isn't yet possible, you can paste complete HTML source code into an E-mail text (or create a custom Form to generate the desired HTML source), and the E-mail will be sent as HTML instead of text. This means that you can send E-mails with various fonts, graphics, tables, etc. instead of the normal text-only limitations. This is a very advanced subject that requires familiarity with HTML programming, so the details of HTML coding will not be covered here.
Technically what it does when sending the E-mail is look for the E-mail body text starting with the standard <HTML> tag as the trigger for sending the E-mail as "HTML encoding" instead of "text encoding". If even one character precedes the "<HTML>" text, then it will be sent as plain text instead of HTML. (If you set the "Fixed-Pitch" option, the <HTML> is added automatically so you don't have to worry about it, and won't see it when you're editing or previewing the form.)
Trying an HTML E-mail form
Import the Sample Form "Sample Forms - E-mail confirmation with trans, logo (HTML)" to see how it's done. If you use "Save & Test Form" then you will see the HTML coding part.
Additional Topics:
Advanced Customizations Overview & other topics