Alternate Descriptions

You use alternate descriptions with Languages to control what descriptions are used in reports and public online web experiences. 

To turn on alternate descriptions:

  1. Click the Organization Configuration link from the Main Menu. The Organization Configuration screen opens.
  2. Select the number of alternate descriptions you want to use from the Allow Alternate Description Usage drop-down.
  3. Click OK. The alternate description fields become available throughout the system. This is a system-wide setting and become available everywhere descriptions are used. You may need to add the Alternate Description fields to your screen layouts to view and/or edit the information.

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Comments

3 comments

Date Votes
  • Adam Busch

    Is it possible to have alternate descriptions display for back-office users? We have added a Spanish version of our standard dictionary for our Spanish-speaking employees. This works well but does not account for any custom fields we have created through Opportunity Types - Event Sales. They see everything in Spanish, but our custom fields remain in English. Support suggested the use of Alternate Descriptions, which I was able to set up in our staging environment, however I was unable to get these alternate descriptions to display for any back-office user. Are these alternate descriptions only meant for the online experience, or is it possible to allow our employees using the software to use the alternate descriptions? Or is there another way to accomplish the translation of custom fields and validation lists?

    0 upvotes

  • Sean Tame

    Hi Adam,

    I suggest you review your setting for Organisation Parameter AA 010 "Allow Alternate Desc Usage"

    This parameter allows system-wide usage of the alternate description fields that are available in some areas of EBMS. The Resource Master, Function Schedule, Event Booking, Departments, Department Groups as well as many others all allow alternate descriptions for multilingual usage. It also controls the display of the Language Preference field on the Edit/Add Account window. Once this parameter is activated, users can click on label links to access the alternate descriptions. EBMS supports up to 5 alternate descriptions and this parameter can be used to indicate how many of those 5 should be made available. A value of 1,2,3,4, or 5 in the alphanumeric value field activates alternate description usage displaying the indicated number of alternate descriptions and allows access to the Language Preference field. A value of 0 turns off access to alternate descriptions and does not allow access to the Language Preference field. If the parameter is missing or contains invalid information, the feature is automatically turned off and the field is not accessible.

    0 upvotes

  • Adam Busch

    Hi Sean,

    Yes, that was the first step I took in my testing:

    1. Organization Configuration > Update the “Allow Alternate Description Usage” field from 0 to 1.
    2. Opportunity Types – Event Sales > Edited a custom field in ZZ Default Individual Account User Fields. Updated the “Alternate Description 1” field to the Spanish translation.
    3. Custom Field Validation Table List > Edited a validation entry in the list tied to the custom field. Updated the “Alternate Description 1” field to the Spanish translation.
    4. Languages > Added the “Spanish” language with preference being “Alternate.”
    5. Edit Contact > Updated the Personnel Account attached to my user. Updated the “Language” field to Spanish.

    After taking these steps, I was unable to get the custom field to display its alternate description, regardless of what dictionary my user was set to. 

     

     

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