Using Short Codes for Clients

Short codes are small snippets that perform search and replace operations throughout the platform. They are designed to streamline the creation of reports and promote data reuse, saving time and ensuring consistency across reports. Short codes can be utilized within report narratives and findings rich-text fields to automate specific tasks and provide standardized content.

Creating reports can be simplified using short codes by eliminating the need to modify repetitive or common content sections manually. Users can define code snippets once and reuse them across multiple reports with short codes. This saves time and ensures consistency by applying the same language, formatting, or information throughout different reports.

Administrators handle creating and managing short codes.

If applicable, the user can add a short code at the client level to all reports related to that client. However, if the short code is only relevant to a specific subset of reports, short codes can be inserted at the report level.

Adding Short Codes

Step 1: From the Clients module home page, click View under the "Actions" menu for the impacted client to reach the Details tab.

Step 2: Click Edit Client Information.

Step 3: Click Add Custom Field.

Step 4: In the first box on the left, enter the label value that corresponds with the appropriate short code and insert the text value that will replace the short code in the second box on the right.

The "Value" box value will replace the short code (i.e., %%LOCATION%%) whenever found in the report's narratives or finding's rich-text fields.

The "Label" box value must exist in the list of tenant short codes and be set as "Client Field" for Source.

The Custom Field label is the key linking the short code to the value (text data) that is to replace it. For example:

• Label: Location

• Value: Boise

• Short Code: %%LOCATION%%

Short Codes in PlexTrac always begin and end with %%, have only CAPITAL letters, and have underscores rather than spaces.

Step 5: Click Submit when finished.

Step 6: Use the short code in any report narrative or findings rich-text field.

Step 7: Go to the Narrative tab of the report and click Search & Replace at the top right of the page.

Step 8: The Search & Replace modal appears. Click Replace Short Codes to replace all short codes in the report with their corresponding text data.

Step 9: Click Confirm.

After a few minutes, a confirmation message will appear.

Step 10: Validate that the change(s) occurred as desired.

If unsuccessful, ask an admin to verify the short code was set up correctly in the Admin Dashboard.