Optional Program Registration Functionality

Program Registration includes several optional features. With Program Registration, you can:

specify certain settings for patron email alerts
choose whether to print receipts upon registration
enable patron blocks during registration
allocate the multiple-registration maximum across sections or across programs
detect room conflicts between program sections
print patron telephone numbers on the registered list

Specifying Patron Email Settings

Your library can customize various elements of the system-generated emails that are sent to patrons in Program Registration. Note that you must contact Innovative to change these elements.

Email elements that can be customized are:

The From address, which can be the login or the email address of the sender. The From address is required.
The Reply-To address. You can also add a name in parentheses after the reply-to address; for example, "progadm@lib.edu (Program Registration dept.)". The Reply To address is optional.
The text of the Subject line (spaces are allowed). The Subject line is optional; however, if a Subject line is not specified, emails are sent with a blank Subject line.
A carbon-copy (cc) address to which a duplicate copy of the email is to be delivered. The cc-address is optional.

To customize patron email alerts, contact Innovative.

Printing Registration Receipts

To enable the Registration Receipt feature, contact Innovative.

You can configure registration-receipt printing in one of the following ways:

Always print	Upon successful patron registration, a registration receipt always prints.
Prompt to print	Upon successful patron registration, the system prompts you to print a registration receipt. Choose Yes to print a receipt, No to complete the registration process without printing a receipt.
Never print	The system never prints a registration receipt.

Registration Emails

If the patron record of a registered patron includes an email address, the system automatically sends the patron an email containing their registration details, regardless of whether you print a registration receipt.

Printed registration receipts look similar to the following:

		Registration Receipt
		Wed May 03 16:30:04 PDT 2006

		Name: Henriksen, Ingrid
		Program: Write Your Life Story
		Start Date: 05-10-2006 6:00 PM
		Location: Fiction
		Room: Emily Dickinson Reading Room
		Cost Per Registrant: $5.00
		Public note: Bring pen and paper. 

		3 Registration(s):
		Registration Note (1): Seat for Bobby
		Not Paid
   
		Registration Note (2): Seat for Billy
		Not Paid
   
		Registration Note (3): Seat for Anna
		Not Paid

Public Note

The Public Note information comes from the PUBLICNOTE field of the section record. The registration receipt does not print the PUBLICNOTE field from the program record.

Enabling Patron Registration Blocks

If your library enables the Patron Registration Block feature, you must be assigned permission 098 (Override patron blocks) to override a patron registration block and continue the registration process. See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

You can configure Program Registration to verify patron eligibility using the entire Patron Blocks table before registering patrons for a program.

By default, the system checks patrons for eligibility by verifying that the values in the Patron Eligibility table match the associated values in patron records as well as by verifying that the Max Programs value in the Patron Blocks table is higher than the sum of the patron's current registrations and waitlists. However, the system does not automatically check any values in the Patron Blocks table other than Max Programs. If you enable the Patron Registration Block feature, patrons who are blocked according to any value in the Patron Blocks table are blocked from program registration, even if they are not blocked according to the Patron Eligibility table.

To enable the Patron Registration Block feature, contact Innovative.

Allocating the Multiple-registration Maximum

To override the multiple-registration maximum, you must be assigned permission 777 (Registration overrides). See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

You can enable patrons to register for multiple seats within a program by specifying the maximum seats allowed per patron in the REGPERPAT fixed-length field of the program record. The Multiple Registration Allocation feature enables you to allocate this maximum either within sections or within programs.

If Seats Are Allocated Within:	Then Multiple Registrations Are Enabled as Follows:
Sections	If you allocate the maximum seats per patron within sections (the default), patrons can register for up to the maximum number of seats in each section of a program. Therefore, if patrons register for two sections of the same program, they can register for up to the maximum seats enabled in both sections. For example, if a program record's REGPERPAT field is set to '2' and a program contains three sections, a patron can register for two seats in each section for a total of six seats within the program.
Programs	If you allocate the maximum seats per patron within programs, patrons can only register for the maximum number of seats in the program, regardless of the number of sections offered. Therefore, after patrons register within a program for the maximum number of seats, in any combination of sections, they are blocked from registering for any more seats in any section of that program. For example, if a program record's REGPERPAT field is set to '2' and a program contains three sections, patrons can register for a total of two seats in the program. Patrons can register for two seats in one section or one seat in two different sections, but after patrons register for two seats within the program, they are blocked from registering for any more of that program's seats.

If Seats Are Allocated Within:

Then Multiple Registrations Are Enabled as Follows:

Sections

If you allocate the maximum seats per patron within sections (the default), patrons can register for up to the maximum number of seats in each section of a program. Therefore, if patrons register for two sections of the same program, they can register for up to the maximum seats enabled in both sections.

For example, if a program record's REGPERPAT field is set to '2' and a program contains three sections, a patron can register for two seats in each section for a total of six seats within the program.

Programs

If you allocate the maximum seats per patron within programs, patrons can only register for the maximum number of seats in the program, regardless of the number of sections offered. Therefore, after patrons register within a program for the maximum number of seats, in any combination of sections, they are blocked from registering for any more seats in any section of that program.

For example, if a program record's REGPERPAT field is set to '2' and a program contains three sections, patrons can register for a total of two seats in the program. Patrons can register for two seats in one section or one seat in two different sections, but after patrons register for two seats within the program, they are blocked from registering for any more of that program's seats.

To change the allocation of the multiple-registration maximum, contact Innovative.

Detecting Room Conflicts Between Sections

By default, the feature to detect room conflicts is enabled. To disable this feature, contact Innovative.

Program Registration includes an optional feature to detect room conflicts when scheduling sessions (the meeting date[s] and time[s] of the section). This feature prevents library staff from scheduling more than one program section to be held in the same room at the same time.

The system detects room conflicts by searching for all section records that have the same LOCATION field value as the current section record (i.e., the section record that you are currently creating or editing). After finding section records with the same location, the system checks to see if any sessions in those section records are scheduled at the same time as any sessions on the current section record.

Section Record Status

The system checks only those section records with a STATUS of "active" or "inactive"; "cancelled" sections are skipped during the search process.

The system performs room conflict detection when sessions are added and when the LOCATION and STATUS fields in the section record are edited. If a room conflict is detected, the system displays an error message when the user attempts to save the section record. The system also displays error messages in the Sessions table on the Sessions tab.

You must resolve room conflicts before you can save the section record.