Document presentation is dependent on web browsers (and their versions), and email presentations are dependent on email clients (and their versions). Documents will usually display differently in a browser than in an email client, and may vary according to the program. (Gmail vs. Outlook vs. Hotmail, or IE versus Firefox). The main two ways to "styleize" are in the HTML and with CSS.

When you create a style in the Site CSS or the Editor CSS in PIER, the definitions are saved outside of the document as "external style sheets". The application of these styles will usually work in browsers, which read the "external style sheets" saved in PIER. However, most email clients do not support the use of external style sheets (Outlook is an exception), - so email presentations will often look different than the browser presentation.

Perhaps the best way to style text in documents is to use inline CSS styles. This will yield the most consistent results. This requires going into HTML mode and manually adding inline CSS to the elements you want styled. Some organizations have prepared templates ahead of time with predefined inline style constructs.

To get messages out most simply, the Support Desk recommends using the simple fonts rather than putting in lots of styles. 

You may also wish to experiment with the HTML tags (even using the font family and size tools on the toolbar). This usually works well, but has some limitations.

If you have a high need for presentation styling, we suggest considering working with PDF documents and uploading them to your PIER site.

Getting started

Connectors are configured under Settings>>Gateways>>Social Media. Begin adding a connector by

• clicking the "+" icon on the right of the Connector type label,
• choosing the "Connect to..." button.

You will be presented with a window from the Social Media system for credentials, and asked to authorize the PIER system to function as your agent on the SM site. You must approve the authorizations presented in order for PIER to be able to function as your agent to post content or read responses from the SM system.

• Sign on to the social media site
• Approve the access requests

The authorization to interact with the account on the Social Media site is maintained with PIER on a per-site basis. If you wish to create connectors for the same site "MyConglomerate" from two different sites "PIER Manufacturing" and "PIER Services", - then you will be asked for the account credentials with each site.

On Facebook, you may be asked to select a particular place for the connection, such as the User (account) or a particular Website (page). Press the [Save] button.

Connectors can be enabled or disabled. There is only one "Inquiry" configuration for a connector and it may be enabled or disabled. There may be multiple Folders configured for publishing documents to the Social Media site.

Document Publishing Options

This portion of the configuration is designed so that when documents are published in a given folder, something of their content will be sent through to the Social Media system. Begin by

• clicking the "+" icon on the right of the "Document Publishing Options" label
• select a folder

The portion of the document content sent to the SM site can be selected under the "Status Source" column. 

• The "Document Name" is the title of the document
• The "Main Content" is the text or uploaded picture. This will usually be the "text" part of the document, not the "HTML" part of the document (along with formatting information). If the document is an uploaded picture file, PIER will attempt to post the picture. (Facebook will post a thumbnail.)
• The "Description" is the descriptive text for an uploaded file

When "large" document content is posted to the Social Media site (which is usually a more "brief" forum), it may be truncated and a link appended that will allow clicking back to the source document on the PIER site.

An "Unpublish Action" option is available at this point. When links to PIER documents are posted to the SM sites, the public may click-through to the PIER web site. You may choose to "Leave Post", - but our recommendation is to "Remove Post" from the SM site so there is not a "dead" link remaining out there.

Inquiry Options

Inquiries are designed to support an interaction with a stakeholder, so they have two parts. One part is the "Contact" information and the other is the "Message" information. The Inquiry setup (which can be disabled independently underneath the enabled connector) requires specification of a default Contact Directory to store that information.

There is very limited information available for a contact record, so the directory specification needs to be "unconstrained". (That is, default requirements of First Name, Last, and Email would reject all attempts at creating a contact from a Social Media system.)

• Select a Default Directory (which does not demand an email address)

On Twitter, there is a common notation technique called "hash tags". Communications on the site are often marked with free-form tags such as "#gulf" or "#lakers". With the Twitter Connector, you may specify that inquiries generated from tweets that include certain hash tags be marked with specific categories. To specify mappings between hash tags and PIER Inquiry Categories

• Click the "+" icon on the Twitter Hash Tags line
• Specify a hash tag (omit the leading '#' sign)
• Select an Inquiry Category assignment for the hash tag value

Publishing Documents

Any document developed in PIER under normal permissions and approval rules is a candidate for posting on a Social Media site. The key is having a Connector configured to operate with the Folder where the document is published. Because the operation occurs within PIER, the security and logging features can factor into your Social Media strategy.

A folder may be configured to post to multiple places (on pages, accounts, timelines, etc.) through any number of connector configurations. When publishing the document, PIER will show a reference to the web URL (/go/doc/site/documentnumber) and also state the types of Connector(s) and the Social Media Account(s) where the posting will be processed.

When the "Main Content" is set for the publishing operation (Status Source), PIER will ordinarily post the un-formatted "Text" document part to the Social Media site. If the document is an uploaded picture file, PIER will attempt to post the picture. (Facebook will post a thumbnail.)

Every posting will include a link back to the source document on the PIER site, where the full "HTML Part" will be displayed.

The limitation on posting to Twitters is presently 140 characters. (The limitation on postings to Facebook was updated just as version 70 was released to more than 63,000 characters.)

Because the "Publish" operation is a PIER function, the system will immediately begin the process of connecting to the Social Media site and posting the information from the document.

PIER will also display an "External References" bar at the bottom of the document view window that includes live links to the postings on Social Media sites.

Interacting with Inquiries

When comments / tweets are posted on Social Media sites, PIER is not notified. Instead, the system will poll for updates on the social media sites approximately every minute.

When PIER reads a response on the SM site (a "tweet" or "comment"), a First Name, Last Name, and User ID are collected along with the text of the response. The first+last+ID are used to create a contact record in the Contact Diretory configured in the Connector. If the specified directory is set to require further information, the Contact record will not be created and creation of the Inquiry will fail.

Unless there is a "hash tag" match with the Twitter connector and a specific category is designated in the connector configuration, inquiries generated from Social Media sites default to "uncategorized".

Upon viewing an inquiry, several additional features exist under the "View Inquiry Details" link. These include the Social Media site where the Inquiry was submitted, information about responding to the inquirier, and possibly a reference to a specific PIER document (which was commented on, or tweet / replied to). On general comments or tweets, there will not be a document reference in this area.

PIER will also display an "Inquiries" bar at the bottom of the document view window that includes live links to inquiries generated in response to the particular document from the Social Media Site.

Caveats with Social Media Sites

Social Media sites maintain their own security and SPAM thresholds, and when PIER interacts programmatically with the SM site on your behalf, there are no additional capabilities than those afforded normally. If postings are too consistent or too numerous, the SM system may mark them as SPAM, hide them, or even lock the account for a period of time.

Additional Information

• www.facebook.com - look for the "help" link on the bottom right of the web page
• www.twitter.com - look for the "help" link on the bottom left of the web page
• Documents: Documents reside in folders, configured into Connectors for publishing to the Social Media sites when they are approved and published on the PIER site
• People - Users and Contacts : Contact Directories hold Inquiry Contact Information
• Inquiries : Submitted by Contacts on the Social Media site and answered by PIER Users