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Overview
Formal salutations are designed to represent formal communications. For this reason, formal titles will always be used in order to set the correct tone for the message. Informal salutation conventions such as first names, preferred names, and other name types are optional and applied judiciously. For formal salutations Name Suffixes are used for the head of household (except where they might appear redundant), last names are always used, and other options can be used depending on the need. In general, the mixture of “included” elements and “optional” configuration elements in the salutations are designed to represent the typical needs of Formal communications.
Modifying Salutation Configuration Options
Formal Salutations can be modified and adjusted to function as needed. School administrators are able to switch on or off certain fields for the particular salutation. Once changes are made to the salutation configuration, a salutation refresh will apply the new configuration to all people / households.
Below is a list explaining every data point that is potentially a part of a formal salutation. This list indicates whether a certain field is either included, optional, or not an option for Household Formal salutations, or Person Formal salutations. If the field is marked “included,” it will be a part of a Formal salutation in that context. If the field is marked “optional,” then in Salutation Configuration, there is an “Options” switch for that field, and the switch is in fact functional. If the field is marked “not an option,” it will never be a part of the salutation.
For example: the “Options” switch for “display first name” will turn on or off the display of a first name in a Household formal salutation, but First Name will never be a part of a Person formal salutation.
| Field | Household | Person | Meaning/use/example |
| Title | Included | Included | Mr., Mrs., etc. |
| Display First Name | Optional | Not an option | First name will never be a part of Person Formal |
| Use Preferred Name | Optional | Not an option | Can optionally be used to override First Name |
| Display Middle Name | Optional | Not an option | |
| Display Middle Initial | Optional | Not an option | |
| Use Middle as Preferred Format | Optional | Not an option | When the “preferred name” and “middle name” are the same text, this setting is optional for HH salutations. The format is different depending on gender. For males, the format is {first initial}. {middle} {last}. For females, the format is simply {middle} {last}. Display first and display middle need to be turned on as well, and if both spouse names are expected, “force both names” and/or “display female first” must be turned on. |
| Last Name | Included | Included | The “Display last name” switch is not functional as it is only optional in Informal salutations. |
| Name Suffix | Included (in specific scenarios) | Not an option | The Head of Household’s suffix alone will display in a Household salutation only if the Salutation is configured to display first names (see “Display First Name” above) unless the Head of Household’s title is “Dr.” and the suffix is “M.D.” as that would be redundant. For example: “Mr. John Abbott Esq. and Mrs. Eleanor Abbott”. Suffix will never be a part of any Person formal salutation. |
| Display Maiden Name | Optional | Not an option | e.g. “George and Cindy Allen Abbott” where “Allen” is Cindy’s maiden name. |
| Append Preferred Name | Not an option | Not an option | |
| Display Male First | Optional | Not an option | Display male’s name first regardless of Head of Household. |
| Display Female First | Optional (in specific scenarios) | Not an option | If the Head of Household is male and the spouse is female; and if the spouse and head of household have different last names or if the spouse is a Dr; then the switch is optional for Household salutations. Example 1: “Dr. Eleanor Abbott and Mr. John Abbott” because the female spouse is a Doctor. Example 2: “Mrs. Emily Dryden and Mr. Charles Pierce” because they have different last names. If Emily and Charles shared the last name “Pierce”, the “display female first” switch would not be functional in a formal salutation and their HH salutation would have the Head of Household name display first. |
| Force Both Names | Optional | Not an option | Typically, for Household salutations where spouses have the same last name, the last name displays once. |
| Append HS Graduation Year | Optional | Optional | Append 2-digit Grad Year, e.g. “John Smith ’09” |
| Append College Graduation Year | Optional | Optional | Append 2-digit Grad Year e.g. “John Smith ’13” |
| Use Four Digit Graduation Year | Optional | Optional | If Grad Year is used, displays 4-digits e.g. “John Smith 2013” |
| Append Attributes | Not an option | Not an option | The detailed attributes would never be appropriate for a formal salutation, so this switch is not functional for formal salutations. |
| Acknowledge Alumni Only | Not an option | Not an option | Acknowledging an alumnus/a only would never be appropriate for a formal salutation, so this switch is not functional for formal salutations. |
For more information on configuring salutations, see the Salutations Overview article.