Setting up automated notifications

Notifications are automated messages that remind users to complete Polaris tasks. For example, you can enable messages that automatically notify users when their timesheet is due, or approvers when an item is awaiting their approval. Reminder messages can help keep item submissions and approvals on schedule.

Notifications can be sent by email, or as push notifications to those using Replicon Mobile.

Most notifications are disabled by default at the system level – you'll need to enable the ones you want to use. You can also create new notifications and edit existing notifications to meet your needs.

Users are assigned all enabled notifications by default. You can change which notifications are assigned to a user on the Notifications tab of their user profiles. You can also assign custom notifications to a group or combination of groups, and the notification will be sent to members of that group or groups only.

Polaris notifications can be set up in any language we support.

About the notification types

There are two types of notifications:

Event Based notifications
These are sent when an event occurs. For example, when a timesheet is submitted, the Approver: Timesheet is waiting for approval notification is sent to the approvers of that timesheet.
Time Based notifications
These are sent at a specified time. For example, the Employee: Timesheet is due notification can be set to be sent every Friday at 5 p.m. to remind users to submit their timesheets.

Editing and enabling notifications

You can enable multiple notifications at once, or enable them individually. Before enabling a notification, you may wish to edit it to customize it for your organization.

Editing and enabling a single notification

To edit or enable a single notification:

Go to Administration > Notification System > Notifications.
Click the name of the notification you want to edit.
Set the Status option to ON to enable the notification.

You can edit the frequency and time for time sensitive notifications. Other notifications are event sensitive, and will be sent when the event occurs.
Enable and update the message content for all languages you use in Polaris.

Users will receive the notification in the language they’re set to use in Polaris, provided the version for that language is enabled.

Choose how the message is sent by enabling the following check boxes:

- Mobile Push message
  You can edit the push message text, listed in the Subject field, if desired. This option will only send a message to those using Replicon Mobile.
- Email message
  You can edit the message subject, body tex, and attributes, if desired.

You can enable both fields, if desired.

For some time off notifications, you can include an .ics attachment with the notification for the recipient to add to their calendar application.

Click Save.

Enabling multiple notifications

To enable multiple notifications at once:

Go to Administration > Notification System > Notifications.
Select the check boxes next to the notifications you wish to enable.
Click the More button, and select Enable.

The selected notifications are now enabled.

Creating new notifications

If the default notifications don't meet your requirements, or if you want to use customized notifications for specific audiences, you can create new notifications.

For example, you can create two different versions of the Employee: Timesheet is due notification to send to users in different geographic regions.

To create a new notification:

Go to Administration > Notifications System > Notifications.

Click the Create New Notification button.

On the page that displays:

- Give the notification a title and description. We recommend leaving the Status field set to Disabled until you're ready to use the notification.
- If you want to send this notification to a specific group or combination of groups only, choose the group or groups from the For Groups field (1).
- Select the Notification Type, either Event Based or Time Based.

From the When field, select when you want the notification to be sent.

- For Event Based notifications:
  Choose the type of notification, and then the event that triggers the notification to be sent. For example, you can choose the Timesheet category, and 'Approved' as the event that triggers the message. This automatically chooses a template to base the notification on.

- For Time Based notifications:
  Choose which template you wish to base your notification on, then select a frequency (if applicable) and a time.

In most cases, the To field will automatically populate with the applicable recipient type for that template. However, for Project-related notifications, you'll have to choose a recipient. You can only choose one for each notification -- if you need to send a notification to muliple recipient types, you'll have to create multiple notifications.

Choose whether you want the notification to be sent to mobile devices and/or by email, and edit the subject and body text as described in Editing and enabling a single notification.

Click Save.

You can now use your notification in the same way as you’d use the default notifications.

Using attributes in notifications

An attribute is a placeholder for variable information. You can customize any notification by modifying the text and attributes that display. You can also add attributes in the subject line. For example, if the #first_name attribute is included in a notification, it will be replaced with the first name of the specific user receiving the message when the notification is sent.

Different email templates support different attributes. Insert an attribute into the body text of your message by clicking the Insert Attribute button and selecting an available attribute from the list that displays.

If an attribute is not listed for a given notification, you can't copy it from another template. It will not display the desired text.

Example of using attributes

The Employee: Timesheet is due notification contains the following default body text. The items beginning with # are attributes.

Hi #first_name,

Please complete your timesheet for #period by #period_due_date.
#view_timesheet_button

#signature

When the message is sent to its specified recipients, the body text will look like this:

Hi Jane,

Please complete your timesheet for February 22, 2015 - February 28, 2015 by March 3, 2015.

Thank you,

Your Billing Team

FAQs

I'm using a trial version of Polaris, and notifications don't seem to be working

Notifications aren't enabled by default in trial versions. If you'd like to evaluate the notifications feature, please contact Replicon Support.

When is the welcome notification sent? Can we re-send it?

The New user welcome message notification is sent to each new user added to Polaris. This notification is sent to each user only once, when their profile is first created.

There is currently no direct way to re-send this notification. You could instead send individual messages to users.

Can notifications be set up in multiple languages?

Yes. If you use Polaris in multiple languages, you can write a notification’s content in each language you use. Plus, the text for each of our default notifications is available in each language Polaris supports.

Once you enable a given language for a notification, each user who is set to use that language in Polaris will be sent the notification in that language.

If a user has no language set, are notifications sent in English?

Yes. English is enabled by default for all notifications.

Can we allow employees to switch notifications on or off?

No. Only administrators can assign or unassign notifications. Be sure employees are assigned only the notifications you need them to have.

Can we stop notifications from being sent on an employee's days off?

Yes, there is a When to Send Notification option that can be configured for each user on the Notifications tab in their user profile. This can help you comply with 'right to disconnect' legislation, or otherwise manage when notices are sent.

Help Administrators