Sorry missed your second question;
Secondly if I can use the alert text in the action item, and there is "standard status alert" why do I need to create a new alert type for a new alert ? or must I ?
As far as my knowledge goes you don't have standard status alerts in alert object SDP - Database Macro Alerts.
Second the message format which we discussed is applicable largely for message no. 410 of message class "/SAPAPO/AMON_ALERTS" and few other messae nos., not for all.
Also option to configure new alert type as required comes handy in situations, where you want to show specific alerts to planners having different roles, this makes the alert maintenance easy and also you don't need to use multiple alert types in a single alert profile.
I agree its a bit confusing without proper documentation, but multiple readings of SAP help actually helps.
Hope i am able to clerify your doubts, do let me know for any further query.
Rgds
Sourabh