A reporting process controls what happens after someone submits a report of a linked type. It determines whether the submitter receives a confirmation email and what that email says.
What It Controls
Use reporting processes to set up reusable confirmation-email templates for your report types. Each report type names the process it uses, and when someone submits a report of that type, Rhythm sends the confirmation email if that process has it turned on.
Where to Find It
Go to Accreditations › Setup › Reports › Processes. The list shows each reporting process, when it was last changed, and whether it is active. Inactive processes stay hidden until you select (show all).
To add a process, select Create Reporting Process. To update one, select its Edit icon. To create a new process from an existing one, select Clone.
The Settings
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name: | Any text | Empty | Identifies the process in the list and on report types |
| ID: | Suggested from the name | Suggested | Gives the process its permanent identifier |
| Status: | Active, Inactive | Active | Controls whether report types can select the process going forward |
| Confirmation Email (switch) | On, off | Off | Turns on the confirmation email and shows the email editor |
| Email content (when the switch is on) | Sender, subject, body, with merge fields | Empty | Sets the email a submitter receives after submitting a report of a linked type |
The merge-field picker includes fields from the report, its accreditation, the school's organization, its membership, the visit when the report is tied to one, the report type, the accreditation's current phase, and the program.
Warning
The "Phase" merge fields use the accreditation's current phase when the email is sent, not necessarily the phase the report belongs to. If a school has moved to a new phase since the report was due, the confirmation email shows that later phase.
Dependencies and Precedence
- Turning the confirmation email switch off discards unsaved edits to the email the next time you save. Rhythm keeps any stored email, but it loses edits you made in this session if you turned the switch off before saving.
- An inactive process still sends its confirmations. Deactivating a process only stops report types from selecting it going forward. Report types that already link to it keep using it without changes.
- Report configuration is available only to staff. Portal members cannot view or change reporting processes.
Change Impact and How to Revert
- Renaming a process is safe because its identifier stays the same.
- Deactivating a process is reversible at any time and, as noted above, does not stop report types that already link to it from using it.
- Deleting a process cannot be undone and only works when no report or report type still names it. If either one does, Rhythm refuses the delete.
Preview the Confirmation Email
While Confirmation Email is on, select Preview beside the merge-field picker to open the Preview Report Process Email dialog. Enter the identifier of an existing report and the address where you want to send a test copy, then select Send Preview. Rhythm fills the email with that report's real data, including your unsaved edits, and sends one copy to the address you entered. Nothing is saved, and no submitter is notified.
Permissions
Creating, editing, and deleting reporting processes requires access to Accreditation setup. Ask your administrator if you need this access.
Validation and Errors
- Name is required, and the confirmation email content is required whenever the switch is on. If either is missing, Rhythm shows a Form Errors list and blocks the save.
- The preview needs both a report identifier and a destination address. Leaving either one blank blocks the send. If the report identifier does not match an existing report, the preview fails.
- A process that a report or report type still names can't be deleted. See Change Impact above.
Related Tasks
See Report Types to link a reporting process to the kinds of report you collect.