S-Tag Conditionals – Breakin' It Down!

I'll admit it. I've been working with Luminate Online for over 10 years, yet I sometimes still feel like a novice when it comes to writing conditional content using S-Tags.

So, I've come up with a trick to make it easier on me (and to help calm my nerves). Before I write out the conditional code, I think through what I need the code to do. In other words, I figure out my if, then, else statement.

Let's say I want to display specific text to anyone who is in my large donors group and display other text to those who are not in that group. My statement breaks down as the following:

• If → Someone is a member of a group
• Then → Display this specific text
• Else → Display this generic text

Then I start to translate my broken-down statement into S-Tags:

• If   → [[?
  In a group → [[S45:GroupID]]
  Is → ::True
• Then → ::
  Special content
• Else → ::
  General content
• And I remember to close the entire phrase → ]]

Then I can write out the whole conditional S-Tag code like so:

• [[?[S45:GroupID]::TRUE::Special content::General content]]

I also often need to remind myself that it's okay to leave white space or line breaks between the parts of my conditional, especially if that helps me see how it is broken out.

To learn more about how to create and use S-Tags, register for Blackbaud University's new 90-minute course, Blackbaud Luminate Online: Tailoring Content with S-Tags.