Reminders can be generated on a manual ad hoc basis as and when they are needed.
Alternatively they can be scheduled to go out on a weekly, fortnightly, 4 week or annual basis.
To generate reminders manually, log into the Reading Cloud as either an administrator or librarian user and open the Management (also known as 'Librarian Only' or 'Manage Library') section.
When in Management open the 'Current Loans' table by clicking on the 'Current Loans' icon on the left of the page.
Use Quick Search, Advanced Search or Flagging to filter the table to only the borrowers you wish to send reminders to.
Once the desired borrowers are selected on screen, click the 'Reminders' option from the right-hand toolbar.
The 'Reminders' window will then open, select the type of reminder to generate from the 'Type' drop down menu.
From under the 'Records' choose one of the two options. Choosing 'Process Selected Record' means that a reminder for the record which is highlighted in the grid is generated. If 'Process All Records' is selected, this means that all records in the grid will have reminders generated.
From under the 'Options' settings, select any options needed for the run of reminders.
- 'Output selected reminder only' outputs a specific reminder when set. The box at the top of the window becomes active when this is selected and the required reminder can be chosen. If outputting a specific reminder to all borrowers, tick this option and then select the reminder. This technique can also be used to reset a borrowers reminder number, or force them onto a particular number. If you wish to send the borrowers their next due reminder, do not select this option.
- 'Reprint last reminder when limit reached' is used when a borrower is on their last reminder number. Ticking this option sends the last reminder to them again.
- 'Create reminders for overdue items only' is used to generate reminders for only those borrowers with an overdue loan, it will not generate for borrowers who are not yet overdue.
From under the 'Output Options' heading, choose whether the reminders are generated using their default method or overridden by one used for this run. Untick the box and select all applicable boxes to overwrite the default. For example. to print a reminder that is normally set to email by default, untick 'Use the reminders default output' and tick 'Print'. All reminders will then print on this run of reminders, after closing the 'Reminders' window all default settings will apply again.
With all parameters now chosen, click 'Generate' to start creating the reminders. A progress bar is then displayed before the reminders are generated.
If the 'Email' output option is chosen (or is the default) then the message 'Reminders have been sent to their targets' will display. As the reminders are being emailed there is no PDF to generate.