Credit types are the units your association uses for continuing education, such as a Continuing Education Unit (CEU). Transcript templates are the HTML layouts members see when they print transcripts. You manage both in this area.
What It Controls
A credit type has a name, a permanent identifier, and an active or inactive status. When you deactivate a credit type, Rhythm leaves it on existing records. You can still select and save inactive types on activities, credits, and courses unless that list only shows active types.
A transcript template is an HTML page with merge tokens, such as {{contact.name}} for the contact’s name. It can include repeating blocks that print one row for each credit:
{{#each credits}} … {{/each}}Repeating blocks are the only place these block tokens appear. Inside the credits repeating block, each row is one credit, so use {{this.…}} tokens for fields on that credit. To print details about the activity that earned the credit, use the credit’s activity, such as {{this.activity.name}}. Custom fields on that activity work the same way and are referenced by their identifier, for example {{this.activity.custom_fields.[your-custom-field-id]}}; the merge-field picker lists them under its Activity group. Custom fields saved on the credit record itself are available inside the block as the credit’s own custom-field tokens. If a credit custom field stays blank on the printed transcript even though the credit record has a value, and you have already matched the token syntax here, ask Support to confirm that Rhythm makes that field available to transcripts. Training details you want on a transcript come from the course registration merge fields, not from separate course fields.
A token from the picker still prints blank when Rhythm does not provide that field in that part of the layout. If a field you need prints blank, ask Support to make it available to transcripts instead of rebuilding the layout.
When you change a template, make merge-field changes when you can. The template is a hand-edited HTML page, so layout and formatting changes are easier to break and harder to undo than adding, removing, or replacing a token. If a template stops working, the quickest fix is to start again from a copy of a working template, then add or remove merge fields without changing the formatting code. A larger visual redesign is HTML-level customization, so plan to involve someone comfortable with HTML or a web designer instead of editing formatting code by trial and error.
When a member prints a transcript, Rhythm fills the template with the contact, the member’s credits for the selected period, totals by credit type, and a few calculated values. New templates start with a ready-made layout titled “Continuing Education Transcript,” which most administrators adjust instead of building from scratch.
A template appears to members in the Portal only when that template is active and its Show this template in the portal setting is turned on.
Where to Find It
Go to Setup › Credits › Types for credit types, or Setup › Credits › Transcript Templates for templates.
- Select Create Credit Type or Create Credit Transcript Template to open a blank form.
- Select a row’s Edit icon to change that record, or select Clone to start from a copy.
Prerequisites
You need the permission your administrator grants for Certifications setup to open either screen.
The Settings
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name (credit type) | Text | Blank | Appears wherever you select the credit type, and also suggests the identifier |
| Status (credit type) | Active, inactive | Active | Inactive types stay on existing records and can still be selected and saved unless a list only shows active types |
| Name (transcript template) | Text | Blank | Appears in the template list and, when shown in the Portal, in the list of formats members can choose |
| Show this template in the portal | On, off | On | Makes this layout available when a member prints their own transcript in the Portal |
| Status (transcript template) | Active, inactive | Active | Inactive templates are not offered as a Portal choice |
| Transcript Template | HTML editor with a merge-field picker | The default layout for a new template | Controls the layout the transcript prints into |
Dependencies and Precedence
- A credit type’s identifier is used by activity types and requirement formulas elsewhere in Certifications, so changing the available credit types can change how those calculations work.
- A transcript template is not tied to specific credit types on this form. It prints every credit type unless the request that generates the transcript limits the results another way.
- The merge-field picker offers tokens for the contact, organization, credit, activity, course (including the course's own name), course offering (name, type, start date, and the associated event's name), and event (name, type, start and end dates). Course fields are a newer addition to the picker; if they don't appear in your account yet, ask Support. The picker shows a short list by default, so switch its filter to All to see every available merge field. Not every token works in every part of the layout, so follow the default layout’s structure when you add rows. In the credits repeating block shown above, use
{{this.<property>}}style tokens for the credit and{{this.activity.<property>}}for its activity. A token copied from the picker’s Credit, Activity, or Course group works inside the block only in that form. Some entries in the picker start with a loop-style prefix such as{{#useWithinEach; ignore those and use the{{this.…}}forms described here instead, because the default layout's{{#each credits}}block is already the loop you need. Transcript context is not limited to the activity. Some fields you need may live on the related course, course offering, or event record instead, so check those merge-field groups too if a field you expect from the activity does not appear there.
Change Impact and How to Revert
Warning
You cannot delete a credit type that any credit, activity, activity type, or course still uses. A credit type used only by a transcript template can still be deleted, but the template will then refer to a type that no longer exists.
- Deactivating a credit type does not remove it from records that already use it. In lists limited to active types, it no longer appears as a new choice.
- Editing a transcript template’s HTML changes what prints the next time someone uses that template. It does not change transcripts that were already printed or saved elsewhere. The same is true for a fix or styling update Rhythm makes to how transcripts render. A transmittal report or transcript generated before the change stays exactly as it was, so check a copy generated after the change if you need to see the new output.
- Turning off Show this template in the portal removes that layout from the choices members see when they print their own transcript. It does not delete the template, and staff can still use it elsewhere if applicable.
Warning
Turning on deletion protection for a credit transcript template is hard to undo. Once it is on and saved, reopening the template may only let you clone it, and trying to turn deletion protection back off can fail with an error instead of saving. Leave deletion protection off unless you are sure you want it, and contact Support if you need to remove it after turning it on.
Permissions
You need the permission your administrator grants for Certifications setup to create, edit, or delete credit types and transcript templates.
Validation and Errors
Tip
You control whether a credit transcript template appears in the Portal by turning its Show this template in the portal setting on or off. When the setting is off, members no longer see that template as a choice.
- A credit type requires a name.
- A transcript template requires a name and a template layout. Rhythm does not check the layout for broken merge syntax when you save, so an HTML mistake appears only when someone tries to print with that template.
- Rhythm refuses to delete a credit type that is still used by a credit, activity, activity type, or course.
Related
See “Related” in the sidebar for courses and course types, how Rhythm sends email, and how custom fields work in general.