Email Digest - Create/Edit

An email digest is a scheduled email that is sent on a recurring basis. They are intended to group a user's notifications and reminders into a single email. Email digests are only sent to a user if there is active notification content for the user.

An email digest can contain standard and dynamic sections. Standard sections are sent to all recipients and are included any time an email digest is sent. Dynamic sections, such as the Training is Due section, are populated based on activity within the system. An email digest must contain at least one dynamic section, and the email digest will only be sent when a recipient has applicable content within a dynamic section. For example, a Training is Due email digest is only sent to a recipient when they have one or more training items that are due.

To manage email digests, go to Admin > Tools > Core Functions > Email Digest Management.

  • To create an email digest, click the Create Email Digest button.
  • To copy an email digest, click the drop-down icon to the right of the email digest and select Copy.
  • To edit an email digest, click the drop-down icon to the right of the email digest and select Edit.

General Details

The following fields are available in the upper section of the page:

  • Digest Email Title - Enter a title for the email digest, up to 255 characters. This field is required. If multiple languages are enabled for your portal, select the Translate icon to translate the field into other available languages.
  • Active - Select this box to activate the email digest. When an email digest is not active, the email digest is not sent to users.
  • From Address - Enter the email address from which the email digest will be sent. This field is required. Email addresses must be entered in a valid email address format.
  • Reply-To Address - Enter the email address to which any replies to the email digest will be sent. Email addresses must be entered in a valid email address format.
  • CC - A copy or carbon copy (CC) of the email digest can be sent to a specific user or a role. To add a CC user or role, select the appropriate user or role, and then click the Add button.
    • To select a specific user, either enter the user's name in the field or click the Select icon to select a user from the system. See Select User Pop-up.
    • To select a role, select the appropriate role from the drop-down menu.
  • Subject - Enter a subject for the email digest. The subject is displayed to the recipient. Tags cannot be used in this field. This field is required. If multiple languages are enabled for your portal, select the Translate icon to translate the field into other available languages.
  • Frequency - From the drop-down, select how often the email digest will be sent to users. The email digest contains all appropriate notifications from the previous period (e.g., day, week, month), depending on the selected frequency. Email digests only trigger if there is active and applicable content for the recipient. The following options are available:
    • Daily - When this option is selected, the email digest is sent every day at the specified time. The time and time zone at which the email digest will be sent must be specified. If the specified time is modified, then the email digest contains all notifications since the last email digest was sent, up to a 48 hour period.
    • Weekly - When this option is selected, the email digest is sent every week on a specific day and time. The day of the week, time, and time zone at which the email digest will be sent must be specified. If the specified time is modified, then the email digest contains all notifications since the last email digest was sent, up to a two week period.
    • Monthly - When this option is selected, the email digest is sent every month on a specific date and time. The day of the month, time, and time zone at which the email digest will be sent must be specified. If the selected date does not exist in the month, then the email digest is sent on the nearest previous date. For example, if 30th is selected, then the email digest would be sent on February 28th. If the specified time is modified, then the email digest contains all notifications since the last email digest was sent, up to a two month period.

Admin Visibility

This section determines which administrators can view and edit the email digest. Administrators must be within the selected criteria to view and edit the email digest. In addition, the administrator must have permission to manage Email Digest Administration.

To add a criterion, select the appropriate organizational unit (OU) type from the drop-down. Then, either enter the name of the OU in the field or click the Select icon to select an OU from the system. Select the Include Subordinates checkbox to also include any subordinate OUs.

This is optional. Unless visibility is specified, all administrators with the proper permissions can view and edit the email digest.

Availability

This section limits which users are able to receive the email digest. This enables organizations to customize or brand email digests differently for different groups of users.

Availability must be set for the email digest. To add a criterion, select the appropriate organizational unit (OU) type from the drop-down. Then, either enter the name of the OU in the field or click the Select icon to select an OU from the system. Select the Include Subordinates checkbox to also include any subordinate OUs.

When an administrator creates an email digest, the constraints on the administrator's Email Digest Administration - Manage permission are automatically applied to the availability of the email digest. These are referred to as creator constraints. For example, if the administrator's Email Digest Administration - Manage permission is constrained to Location: United States, then the availability of any email digest the administrator creates is automatically limited to Location: United States.

When applicable, the creator constraints are displayed above the criteria table. Any availability that is selected will further constrain the availability of the email digest.

Note: Email digests are only sent to a user if there is active content for the user.

The following considerations apply when setting availability:

  • Verify that the correct time zones are set for your users based on their geographic location. See Time Zone Application Rules.
  • If the recipients of the email digest have extreme time zone differences (over 6 hours of difference), then it is recommended that each region have their own digest. This will keep the notifications relevant to their location.

Sections

This section enables administrators to add and configure standard and dynamic sections within the email digest.

Add Section

An email digest can contain standard and dynamic sections. Standard sections are sent to all recipients and are included any time an email digest is sent. Dynamic sections, such as the Training is Due section, are populated based on activity within the system. An email digest must contain at least one dynamic section, and the email digest will only be sent when a recipient has applicable content within a dynamic section. For example, a Training is Due email digest is only sent to a recipient when they have one or more training items that are due.

Click the Add Section button to add a new section to the email digest. See Email Digest - Add Section.

Configure Section

The following properties can be configured for a section:

  • Section Name - Enter a name for the section, up to 100 characters. This name should indicate the purpose of the section, such as Email Digest Header or Review Step Assigned to Reviewer. This is required. If multiple languages are enabled for your portal, select the Translate icon to translate the field into other available languages.
  • Send To - Select to whom the email digest section should be sent. This field is required. Because Standard sections are always sent to all users within the email digest's availability, this option is only available for non-Standard sections. To add a user or relation, select the appropriate user or relation, and then click the Add button.
    • To select a specific user, either enter the user's name in the field or click the Select icon to select a user from the system. See Select User Pop-up.
    • To select a relation, select the appropriate relation from the drop-down menu. The type of section determines which relations are available.
  • Body - To edit the body of the email section, click the Edit Body button. This opens the Edit Section pop-up. See Email Digest - Edit Section Body.

Move Section

The sections can be moved up or down so that they appear in the proper order. For example, the Email Digest Header section should appear first, and the Email Digest Footer section should appear last.

  • To move a section upward, click the up icon .
  • To move a section downward, click the down icon .

Remove Section

To remove a section from the email digest, click the Delete icon . A pop-up opens to confirm the section deletion.

Preview Email

Click the Preview Email link to view how the email will appear to recipients. The preview is opened in a pop-up. All of the HTML in the sections is rendered properly except for <script> tags. Also, email tags are displayed as text.

The Preview Email link is not available if no sections have been added to the email digest.

Save or Cancel

Click Save to save the email digest. This button is not available if no sections have been added to the email digest.

Click Cancel to cancel the email digest creation or any unsaved changes to the email digest.