System Messages Page

Preview

Displays the results of your entries in the Message Title and Message Text fields. You should click this item before saving a record.

About

Displays a window that identifies the system, application, and database being used.

Help

Displays a window providing descriptions of the page's fields.

Refresh

Refreshes the list of records in the Message List section to reflect any additions, changes, or deletions by other users during your current session in the System Messages page.

Login

Displays a message as soon as users log into the PowerSchool ERP system. Clicking Continue gives users access to their home page.

Broadcast

Displays a message to current PowerSchool ERP users. Clicking Continue allows users to resume what they were doing.

Message Type

Radio buttons determining whether the message is a login message or broadcast message.

Select:

• Login - to set up a login message. An active login message displays as soon as a user logs into the PowerSchool ERP system, depending on the message's date and time settings.
• Broadcast - to set up a broadcast message. If you do not enter any Date and Time settings, this type of message displays shortly after you save it.

Status

Radio buttons determining whether the message is active or inactive.

Select:

• Active - to allow a message to display as scheduled.
• Inactive - to prevent a message from displaying, regardless of its other settings. Use this selection to place a "hold" on a message, for example, if you are setting up a series of messages that you plan to schedule later or if you want to disable a current message.

Close Menu

Checkbox for locking out current users and preventing others from logging in. When you select the box, a message displays to warn you of the possibility of locking yourself out of the system. For details, refer to the following Caution.

When the Close Menu box is selected, messages display with an Exit button instead of a Continue button.

• For broadcast messages, select this field to close users' PowerSchool ERP pages, when they click Exit. Other system pages will remain active, so that users can complete their current activities. However, they will not be able to access additional PowerSchool ERP options.
• For login messages, select this field to prevent users from logging into PowerSchool ERP. Usually, you do not need to create a separate login for a lockout, since the broadcast message to current users will combine with the existing login message for new users logging in. For details, refer to Schedule Messages.

Caution

To avoid being locked out, you must keep the System Messages page displayed. When you are ready to let users access PowerSchool ERP again, clear the Close Menu checkbox in the lockout message, and then save the message. If you created separate login and broadcast messages for the lockout, be sure to clear the checkboxes in both messages. You will then need to log into the system, as will other users. The messages used for the lockout will now have Continue buttons instead of Exit. Clicking Continue will give you and other users normal access to PowerSchool ERP.

Message Name

Text identifying the message. The field accepts an unlimited number of characters, both upper and lower case. However, you should only use as many characters as needed to distinguish the message from other messages. Also keep in mind that the system does not check if the name you enter is used by other messages.

System

Checkboxes for indicating the systems the message applies to:

At least one of the boxes must be selected for the message to display. Select both boxes if the message applies to both systems.

Database

List of databases whose users will see the message. If the list is left blank, the message displays for all users, regardless of the databases they use.

Enter the names of the databases separated by commas (with no spaces in between). You can also use the field's Lookup button to select from the databases available.

Select the appropriate checkboxes.

• To select all checkboxes, click Check All.
• To clear all checkboxes, click Uncheck All.

When you complete your selections, click OK. The databases you selected will appear in the Database field with the commas already entered.

The following optional fields are used to schedule when messages should start and end. If you leave these fields blank, the message will take effect immediately and run indefinitely. For related details, refer to Schedule Messages.

Start Date

Date that the message should take effect.

Leaving this field blank for a message that has the Active radio button selected has the following effects:

• For a broadcast message, the message will display as soon as you save the record.
• For a login message, the message will display the next time users log in. Current users will not see the message until then.

End Date

Last date that the message will display. For example, a message with an end date of 12/31/2017, will display on that date, but not on 01/01/2018.

Start Time

Hour and minute when the message will take effect. Use military time in digital format. For example:

If you enter four digits without using a colon, the system inserts the colon when you save the record. Similarly, if you enter one to three digits to express a time, the system converts this to the correct format. For example, 8 converts to 08:00 and 930 to 09:30.

End Time

Last hour and minute when the message is in effect. For example, if you set the field to 16:00, the message will still be active at 4 p.m. but not at 4:01 p.m.

Use military time in digital format, as indicated in the examples in the description of the Start Time field. For related information, refer to Schedule Messages.

Message Title

Title to display in the title bar of the login or broadcast message.

• You can use as many characters as needed. However, the width of the message display – and subsequently, the width of the title bar – depends on the length of the message. With very short messages, the title bar can only display about 15-20 characters, including the spaces between words. Therefore, it is usually best to use a short title.
• You can use both upper and lower case letters in the title, as well as characters. For example, "good morning" could be entered as Good Morning or GOOD MORNING.

If two or more messages are combined, the system uses the title from the last message displayed.

Text to display in the login or broadcast message window.

• If you type a continuous line that wraps to the next line, the entire message will display as one line. For better results visually, use the <Enter> key to break your message into shorter lines of about equal length.
• If two or more messages are combined based on their Date and Time settings, the system inserts a line between each message. For more information, refer to Schedule Messages.