This article will explain how to create a Help Desk ticket for a variety of different requests related to the University mobile application, myEOL mobile. There are currently two different requests that can be made to Web Services for new content within myEOL mobile. The first being Push Notifications that can be sent out to users who have the mobile app installed on their devices. The second is an events app that would sit behind the Special Events persona within myEOL mobile.

Push Notifications

Push notifications can be sent to anyone who has the mobile app downloaded on their mobile device. Notifications can be sent out currently to either, the entire app, students, employees, or individual events within the Special Events persona. There is also the option to have an opt-channel where users must opt-in to receive the messages. You can refer to the myEOL mobile app opt-in communications article for more information on opt-in channels.

To send out push notifications, you’ll need to submit the myEOL mobile app Push Notifications request within the Help Desk. Below is some of the information you would need to create a push notification.

MESSAGE BODY: (The main part of the message users will see)

1. Title: This should be short, which is typically 120 characters or less. (This gets a user's attention.)

2. Body: This supports simple HTML for formatting which includes (<p>, <strong>, <em>). There isn’t a character limit, but best practices are to keep a notification relatively short, 400 characters or less.

3. Link Title: If you have a link, you can add a title for the link.

4. Link Subtitle: If you want to add more description about the link.

5. Link URL: The URL for the link if necessary.

6. Image: The notifications also support images. An image must pass accessibility tests for the mobile application and should not contain any text if possible. 

7. Notify Via: You have the choice to notify users either through a push notification, In-app Banner, or no notification at all. 

   1. Push Notifications are sent out to the user's devices and they will receive a “ping” on their device.

   2. In-App Banners will appear within the app once a user opens the application.

   3. No notifications just appear within the messages folder in the application. A user will only see this if they open the app and go into the messages folder.

 TIMING:

1. Start At: At this time, the message will be sent as soon as you complete the notification on the next page.

2. End At: Set the time the message will be removed. 

Special Event App

The other type of request that can be made is for an event app to be created and housed within the special events persona inside of myEOL mobile. Web services have a variety of out-of-the-box templates we can provide; however we can also create something custom as long as it stays within the application guidelines. To request a special event app you would need to submit a web services consultation ticket first, so we understand the complete request. During this consultation, we can also show a few of the applications we have created previously.

For a special event app, we typically would request you have all the content that you wish to put within the app ready to go before submitting the final ticket. This content can include any images you wish to use, logos, a schedule of events including dates, times, and any relevant information. If you request a special event app, we can also offer you an opt-in channel that is specific to your event. This may be helpful if you want to communicate directly with the users who will attend your event. Training for this can be requested separately. 

If a quick notification or series of notifications is something you wish to do, or if you have an event coming up that you want to create an application for, please consider contacting web services to make this a reality. Below you can see some of the special event screen shots we have created in the past.