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Upload Documents to Parish Life

You can upload letters and statements for people to view and print in Parish Life. Members can only see their own documents on their profile.

Before You Upload Documents

Parishioners and personnel are notified via email once you upload the PDFs. Email addresses can be entered in multiple windows throughout the program.

To mark an email address to use for the Parish Life upload, enter the information in at least one of the following areas:

  • Families Primary Information — Enter the family's email address(es) under Emails in the Primary Information section of the Families window. Select Pref. if they prefer to receive email over regular mail.
  • Members Communication — Enter the member's email address(es) under Emails in the Communication section of the Members window. Select Pref. if they prefer to receive email over regular mail.
  • Contributions Billing Address — You can send financial statements to people other than the family by adding contacts in the Billing Address section of the Contributions window. Enter the email address(es) under Email, select Send Email Over Mail, and indicate when to send statements to which address.
  • Personnel Communication — Enter the personnel's email address(es) under Emails in the Communication section of the Personnel window. Select Pref. if they prefer to receive email over regular mail.

Some members may request a separate statement if they contribute individually. To send their individual statement to their Parish Life profile, make sure to mark their record. Select Separate Statement in the Personal section of the Members window.

Send PDF Copies to Parish Life

  1. For each family or individual, enter the email address in one of the locations listed above, and select Pref. or Send Email Over Mail.
  2. For any members who need to receive a separate statement, select Separate Statement in the Personal section of their record.
  3. Select a report.
    Note: Only certain letters and statements are available to send to Parish Life. When selecting a report in the list, you'll see the Parish Life icon in the top-right corner.
  4. When selecting the families or individuals to include, on the Selection Information tab, select Email the Letter if, and select either Preferred is Checked or Has an Email Addr. To send the letter/statement to all email addresses associated with the individual or family, select Send to Multiple Emails.
    Note:

    If you select Has an Email Addr, the program sends the email even if Pref. is not selected in the Families window.

    If you're running a member report, you can also select to send the letter to the family's email.

    The Email the Letter if checkbox is saved per report.

    Note that documents sent to the "family" will only display on the Parish Life profile for the head of household, not every member.

  5. If you're uploading documents that should display for members who receive a separate statement, select Include Separate Statements. Otherwise, it will not display on the member's Parish Life profile.
  6. Click Preview. The program builds a list of those who should receive regular mail and those who should receive email.
  7. When the build is complete, click OK to display the first letter or statement to be printed, if any. Review the first few records for accuracy before you continue.
    Note: This is only a preview, and the actual output can differ. Email previews don't display.
  8. Click Next, or close the preview window. The Sending the Email dialog box displays.
  9. Complete the information on the Email Message tab and the Email Server Setup tab.
  10. On the Email Message tab, select Send PDF to Parish Life with a notification email to the head of household/member.
  11. Select an option for graphics resolution. Enter the document description that will display in Parish Life. If needed, edit the notification email message.
  12. To upload the documents and transmit the email notifications, click Start Email. If there's an error connecting or with any single transmission, you can print the record and create a letter or statement for regular mail.

Once you upload documents, members can view them in the Documents section on their Parish Life profile. Members can only see their own documents. Documents sent to the "family" are only visible on the profile of the head of household.

Email Message and Server Setup Field Information

The Sending the Emails dialog box is divided into two tabs. Enter the necessary information in order to send emails from PDS.

Email Message

This tab contains your message information.

From
Defaults to the name of your organization from the License window, but you can edit this field if needed.
From Email Address and Reply Email Address
Both fields default to the email address entered in the License window. If it's not listed in your License window, you can enter it here.
  • The From Email Address displays where the message is being sent from.
    Note: OnDemand users: By default, our OnDemand server is used to send messages from PDS. The From Email Address will display as notifications@ondemandmail.com. If you want to change this to an email address your parishioners are more familiar with, you can set up your own email server. For steps, see Email and Text Setup.
  • The Reply Email Address determines where any replies to the original email will be sent. This may be different than the From Email Address. If you want replies to go to a different address or multiple addresses, make sure to enter them in this field (separated by a comma if there is more than one).
  • For example, Father Jacob wants to send an email to parishioners, but he wants all replies to go to his assistant. In that case, you would enter Father Jacob's email as the From Email Address and the assistant's email as the Reply Email Address.
Subject Line
Defaults to "Letter from <your organization name>" as entered in the License window, but you can edit this field if needed.
Other File Attachments
Click Add File and browse to the location of any file you want to send with the email.
Type of Email
You can send the following types of email. Select an option based on your needs and preferences.
  • Email as images—Send the text as an HTML email. This works with most email programs and keeps most of the format of the printed letters or statements. It doesn't require the recipient to have Adobe® Reader to view the image.
  • Email as Text—Send the text of the letter without using an attachment. The formatting of this email doesn't look exactly like the letters or statements you send out in the mail. Most notably, it doesn't include pictures or bitmaps, which means digital letterheads, logos, and signatures don't display. While this option can be received by most email programs, it produces a visually simple email.
  • Email as HTML—Send as an HTML email. This works with most email programs, but may look different on certain devices like phones. It doesn't require the recipient to have Adobe® Reader.
  • Email as PDF document attachment—Send a brief note in an email with an attachment that can be viewed and printed with Adobe® Reader. This produces an email attachment that looks exactly like the letters or statements you printed. However, the recipient must have Adobe® Reader to view it.
    • If you select to email the statement or letter as an attachment, click the Graphics Resolution drop-down list to select the resolution. The resolution only affects images contained within the PDF. With a higher resolution, the images are clearer. However, the file size increases and takes more time and bandwidth to email.
    • The Email Body field defaults to a message indicating your organization name and explains that the attachment should be viewed with Adobe® Reader. It also includes a link to download the reader if the person does not already have it. You can edit this message.
    • To allow recipients the option to view the email without having to open attachments, select Include a Plain Text version of the letter in the Email Body.
      Note: This feature is only available in PDS Version 11. For more on upgrading, see Upgrade to the Latest Version.
  • Send PDF to Parish Life with a notification email to the head of household/member—Upload a PDF copy of the letter or statement to each person's Parish Life profile, and email the family (via the head of household) or member. Only the individual who is logged in can view/print their documents on their profile. Documents sent to the "family" are only visible on the profile of the head of household.
Preview
View the letter to be emailed. The email itself might look different depending on your email format settings.
Start Email
Email the letters to all the selected contacts.

Email Server Setup

This tab has technical information for connecting to your email server. Obtain these settings from your system administrator or Internet provider.

Email Server (SMTP)
SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. Obtain these settings from your Internet provider's website or system administrator.
Email Server Port
The default setting is 25. Obtain this setting from your Internet provider or system administrator.
Server Requires Authentication
Some servers require authentication. Enter your email account name and password. Select Use TLS (GMail) or Use SSL (AT&T) if you use one of those.
Note: If you're using a Gmail account, you must set up an App Password. For steps, see Set Up an App Password for Emailing.
Server Limits Emails
Select if your server restricts the number or size of incoming and outgoing email messages.
Note: If you use Gmail to send emails from PDS: Google limits the number of messages and the number of recipients per message you can send through the Gmail SMTP servers. See this Gmail article for details. If you exceed the limit, you may see an error in PDS when attempting to send the emails, such as "Transmission Failed. Error: 4.3.0 Temporary System Problem". If this happens, you can try sending emails in smaller batches over multiple days, as permitted by your Google settings.
If an Error Occurs, Delay 30 Seconds and Retry Once
If your email server experiences an error, you can request that the PDS program try to resend after a 30-second delay.
Disconnect and Reconnect After Every Email
Select if you want your server to disconnect and reconnect after sending each email.
Preview
View the letter to be emailed. The email itself might look different depending on your email format settings.
Start Email
Email the letters to all the selected contacts.