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Any number of messages can be added to an existing record, i.e., a person's record. You can specify whether these messages should be sent as a letter, fax, or email. Letters and faxes differ in their layouts; emails are sent directly or forwarded to your email program.

Extras

If you wish, a spell checker is also available. You can access it by selecting the desired text passage and choosing "Edit" / "Spelling" / "Check Selection…" from the menu.

The First Letter

The first time you move from the record to the letter pad, you will be asked: "Unfortunately, I could not find any correspondence for the selected address. Would you like to create a new message…?" If there is no entry in the letter pad for the record you just viewed, you can either display all entries or create a new one. Since we want to create a new letter, we select "New," and a new document will appear. The recipient, address, and date are already filled in; you can add the subject and the body of the letter. Next, please specify the output format: letter, fax, or email. To do this, click the "Output" dropdown menu and make your selection. Optionally, you can also assign the letter to a project in the adjacent "Project" dropdown menu. This menu lists all projects associated with the person. It will be empty if no projects have been created for that person yet. In the "Address" text field, you can make any necessary changes or additions. These changes will only apply to this letter and not to the file entry. (This is ideal, for example, to include "For the attention of" or a one-time address change.) The next text field is the "Subject," which you can format as you wish. By default, the date shown is always the date the letter was created, but this can be changed as needed. To do this, please click on the date field, and a small calendar will appear. The following section below provides space for the actual text. If this text exceeds a certain length, a scroll bar will appear.

Templates <a hreftemplates" id="templates">

Here's a little something about text templates. This feature will be useful if you plan to send certain content regularly or use predefined text snippets. Click on the "Templates" tab to bring the template layer to the foreground. Here, you'll find all your templates and text snippets, ready for reuse. But first, let's return to writing your message. Click on the "Document" tab again, which brings the current text to the foreground. Now, let's save your text as a template. Assuming you've already typed a subject and a few lines in the body of the document, you can now click the small yellow floppy disk icon next to the date. This function copies your current message into the templates. Once this is done, click on the "Templates" tab, and you will now find the text passage in the templates as well. In this way, you can gradually save any number of different text templates for later reuse. Use the large scroll bar on the right to browse through the templates, and to apply a template to a document, click the small yellow arrow (positioned like the floppy disk icon). The selected template will be copied into your document. If your current document already contains content, alfons will display a security prompt to prevent accidental overwriting. You can also delete individual templates using the "Trash" button.

Output <a hrefoutput" id="output">

Once you have finished a document, you will likely want to output and send it in some way. To do this, please click the print icon in the alfons toolbar. Depending on your selection in the "Output" dropdown menu, you will be directed to the corresponding output form:

Letter: A preview of the letterhead will be displayed. Fax: A preview of the fax template will be displayed. Email: A new email will be created in your email program. For letters and faxes, a small dialog box will also appear, guiding you through the next steps: "Edit" allows you to revise the document, "Paper Size" allows you to adjust printer-specific settings for paper and output options, and "Print" finally prints the document.The dialog box for your printer will appear. Only the "Email" output option works differently. As mentioned, a new, pre-formatted message is created in your email program. This message already contains the email address from the file, the corresponding subject, and, of course, the message body. You simply need to send this email, and you'll also benefit from a copy in alfons.

Customizing Print Layouts <a hrefcustomize_the_layouts" id="customize_the_layouts">

The output layouts for letters and faxes can be customized to a certain extent. Thumbnail previews of the letter or fax page can be accessed via Preferences and the corresponding profile tabs. Clicking on a thumbnail opens a selection dialog that allows you to import graphics in PDF, EPS, TIFF, or JPEG format. (Alternatively, you can simply drag and drop your templates into the field.) PDF or EPS files are ideal for quality, as they offer the highest print quality with the smallest file size when created correctly. However, these formats may display incorrectly on Windows if Adobe Acrobat is not installed! In this case, please use a different graphics format or install the free Acrobat Reader.

When preparing letterhead and fax templates, please ensure that no design elements conflict with content in alfons. Also, please be aware of your printer's margins, as these can vary significantly. Adjusting font elements is not yet directly possible for technical reasons. Advanced users can find instructions under Editing Print Layouts. Alternatively, you can also take advantage of our service. We are happy to customize alfons to your individual needs – both visually and functionally.