Reminders
Reminders can be sent if there is a necessity to remind a user about any kind of things that need to be done or any other urgent events. The reminders are sent a few days before/after the due date of such events.
For example, the “My Tasks” reminder has to be sent to the user whom the task is assigned two days before the task due date.
When a reminder is created, the reminder metadata is converted to the pair of a time-dependent trigger and an email alert action. It means that the trigger with the email alert action is added to a database automatically and vice versa the trigger with a sole email alert action that is not reused elsewhere is viewed and edited as the reminder – on a single screen; but these trigger and action are also listed under workflow triggers and actions to allow fine-tuning.
To create a reminder or modify an existing one:
Click the Setup link in the top right corner of the window.
Select a table you need.
From the setup menu select E-mail Notifications > Configure e-mail reminders. The system will display the Reminders form.
If you want to edit the existing reminder, click the Edit button next to the necessary reminder entry. You can also copy the existing reminders or delete them clicking the corresponding buttons on the form.
Moreover, you can also enable or disable sending the reminders in the common list displayed on the form: select the checkbox next to a necessary record and click the Enable or Disable button. Use the Action check box for multiple selections.
To create a new reminder, click the New button at the top of the form. As a result, the New Reminder form will be displayed.
In the General section of the form enter the reminder general data:
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Name |
In the Name field enter the name of the new reminder. |
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From |
In the From field specify from whom the e-mail should be sent. You can use the following options:
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To/Cc/Bcc |
In the To field select options defining to whom the notification should be sent. You can specify one or many options described below.
Recipients specified in the Cc and Bcc fields will receive copies of the messages sent to every recipient specified in the To field regardless of their access rights. |
In the E-mail Contents section of the form enter the data concerning the e-mail contents:
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Subject |
In the Subject field enter the subject of the new reminder. Furthermore, in this field you can use any column placeholder, just write a column name in square brackets [ ], for example [Column Name]. To simplify the placeholder writing, you may type first letters of the column name after the left square bracket sign [ in the notification Body and the columns starting with these letters will be displayed in the dropdown, then you can cut/paste this placeholder from the Body into the Subject field. |
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Body |
In the Body field enter the basic information of the reminder. Note that the body of the reminder may contain placeholders (for example, the name of the action: modifying/adding/deleting table records). To configure the body of the reminder, use the % sign to choose and insert the placeholders you need. Also you can click [ to list all columns of a table and insert column variables you need. Moreover, you can type first letters of the column name after the [ sign and the columns starting with these letters will be displayed in the dropdown. You are able to select the following placeholders:
When the [ symbol is entered, the columns comprised in the Table are listed in the dropdown. If the current column value should be inserted into the reminder body, just select the column name from the dropdown. Access rights for the placeholders/columns in the reminder body are determined by access rights of the user specified in the To field. In case of arbitrary e-mail columns or an arbitrary e-mail address, the access rights of the database owner will be used. |
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Format |
In the Format subsection select the format of the reminder: HTML or Plain Text. |
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Attach Document |
In the Attach Document dropdown select a generated document that should be automatically sent by email. |
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Attach File |
In the Attach File dropdown you can select a File Attachment column name. As a result, the file kept in this column will be attached to the E-mail notification. |
In the Reminder section of the form enter the data specifying when the reminder should be sent:
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Date |
In the Date field enter the date when the reminder should be sent. Please note, if there is a formula-date column in a table, such a column can be selected in the Date dropdown only if the formula is "deterministic". – It means that it cannot use Today() or Now() functions. |
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Offset |
In the Offset field enter the period on expiry of which the reminder should be sent. |
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Filter |
In the Filter field specify the conditions that should be met to send the reminder:
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Notification enabled |
Select the Notification enabled check box to enable sending the reminder. |
Click the Save button to save the information entered in the form.
To check quickly the filter conditions specified in the reminder and review records that could be affected, go to the reminders list, click directly on the reminder name and use the View Records button displayed on the reminder form.
How to set a specific time to send a reminder
Let’s assume you have the “Due Date” column of the date type. The reminder should be sent two days before the Due Date at 9:30 am. So, you need to specify the time for the reminder sending.
In this case you should create an additional Formula-Timestamp column. This column can keep the following formula:
ToTimestamp([Due Date],ToTimeOfDay("09:30:00 am"))
After that you can choose this formula-timestamp column in the Date dropdown of the reminder settings.
As the result, a corresponding user will receive the reminder at 09:30:00 am or some minutes later according to the location and timezone settings chosen in the database properties.