If you've ever wondered how to do a specific cool thing with your letter, look no further! Here are some common solutions to questions we have received. If there's a question you have that is not answered here, please email natasha.

How to add a label to your letter's sender

Some of you may have noticed after sending a letter to your patron that the sender label only shows the email address. This is easily fixed with the following steps.

Go to Alma > Administration > General Configuration > Letter Emails
Find the letter you want to edit > Click Actions > Edit
Find the addressFrom Code and add your label and the email address.
Save the change, then send the letter out again. You should see something like this:

For more information:

https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/Alma_Online_Help_(English)/Administration/050Configuring_General_Alma_Functions/070Configuring_Alma_Letters#Configuring_Letter_Labels

How to create a "My Account" Link in emails

Do you want to add a link to a patron's Primo account in their emails? Here's how to do this. Note: you must have the letter administrator role to make edits.

Go to General Configuration > Configuration Menu > Other Settings
Find the email_my_account parameter and add the direct link to your log in page. If you are finding that your page is not linking directly to the log in page, make a one small edit and replace "search" or "login" with "account": https://sjsu-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/account?vid=[your school code]&sortby=rank&lang=en_US. For your convenience, I have included some parameters that may or may not need editing.
1. 8. Email contact: ex libris does not use this field anything. In fact, if you try to edit it, it will tell you it can't save it.
  9. email_contact_us: You can put an email or link in here. We linked out to our Ask a Librarian page.
  10. email_deposit_contact: Ex Libris does not use this field. Do not customize.
  11. email_deposit_sender: Not in use
  12. email_my_account: this is what the My Account link in the footer will link out to.
  More info is here: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/Alma_Online_Help_(English)/Administration/050Configuring_General_Alma_Functions/080Configuring_Other_Settings
For each letter, you will need to edit your footer to include these links. Go to General Configuraton > Configuration Menu > Customize letters > Find the letter you want to edit > click customize > edit > replace the footer.xsl area with this code:
Click save and send out a test letter. Your letter should now have the account link included.

How to Add a Social Log In to Your Letter Footer

Note: this may not work for Gmail users

Add this section to your footer.xsl. Replace all links with your own library's week.

<xsl:template name="socialMediaLinks">

</xsl:template>

2. Add this section in the .xsl file of the letter that is to be sent:

<xsl:call-template name="lastFooter" />
<xsl:call-template name="myAccount" />
<xsl:call-template name="contactUs" />
<xsl:call-template name="socialMediaLinks" />

How to Add an IF/WHEN Statement to Your Letter

This applies to letters where you only want certain information to be sent to a patron based on certain criteria. In the below example, a line of text is added for only specific patron groups.

Add this to to the letter you are editing and change the wording/patron groups as you see fit.
1. 
 <xsl:choose>
 <xsl:when test="notification_data/item_loan/user_type='UNDERGRADUATE'">
 <h>A HOLD has been placed on your academic record until the item is returned and/or all charges on your library record are paid.</h>
 </xsl:when>
 <xsl:when test="notification_data/item_loan/user_type='GRADUATE'">
 <h>A HOLD has been placed on your academic record until the item is returned and/or all charges on your library record are paid.</h>
 </xsl:when>
 <xsl:otherwise>
 <h>Please contact us if you have questions or need assistance.</h>
 </xsl:otherwise>
 </xsl:choose>

How to Add Spacing between colons and other areas of a letter.

This might apply to a letter such as the FulLostLoan Letter or Lost and Overdue Letter.

Find the area you want to edit, then format it like this:

<table>
<tr>
<td>
@@lost_item@@ : <xsl:value-of select="item_loan/title"/>
 
@@description@@ :<xsl:value-of select="item_loan/description"/>
 
 @@by@@ :<xsl:value-of select="item_loan/author"/>
 
@@library@@ :<xsl:value-of select="organization_unit/name"/>
 
@@loan_date@@ :<xsl:value-of select="item_loan/loan_date"/>
 
@@due_date@@ :<xsl:value-of select="item_loan/due_date"/>
 
@@barcode@@ :<xsl:value-of select="item_loan/barcode"/>
 
@@call_number@@ :<xsl:value-of select="phys_item_display/call_number"/>
 
@@charged_with_fines_fees@@ 
</td>
</tr>
</table>

ULMS Policies

Answers to Common Questions related to XSLT

How to add a label to your letter's sender

How to create a "My Account" Link in emails

How to Add a Social Log In to Your Letter Footer

How to Add an IF/WHEN Statement to Your Letter

How to Add Spacing between colons and other areas of a letter.