System Configuration

• Roles and Permissions
• Permissions in OPS-COM
• Admin User Accounts
• IP Filtering for access to OPS-COM
• Editing a Username
• Defining User Profile Items
• Email Headers and Footers
• Guide to System Settings
• Configuration Checklist
• Password and Security Features
• Manage Files
• Administrator Groups
• The Invoice Template
• System Messaging Checklist
• Email Server Communication Errors
• Default Header and Footer for Mobile Readiness and SwiftDeploy
• Email Templates
• Pages and Content Blocks
• Templates and Design
• Translations
• Taxes

Roles and Permissions

Roles and Permissions

There are three menu options under the System Configuration -> Admin Management menu; Manage Roles, Manage Groups and Edit Admin Users. 

Click the Manage Roles button to begin.

The Manage Administrator Roles screen displays.
The Primary Administrator role will be available to select. This role will allow you to create new Roles and assign them to other Admin Users. 

Click the Add New Role button. Enter the Role name and the description for that role. 
The description will become the rollover tool tip that displays when you mouse over the Edit Role button of an existing role. Click Save Role to save.

You can edit any role by clicking the Edit Role button. You can edit the Role Name and Description for any Role except Primary Admin.

Click the Permissions button to edit the permissions for any role. The Editing Permissions screen will display. 
The number next to the icons across the top bar indicate how many permissions in that category have been selected. 
The icons mirror the OPS-COM menu. Click an icon to display the permissions in that category.

To select a permission, enable the check box next to that permission. Once you have gone through each icon and selected all the permissions that are required for the role, click Save Permissions. That role is now created. 

You can assign this role to one or more users. Click the System Config menu and select Edit Admin Users. The Manage Administrator Users screen displays.  

From this screen you can create a new user or edit an existing one by selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown list. Click Retrieve to display the user options below. 

Add or confirm the User information on the left and select the roles to apply to that user on the right. You can add a comment for any relevant notes about the user. Click Update User when you are finished.

Permissions in OPS-COM

 

Admin User Accounts

Creating an Admin Account

Hover over System Config and click Edit Admin Users.

The Manage Administrator Users screen displays. Select Insert New User from the drop-down menu, then click Retrieve. 
On the left, you will enter the user information, and on the right, you will select the admin role(s) this person will be responsible for.

Enter the admin's information into the Creating New User form

In the Active Roles form select the role(s) the Admin User will be granted. 
We suggest you view the video demo to fully understand how the Roles and Permissions in OPS-COM function. 

Click Insert New User when complete to add the admin user to the system.

Editing an Existing Admin Account

To manage Administrator Users, select the System Config menu, then click on Edit Admin Users.

The Manage Administrator Users page will display. To change a user, select the user from the drop-down menu and click Retrieve. You can now change the options for that selected user.  

You can also click on the Login Activity button to see when the admin logged into the OPS-COM system or a handheld device.

Resetting an Admin's Password

To reset an admin's password go to the specific user's account and enter a temporary password into the Password field. The password is hidden but you can simply type over the existing symbols "**********".

Inform the admin of the temporary password. When they login with the temporary password they will be prompted to update their password and they will have the opportunity to make it more secure.

Disabling an Admin Account

When do we use this?

Admin users cannot be deleted as they have data attached to their accounts. If an admin user changes roles or leaves the organization the best practice is to disable their account.
NOTE: It is very important to leave the admin users permissions in place as the permissions will affect reporting. Obviously, once the account is disabled any permissions existing cannot be actioned and will only be used for reporting purposes.

Click on the System Config menu and choose Edit Admin Users.

Click on the field labeled Insert New User to see a drop-down list of active users.

Click on the user being removed from the drop down list, in this example jim_daniels will be used.

The user is in an active state at this point. Uncheck the box titled Activate this account and allow system login.

Click Update User to apply the change.

Notice how, when you go back to the list of Admin Users, the account is now listed under the Disabled Accounts listing.

Note: This action can be reversed at any time by editing the user account and checking  Activate this account and allow system login.

Related Video

IP Filtering for access to OPS-COM

An IP address is an address used in order to uniquely identify a device on an IP network. To get your IP address visit whatismyip.net.

The address is typically made up of four groups of numbers called octets. 

The first two octets identify the network you are on and the last two octets narrow the address down to the specific machine.

Here is how it works:

If, for example, the IP address of your specific computer is 10.32.1.144, you can restrict access to just that single computer by entering the full IP address in the Allowed IP Addresses field.
By entering the first two octets only, it will open up access to any computer on that network but still restrict computers on any other network from having access.
You can further open up access by placing a single dot in the Allowed IP Address field. This allows the user with this configuration to log in from any network.

How does this translate in terms of access to OPS-COM?

The IP configuration of Allowable IP Addresses can be modified for any user in the system and is stored within the admin users profile.
The resulting restrictions or open access to the OPS-COM system is controlled by this configuration and is specific to the user in question.

Here is how you would configure the Allowed IP Addresses in OPS-COM.
Hover over the System Config menu and click on Edit Admin Users.

Once in the Manage Administrator Users window, select the user you wish to edit.

Here is the location of the IP configuration field.

The level of access given to a specific user is usually role based and proportionate to their level of seniority or function within their specific organization.

Managers and directors for example, might require access from anywhere in the world essentially so they would have the single dot as the allowed IP Address, meaning they could literally log in from any network location internal or external to their specific network.
(This admin could log on from an internet cafe for example) Note: In some cases networks might be locked down or behind a firewall. Additional configuration on the part of your IT department may be required.

Regular office workers on the other hand, would only require access from their specific network.
By entering the two fist octets, they could in that case log in to OPS-COM from any computer in their local office provided that computer was on the same network. In our example: 10.32

A part time employee or student worker may only use one specific computer to access OPS-COM, so again here is where you would specify the full IP address to control access. In our example 10.32.1.144

It is even possible to configure a user for access from more than one computer, but still restricted to specific computers. To configure this access you must enter the entire IP address of the two or more computers. For example 10.32.1.144 and 10.32.1.154 could be two computers in an office setting. The two entries can be placed in the Allowed IP Address field listed on two separate lines as follows:

 
It is also possible to allow access for an admin from two separate local area networks. For example: you may have a situation where an employee is working out of two locations on a campus, or in a municipal organization.

One building may be on the 10.32 network, while the other building or campus is on another. In that case you can configure the allowed IP addresses accordingly.

How To Find Your IP

You can view your IP address by searching for it in Google. Simply type in the search bar "What is My IP"

The returned result will display your IP address as follows:

To recap: The Basic Rules

Good:

. A single period to match all IP's

10.32 -  A partial IP to match a specific network
10.32.1.144 - A full IP to match a specific computer

Bad:
10.* Wildcards like this will not work
ops-com.com Domain names will not work

Editing a Username

By default the username field is not editable:

To begin, go to the System Config menu and click on System Settings.

From the resulting list of settings click on User Profile to edit it's settings.

From the list of settings look for Allow Username Edits.
Important Note: This setting can only be toggled by the OPS-COM Support team. Contact OPS-COM support to request changes to this setting.

Click on the setting to select it.

Once the setting is activated, as you can see below, the admin now has the ability to edit the username.

Defining User Profile Items

Setting up User Profile Items

To access the profile items click System Config menu and select System Settings.

On the Manage System Settings screen, click User Profile to display the list of possible items that can be added or removed from the profile.

Items in this list can be in one of three states:

(Note: The system will not allow the user to save the profile if there is any required information missing) 

The form has 6 essential categories that have various elements that can be set in any one of the three states mentioned above:

      If we hide everything that can be hidden, the system will still require certain pieces of information and may override your settings. Here's what the form looks like for a staff end user in this case.

Here is the form with everything visible - 

User Name

A User Name is essential. It is one of the unique identifiers required to use the system. However, there are various permutations of the required information associated with the user's name. Best practice tells us a bare minimum might be Username, First Name, and Last Name, although any of these items can be toggled on/off. The state selected is highlighted in blue and a checkmark is added to illustrate the selection.

Note: One scenario where we might hide username would be if an external source such as LDAP is supplying the username.

Address

If you plan to mail permits to end users you will need to collect addresses. 

Phone

License

This field is for Driver License number (not plate number).  If you are connected with local law enforcement you may opt to record this information.

Student Information

Employee Information

Text2ParkMe

If you are using Text2ParkMe, there will be a second tab on the page where end users can enter additional details including credit card information.
Note: The only field that will show a "required" status is the Student ID.  Additionally: If you enter any credit card information it switches all credit card information fields to required.

Email Headers and Footers

Getting to Email Headers & Footers

In order to get to Email Headers & Footers, click System Config, Email Headers & Footers

This should take you to the Email Template Layout List where you can select Edit to edit the existing Footer, Header or Style email template. 

Editing Email Layout Templates 

Click edit on the Edit button for the corresponding Section you wish to edit.

 This will bring you to the template, in our case it is the Header Template. From here you can edit what appears on the header of each sent email as well as include inline styles.

Guide to System Settings

1. To access the system settings, go to System Config and click on System Settings.  In most cases these settings affect the admin side of the application.
   

   

   
   

System Settings Grid

Configuration Checklist

Some System Configuration that Must be Done

For more details on system settings please see

System settings:

• Check General System Settings to ensure Date and Time settings are correct for your location
• Check Lockers settings to set Tax rate, upload a locker map, and set a Receipt Reply To Address
• Check Payments if EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) is configured
•  Check Permits to ensure it is configured correctly:
  • Enter a Receipt Reply To Address
  • Upload a permit map
  • If using the Managed Waitlist, configure the Waitlist Email Managers, as well as the Waitlist Reservation Duration
• Check Violations to configure the following:
  • Days until violation payment is due
  • Number of days to appeal violation before the option to appeal is removed

Classic System Settings:

• Check System Identification settings
  • System Name
  • Reply-to Admin Email Address 
  • Reply-to Security Email Address
  • Mailing Address
  • Safety Address
  • Permit Tax %
  • Temp Permit Tax %

Template Design

OPS-COM offers powerful flexibility to allow your team to customize the look and feel of your User Portal system. This is done by designing the site template.
You will require your graphics and any messaging you would like to see on the pages. 

Uploading Images for Use in Templates

• In order to place images in the different templates, you must upload them to the File Manager. Please refer to this wiki article for more information
• Upload background images for landing page
• Upload your company Logo
• Upload your parking map

Once you have your graphics uploaded:

Setting up the Look and Feel of the User Portal

• Setting up the common header
• Setting up the common footer
• Optional use of content header and footer

System Messaging

• Set up your Vehicle Disclaimer
• Set up your Permit Disclaimer

Email Template Setup

• Appeal Submitted by user
• Lost Password
• Invoice
• User Receipt
• Waitlist Selected

User Setup

• Determine what User Types are required
• Determine what fields of the user profile are required, optional or hidden

System Setup

• You will need to set up the Vehicle description information
• Are there any vehicle types missing?

You will also need to set up your locations.

• Determine what locations you wish to use as descriptors for enforcement

ParkAdmin Setup

• Create Lots
• Create and designate Lot Groups and Zones
• Permits type: Monthly, Daily or Temp

ViolationAdmin Setup

• Create Offence Categories
• Populate the offence types
• Configure days to pay and overdue time frame

Proof and order your Violations stock

• Your Account Executive will be in contact to ensure you are getting the correct tickets and that you approve the design 
• If you are sourcing your own Violation stock, please ensure you allow yourself 4-6 weeks to have them printed and shipped to you

Set up your Handhelds and Printers

If you have purchased the hardware through the OPS-COM team, we will ship them directly to you with the software pre-loaded and the printers paired. If you have sourced them yourself, you will need to follow the instructions in the wiki articles to complete the setup of your Android handheld units. You will also need to use the instructions in the wiki articles below to set up and pair your printers.

• Setting Up your Handheld Units for the First Time
• Setting your Android for Auto-Updates
• Ticket Creation Settings
• Setting up your Ticket Footer

Printer Setup

Your Training Coordinator will go through using the handhelds but it is beneficial to work through the Android Handheld Wiki to make the training more meaningful for you.
In particular, it is important to familiarize yourself with the Best Practices for OPS-COM Android wiki article.

 

Password and Security Features

Manage Security Settings

To edit security settings, hover over System Config and click System Settings.

In System Settings, click Security in the list of settings.

The Manage System Settings window will open and all the security settings will be available.

Salted Password Hashing, Password Update, Toggle Password Expiry and Enable Password History

Using salted password hashing adds an extra layer of security to stored passwords. Hashing is a one-way, irreversible process that takes the password a user enters and converts it into a short hash value. Salting randomizes the string of digits for the hash value so that two users have the same password, they will have different hash strings. It is not possible to reverse engineer a hash, so you cannot “look up” what the original password was.  Instead, a user who forgets their password, for example, would have to reset it completely. This limits an administrator’s ability to view the passwords of employees and closes up a security vulnerability.

Require Password Update - When activated, this setting will force users to change their passwords on next login.

Toggle Password Expiry - By default passwords do not expire.  For added security, it is good practice to have passwords expire every 90 days. You can enter the number of days before a password expiry to conform with your organization's security policy and toggle it on.

Enable Password History - When toggled on, OPS-COM will remember the passwords you have used in the past, and will not allow repeat use of the password for the time set in days. 

Password Strength and Admin Lockout 

Using Password Strength Settings the admin can set rules for how complex a password needs to be to meet security rules.

These settings include:

Minimum Password Length - minimum number of characters in the password
Enable Password Strength Requirements - Toggles on or off the following requirements:

• Minimum number of Numerical Characters required in the password

• Minimum number of Lower Case Characters required in the password

• Minimum number of Upper Case Characters required in the password

• Minimum number of Non-Alpha numeric Characters required in the password (Special characters such as !,&,#, etc.)

Admins can opt to set up additional security settings that can lock the user out of the system if an incorrect password is entered repeatedly within a specific time frame. In the setting example, 120 minutes would lock the Admin out of their account for 2 hours, if three failed attempts to log in occur during a five minute period.

Manage Files

Uploading Files

Your OPS-Com Admin site has a page to put files. To get to this page, go to System Config then click Manage Files.

You should now see a page where you can see all files that have been used on your OPS-COM Site.
This is used mainly for images that are on your OPS-COM User and Admin dashboards (banner, etc.)

These files can be viewed in thumbnail mode...

...or in list mode:

By clicking on an image you turn on the following menu where you can rename, download, move the file to a different folder, as well as resize, crop or delete the file.

Adding Files to Pages

To add files to this repository you can simply drag the file into the screen area where an Upload File(s) interface will appear.

Adding Images to a Page

To add an image on a page, you would insert the path to the image, as follows:

The root folder is /uploads/FILES/

Followed by your customer code

Followed by the file name

The resulting URL for a logo placement might look like this /uploads/FILES/PA-DEMO/TomahawkUniversity_logo.png

Here's a sample of the URL being used in a typical page header.

Administrator Groups

1. To manage Administrator Groups, go to 'System Config' then click on 'Manage Groups'.

2. You will be directed to a page where you can see your Admin Groups. As you can see, there are no groups on this page. We will be making one for a demo. To make a group, click on 'Add New Group' Fill out the information, then click 'Save Group'. You should now see your group that you made on the left hand side.

The Invoice Template

Editing the template

To access the template, go to the System Config menu and click on Email Templates.

The screen will refresh with a list of possible templates to edit. In our case, we want to click on the Edit button for Permit Invoice to access the template.

The screen will refresh with the complete Template form as seen below.

The form contains 4 areas:

At the top, Meta Data for this specific template.
On the left, a list of possible Short Codes that can be used on this template form.
On the right, the actual Template.
At the bottom, a Text Content field (This field can be configured for a plain text version of the

Meta Data

Label - Enter a name for this Template.
Type - This field auto fills. 
Language - Choose the language of the template.
Layout - Choose default layout.
Subject - This text will appear as the Email Subject. Note that the use of short code is permitted in this field. In this case, we are calling up the account name for the company being invoiced.

Short Code List

The template allows the use of special tokens, or short codes, to pull information from the database to appear on the invoice when sent.
These include:

[invoice account="number"] The account number for the company.
[invoice account="name"] The account name for the company.
[invoice account="fulladdress"] The full address for the company.
[invoice account="invoice_comments"] The invoice comment value that is editable for companies only. Any line breaks will be preserved.
[invoice show="invoiceno"] Invoice Number.
[invoice show="duedate"] Invoice due date.
[invoice show="billdate"] Invoice bill date.
[invoice show="subtotal"] Subtotal of all items before tax.
[invoice show="taxtotal"] Total amount of tax.
[invoice show="amounttotal"] The total sum amount for all outstanding permits for this invoice.
[invoice show="counttotal"] The total number of permits for the selected sales window.
[invoice show="details"] The list of permits, cost and who has the permit.

These tokens can be placed anywhere on the template and will pull data from the system, similar to a mail merge functionality.

For example, in the Bill To: area, the system will retrieve the Full Address of the Company as well as the Company Account Number using these two short code tokens:
[invoice account="fulladdress"] The full address for the company.
[invoice account="number"] The account number for the company.

The Template

There are a number of areas on the template that can be edited by the admin. To add branding to the template there are two areas that will be of concern.

The Company Logo Field:
This is where you would place your company logo. Using a .JPEG or .PNG file format is recommended. 

Your Company Address:
Enter your company address here.

Invoice Identification:
In this section use short code to pull in the Invoice Number, Billing Date, and Due Date.

Invoice Details:

The short code [invoice show="details"] pulls in the list of permits that will appear on the Invoice. (See a sample of the Invoice below)

These include:

Parker's Name
Item type being Paid for (Permit, Access card, etc.)
Item number (Permit Number)
Sales Window
Lot Name
Quantity
Cost

Payment Information (Billing Cost):
In this section use short code to pull in the billing information such as Subtotal, Calculated Taxes, and Total Billing Amount.

You may also wish to add comments to the invoice. Comments can be added in the company configuration. 

The Email with PDF attached:
Here is a sample of what the resulting email would look like. There is also a .PDF version of this invoice attached to the email.

System Messaging Checklist

What Needs Your Attention

Here is the list of all the major pages and messaging you will want to review. There are some that are standard messages and probably don't need customization. These items are listed but marked as optional.

Functional page elements are displayed on the page automatically by the system based on which page you are currently on. For example, the Sign In page boxes that appear for username and password are automatically generated on the page. Therefore, you need not worry about editing these items. However, if you want to add additional content on these pages you may do so.

Templates and Designs

Click on Toggle template to get a list.

You will want to edit the following:

• Header - You will want to customize this content. This is the common header on all user portal pages.

• Footer - You will want to customize this content.  This is the common footer on all user portal pages.

Go into System Messaging and update the following System Messaging:

(These are the actual pages that occupy the content area between the header and footer that you configured above)

The Pages Tab

• User Dashboard - Currently the generic page. You will want to customize this content.

• Login Screen - You will want to customize this content.

• Payments Page - Optional. This content will appear on the Payments page above the functional part of the page. 

• Permits - Most clients customize this message. A good place to put a Campus Map and Messaging about permits.

• User Registration- Optional.

• My Vehicles - Optional.

The Messages Tab

• Dashboard Message - Admin Dashboard.

• noPaymentOptions - Currently a standard generic message. Edits Optional.

• permitPDF - Set for printing a standard permit. 

• permitTempPDF - Set for printing a temporary permit. 

• tempPermitText - Optional.

Popup Disclaimers

You may opt to place popup disclaimers throughout the system. These popup windows can be triggered to appear based on navigation to a page or associated with a button on a page. 

• Appeals Disclaimer
• Locker Disclaimer
• Permit Disclaimer
• Vehicle Disclaimer

Email Headers and Footers Configuration

These are the common elements that will be used for all outgoing emails.
You will probably want to customize the messages as well as add your logo to the header, although there are no rules here you can decide, for example, to put the logo in the footer.
Click on toggle templates and have a look at:

• Header - You will want to customize this content.

• Footer - You will want to customize this content.

Email Templates

These are the ones I believe you will be using at this point.

• Appeal Decision

• Appeal Submitted - Standard. Edits Optional.

• Lost Password - Standard. Edits Optional.

• Create Password registration email. - Standard. Edits Optional. 

• User Receipt - Standard. Edits Optional.

• Waitlist Selected - Standard. Edits Optional.

Disclaimers & Messaging

There are only 2 that would be of concern.

• Payment Footer

• Receipt Header

Notice Literature

These are notices that get sent out to end users as an email. They would use the Headers and Footers you configured above.

• Overdue Notice Literature - sent to a user when they have an overdue violation. You will want to customize this message.

• New Notice Literature - sent to a user when they have received a violation.  You will want to customize this message.

Email Server Communication Errors

Finding Communication Errors

It is possible, that if some of the system settings and classic system settings are not setup correctly to use a From address, that you will receive a communication error as a response. One example would be when trying to submit the Forgot Password form found on the user side login page. An error message of this nature would look something like this:

As mentioned, this is because there is no From address setup in the system. 

Fixing Communication Errors 

To fix this issue you would just need to update the Reply-to Admin Email Address found under Classic System Settings.

Once you have updated the email address this issue should be resolved. If the issue is still not resolved after completing these fields, please contact support for further assistance. 

Default Header and Footer for Mobile Readiness and SwiftDeploy

Accessing System Settings

First we must go into System Settings from the System Configuration menu.

We are looking for the Global component in the list of system setting components.

In Global Setting we will see two areas where we can configure images to be used. 

• Default Site Logo
• Default Site Header

By clicking on Select Image we will be taken to the Manage Files section where images and files are stored.

Setting the Default Logo

Here we will select an image to be used as the default site logo.

Setting the Default Header Image

We can now set the Default Site Header image.

Once the images are selected they will appear in the configuration settings.

Where The Changes Appear

These images will appear in various places in the system. If no header or logo is set in the Templates and Designs section of the system, these default images will be used.

In our example we are using the default header and logo on the user portal...

As well as the phone interface utilized in Real-Time Parking.

Email Templates

Navigate to Email Templates

In order to find your current default email templates, you will have to login as an admin and navigate to the system config cog. From this drop-down menu, you should see Email Content. 

Editing Default Email Templates 

To edit the default email templates, you can click the Edit button next to the template you wish to adjust. After you click this, you will be taken to another area where you can make your changes to the current email template. 

Using Shortcodes

Each email template will have available shortcodes that you can use to craft your message to your liking. The shortcode tokens are displayed on the left of the template editor. As you can see in the image below, the email template for Appeal Submitted by User offers the ability to craft messages without knowing when the ticket was appealed, as well as the ticket being appealed. This offers you a very quick and seamless way to make your email templates more engaging and informative. 

You should be able to use these codes in the smart editor to the right and it will display the appropriate information to the desired user. The smart editor also gives you the ability to add images and format your messages. 

Email Template Fields - What do they do? 

Pages and Content Blocks

Accessing System Messaging

To access and manage your System Messaging navigate to the gears icon  and click on Content & Designs -> Pages and Content Blocks.

Creating Pages

We also provide a video to visually demonstrate how to use system messaging https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DU3qorWnAp_2N9mcNGFYTttNHMeRpXsQ/view

Pages display the visual content found throughout your application. You can edit the contents of your page or post a System Message by using the Disclaimer Shortcode on the Page you want it to show up on. Shortcodes also make it convenient to add interactive content to your pages. For more information on Shortcodes scroll to the bottom of this page. 

Content Placement

Depending on where you place your content it can appear differently. OPS-COM's smart editor reads content top to bottom, left to right. Meaning that placing a user login Shortcode before your content will look dramatically different than if you placed the Shortcode last. You can see a few visual examples of how this works below. 

By Example: Shortcodes Before Content

As you can see this displays our lot information before our content. 

By Example: Shortcodes After Content 

As you can see this placed the Shortcode after the lot information

Editing Pages 

Keep in mind that the URL / System Location next to the page is the area in OPS-COM that you are updating. Therefore, if you wished to update the permit screen, you want to edit the page with a System Location of /permits

You can edit your pages attributes such as the Title, Path, Visibility, Language, Layout, and Content after it has already been created.

Creating System Messages

Important

Users will be brought back to the Users page if users do not agree with a System Message. Meaning, we use System Messaging as a convenient way to offer agreements and disclaimers before users make purchases of permits or lockers. 

System Messages and How they work with Pages 

System Messages and Pages work together using Disclaimer Shortcode's. When you create a System Message, you give that message a unique Identifier. System message identifiers may be used in junction with Disclaimer Shortcodes to display your System Messages onto Pages. The idea may be daunting at first, but once you get a better understanding of how these features work together, it will make more sense. 

Visual Example

System Messages provide you with a convenient way to add alert messages to your pages that pop-up when a user clicks the page. You may create System Messages to be displayed on specific Pages using Disclaimer Shortcode's. 

Warning

Clicking Return to Template List before Save Messaging will discard all the changes you just made, meaning that the System Message will not get created or your changes will not occur. 

Editing System Messages

You can manage your System Messages Title, Identifier, Visibility, Language, as well as modify the content to include text, images, or Shortcodes.

Add System Messages to Pages using Shortcodes

Now that you know how to create your Pages and System Messages you can bring them together using a Disclaimer Shortcode. A Shortcode is a small body of code surrounded by [ ] used to display complex templates or features. Shortcodes limit the technicality of our system by offering a convenient way to add interactive content without having to know how to script or code. 

Please review the Shortcodes for Use on the User Portal for a detailed description of how shortcodes work. You can also find a list of Shortcodes currently available to you by going to the OPS-COM Shortcode Documentation. 

Templates and Design

Overview

The User Portal system allows your clients to register, add vehicles, purchase permits and pay violations. It is an important extension of your business, and it should reflect your corporate branding.

Pages and Templates

The OPS-COM user Page will store the functionality and content of your main page, while the Templates will be used to change the functionality of your pages as well as the content around the Page. 

Where to Find Templates and Design

Click System Config, Templates & Design to access these features. 

All Default Templates 

If at any point you feel that you have adjusted the Default <scripts> and <styles> to the point of breaking your site, or you are simply unsure what your changes have done, you can refer to these templates to restore your pages functionality and style.

Understanding Templates & Design 

Templates & Designs are the visual functionality of your web page structured around your Page content. OPS-COM provides you with default templates which allow you to get started easily without having to know any code. 

• Once you are on the landing page for Templates & Design, you can view a list of your current templates, or create a new one. Templates contain all of the sections found on your User Portal except for the Page content found in the middle of the page. To adjust this you will have to leave Templates & Design and navigate to System Messaging. 

• OPS-COM gives you a total of 12 section templates, 6 in English and 6 in French. (Of course, you will have to create the French content yourself as we do not provide a translator).

1. Clicking on Toggle Templates will display all of the sections attached to that template. Templates can be created in English and French. 
   
   
2. The contents of our pages are split into four separate sections. Header(1), Content Header(2), Content Footer(4), and Footer(5). See Template Layout right below this guide to get a better understanding of the OPS-COM layout. 
   
   
3. To edit a template Section, simply click Edit next to the section name. 

Template Layout

Below is a visual example of how your Pages are split into Sections using Templates. All of the Content (3) of our Pages are added through the System Messages under Pages. 

1. Header - The header of your page, where you can find your header image and user navigation. 
   
   
2. Content_Header - Another header section for you to place content into, such as alerts or user information. Everything placed here will appear before the Content and Content Footer.
   
   
3. Content - The content of your pages. Content may not be added from Templates & Design and will require you to navigate to System Messaging. 
   
   
4. Content_Footer - The footer of your Content. Everything placed here will appear after the Content Header and Content. Again, you can use this to display alerts, messages, or additional content to your Template. 
   
   
5. Footer - The footer of your page is where you can find useful information. You can use this area to advertise important information your users might need while using your system. 

Page Layouts and Templates 

Creating Layouts

To create a layout simply click the Create Layout button found at the top right of the Layouts page. 

You will be presented with the Add Layout system message. 

1. Provide the name of your layout. In this example, we are going to create our own Summer Layout to be used, instead of the default layout.
   
   
2. Click Save Changes when you are happy with the name of your layout. Once the Layout has been created, you can see it under the Layouts list. 
   
   
3. If you wish to cancel the creation of your layout simply click Close. 
   
   
4. You can see that our Summer Layout was added to the end of our Layouts List with no sections yet. 
   
   
5. You can choose whether or not your template is the Default template at any time by clicking the Non-Default drop-down and selecting Default.
6. Anytime you add sections to your Templates it will display how many are attached next to Toggle Templates. As you can see, we don't have any Sections created yet so there are no numbers to be displayed, otherwise, clicking on Toggle Templates would show you a list of all the templates currently attached to that Layout.

      7. You can edit the layout name by clicking on the Edit button next to archive.

      8. If you would like to archive a layout that you are no longer using, you can click the Archive button next to edit. 

Creating Templates

Now that you have a better understanding of how Templates work with Layouts we can start creating our own. 

1. Click on Toggle Templates. 
   
   
2. Clicking this will display the available Templates attached to the Summer Layout. 
   
   
3. You can now Create a variety of templates for your page, including bilingual support. 
   
   
4. If you are non-technical, it is advised not to change the code for Scripts, Styles, Header, and Footer Templates. You can use the default Style, Script, Header, and Footer Templates from All Default Templates. These can still be edited according to your company and their style guides. See Edit the Page Style and Edit the Page Behaviour below for more information. 
    

Edit the Page Style (CSS) 

Important

This guide is used if you intend to adjust the Templates provided to you by OPS-COM. If you choose to rewrite your own Templates you can choose to ignore this.

  

Edit the Page Behavior (Scripts) 

Disclaimer

Please review the list of supported scripting languages below. If a Javascript vendor is unverified it may break the functionality of your site.

API Integration

Additionally, you can use our API to integrate with pay stations and other devices that will allow you to grab useful information from your users. 

Translations

Where are Translations Supported

Currently, translations are only supported on the user side, however, they are managed and set up on the admin side, by admins that have the correct permissions set up to work with languages. 

Navigating to Translations

To begin reviewing, editing or creating your translations/languages, you will need to navigate to System Config → Content & Designs → Translations.

This will take you to the Installed Languages page where you can begin managing your current languages.

Adding New Languages 

To begin adding your own languages simply click Add Language on the Installed Languages page which will bring up a new modal to add a label and locale. 

When you are finished click Save Changes and your new language will be instantly added to the list. Once the language has been added, your users can begin using it on the user-side assuming you have the language enabled. 

The locales are used when we want to create sub-languages, while the label is used to identify our translations throughout the site. 

Adding Sub Languages and How do They Work

Sub-languages are created by using a locale that currently exists with an underscore '_' followed by the sub-language that you want to set up. 

For example, you can support multiple variations of the English language for your users. In the image below I have created a sub-language for American English using the locale en_us. 

When you create a new sub-language, it will automatically use the translations that have been set up on the main language, which is the locale on the left side of the underscore, such as en_us. You will need to create the main language first before creating any sub-languages, otherwise the sub-language will always default to English instead of the main language you may have intended to use. 

Installing Languages

Installing a language will create a new language template with the translations we have set up for it as well as the Name and Locale we have created for you. You can then click Edit Translations to adjust the preset translations to your liking. If there is not a language already in the system that can be installed you will need to add a new language and setup the translations yourself. Currently, we only support the ability to install French and English. 

Disabling or Enabling Translations 

We can choose to disable particular languages that we don't want to be selectable from the user side. To do this we can toggle the visibly of our languages under the Enabled column on the Installed Languages Page 

Once a language is toggled as Disabled it can no longer be selected by the users of your site as seen in the example image below. 

Searching Language Translations 

You can search for all translations that relate to a specific component in the system using the search bar at the top right of the Edit Translations page. For example, we can search for permits to find all permit related translations 

We can also go onto the user side and use the Token language, which will show all of the Names found on the Edit Translations page, under the Name column, (See the image above) to find where that translation exists so it can be changed. This can't be seen by logging is as the user from the user side but requires an admin to go to the profile of a user and click the Login as User button from the admin side. This is to ensure that your regular users don't see the token language option. 

The token language finds the tokens used so you can better search where the translations are being used on the userside. 

Edit Translations

To begin editing language translations you have to make your changes and then click away from the input field. Once you do this you will see that the translation gets highlighted in yellow indicating that a change has been made. The number of affected records will also display at the bottom of the translations page. 

When you are finished making your changes click Save Changes for the update to take effect. 

Delete Languages

To delete languages, you can click the delete button next to the language you want to remove. Keep in mind that if you remove the base English and French language it can be re-installed. However, if you delete a language that we do not provide you, then this data will be lost and you will need to contact support for assistance with recovering these translations. 

Keep in mind that deleting a language will not delete any of the sub-languages you may have created. For example, if I were to delete English, the English US language would still remain with all of its translations. 

Creating Templates and Messaging for New Languages

It's important to note that when you create a new language it will not rely on the default templates and system messaging that you have setup for your previous languages. For example, if I use the new French American language I created, and go onto the userside where languages are supported, then I will see a blank template as well as blank messages. 

Adding Templates

To add a new template for your languages that you create you will need to go into Templates & Design followed by Toggle Templates for the templates that are currently being used. From there you will have the option to click the Create button to add the new template. If you just want your new language to use the same template, from a language that is already in the system, just go into Edit and copy the text over into your new language, after clicking the Create button.

Adding System Messages

System messaging will work a bit differently than templates as you will need to go into each individual message and click the Edit button next to that message 

From there you should be able to select your new language.

If you want multiple messages to display for all your languages you will need to create a new system message and type out the translations for that language template. 

Changing Terminology Using the Translator

There is another use for the translation tool that may not be obvious at first. Since the translator is essentially a list of code terms and a corresponding list of what is actually displayed on any page not only can you edit the various languages but for each language you can also edit the display term to fit a local "version" of the term. A perfect example of this is in some areas one might refer to recieving a "ticket" as receiving a "citation". It is entirely possible to replace any spot in the interface where the term ticket is used with the term citation.

To do so go into the language editor and search for the term you wish to localize. In our example simply enter ticket in the search bar and hit return. A list of all translatable instances of the word ticket will appear. Click the box where the term is editable and type in your preferred term. In this case we are changing Manage Ticket Categories to Manage Citation Categories. Once you save the changes you have made the displayed text associated with Manage Ticket Categories will display as Manage Citation Categories throughout the system. You may edit the remaining instances of the word Ticket that are in the list before saving to change the term in bulk for all entries listed.

Taxes

This page allows administrators with appropriate roles and permissions to configure the tax percentage calculated and charged to users when making payments in OPS-COM.

You can find the taxes page under the System Configuration → Payments → Taxes.

When editing a tax type, there are multiple settings:

• Enable: Check or uncheck whether or not this tax type is enabled (checked) or disabled (unchecked).

• Percentage: The percentage of taxes calculated

• Tax Label & Translation: How this tax will be displayed to users in the cart/checkout process. Multiple languages supported.

• Apply to the following items: Check the system modules you want tax to be applied to.