Configuring Automatic Email Messages

Topics

Adding an Email Message

In addition to establishing the email setting, you must compose the email message Civic Platform sends based on the email setting. Civic Platform sends the message to a specified recipient when a workflow task reaches a certain status, which you specify in the email setting.

To add an email message

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose Workflow > Email Message.

  3. Click Add.

  4. Complete the necessary fields as described in Table 1.

  5. Click Save.

    Note:

    As an alternative, you can create a new email message by copying an existing one.
    Table 1. Email Message Fields
    Contents Code Enter a unique code, or an abbreviation, to identify the content of the email message.
    Message Type Enter a unique name for the email message. The email setting references this name, which determines when to send the message as well as the recipient.
    Message Subject Enter the text that you want to appear in the subject line of the email.
    Message Content Enter the full text message that you want to send to a recipient using email. You can enter a message up to 2000 characters long.
    Status Select the current mode of the email message. You can enable the message at this time, or disable it and enable it later.

Searching for an Email Message

To edit an email message, you must first search for the message on your system. You can search for an email message based on the contents code or the message name—both of which are unique identifiers for a certain email message.

Note:

To see a list of all messages, click Submit without entering details about an individual message.

To search for an email message

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose Workflow > Email Message.

  3. Complete the necessary fields as described in Table 1.

  4. Click Submit.

    Civic Platform displays the Email Message browse page.

  5. Click the red dot that appears to the left of the email message that you want.

Editing an Email Message

After you compose an email message, you might need to edit the message content. In addition to editing the content, you can change the message name, subject, and status.

To edit an email message

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose Workflow > Email Message.

  3. Search for the email message you want. For instructions, see Searching for an Email Message.

  4. Click the red dot that appears in the Edit column next to the message that you want.

  5. Complete the necessary fields as described in Table 1.

  6. Click Save.

Establishing Email Settings

The email setting for each workflow process determines which email message you want to send when Civic Platform updates the workflow process. For example, after a building review is complete, you can notify the building supervisor.

Note:

Although you can set up multiple email messages for the same task status, Civic Platform only sends one email message to a single recipient for each status update. Civic Platform recommends that you set up only one recipient, one email address, and one message for each task status.

When you first add an email setting, you can specify the combination of a workflow process, task, and status that generates an email message. You can also choose which email message you want to send when this combination occurs. You can determine the recipient of the email message later when you edit the email setting.

To specify email settings for a workflow task

  1. Access the Classic Administration page (Accessing Classic Administration).

  2. Choose Workflow > Email Setting.

  3. Search for the workflow process with the task to which you want to add an email setting.

  4. Click Add.

    Civic Platform displays the Email Setting Add page.

  5. Complete the necessary fields as described in Table 2.

  6. Click Submit.

    Table 2. Email Settings Fields
    Task Choose the workflow task. Civic Platform refreshes the window after you choose a task to display the corresponding statuses for the task that you choose.
    Notify Contact Relationship Type Choose the type of contact you are notifying from the drop-down list.
    Notify Applicant? If you want to notify the applicant, select the tasks for which you want to send notifications.
    Notify Next Recipient? If you want to notify someone other than the applicant, choose this option and enter the next two fields with information about this recipient.
    Recipient First/Middle/Last Enter the name of the recipient.
    Email Enter the email address of the recipient.
    Status Choose the status that you want.
    Message Type Choose the email message that you want to send.

Specifying Email Settings in an EMSE Script

You might have created EMSE scripts to update a workflow process. If you want to send an email message after a workflow task update by EMSE, you must call the following method in the EMSE script:

Accela Automation.workflow.sendEmailForWorkflowTaskUpdated(Task,emailFrom,emailTo,emailCC)

The method sets the email addresses from which and to which Civic Platform sends the notification. For other email notification parameters such as Message Type, Civic Platform reads from the email setting for the workflow process in Classic Administration. See Table 1.