How To Review or Edit Automated Notifications

Created by Brittany Crow, Modified on Tue, 07 May 2024 at 10:50 AM by Brittany Crow

Heads up! Only site managers can edit automated notifications. This article is intended for site managers. 


Your site comes preloaded with several notification templates that are sent when triggered by certain events or actions on your site. Some of these actions include: 

  • When a volunteer reaches a benchmark 
  • When an email bounces
  • When a volunteer responds to a Need, etc. 

You can edit these templates and personalize the content as you see fit! Here we cover: 

So you know: Some sites use the word need in place of opportunity and agency in place of program. You can request language overrides for your site by contacting us, but the language in the template titles won't reflect those changes. 


How to review automated notifications 

You can access your automated notifications by navigating to Communication > Notifications from your site manager panel. 

Here you see a table with all of your automated notification templates:


How to filter and sort notifications

You can filter and sort the list of automated notifications by Category, Recipient, and Status. You can also search Template Names and Descriptions using keywords. 


Filter by Category

You can filter or sort the automated notifications by Category

  • If you click the arrows beside the Category column, you can change their sort order: 


Category descriptions

Category
Description
Account ManagementImportant notifications about volunteer account activity, like: 
  • When a volunteer reaches a benchmark
  • When a volunteer's hours are denied by an agency manager
  • When a volunteer's qualification expires, etc. 
Agency Manager—ActivityNotifications for agency managers about important updates to their needs and activities. 
Agency Manager—TasksNotifications for agency managers about important tasks, like pending hours awaiting their review. 
Agency Manager—UpdatesNotifications for agency managers about expiring needs, registration close dates, and upcoming scheduled needs. 
EssentialThese are notifications for different user types and may include: 
  • Notice of a bounced email 
  • Thank you for making a donation
  • Message to imported users when their accounts are active
  • Welcome messages, etc. 
News and RecommendationsNotifications for volunteers that include:
  • Volunteer need recommendations based on their preferences 
  • Notices of new blog postings on a site
Reminders and ConfirmationsThese are reminders and confirmation messages about volunteer needs a volunteer has responded to. 
Schedule UpdatesNotifications for volunteers that include updates about changes to: 
  • Their schedules
  • Their spot on a waitlist 
  • Information about their teams, etc. 
Site Manager—TasksNotifications for site managers about pending items awaiting review, including: 
  • Pending agencies
  • Agency updates
  • Qualification submissions
Surveys and Thank YousFriendly follow-ups for activities a volunteer has participated in, happy birthday emails, and thank yous! 


Filter and sort by recipient or status

Want to only see notifications for site managers? 

  • Under the Recipient column you can either search by typing in the recipient's user role or use the arrows to change the sort order. 

Want to review which automated notifications are active or inactive? 

  • Use the dropdown under the Status column to make your selection! 


Searching by keyword

You can always search the Template Name or Description columns by keyword to filter them too!


How to edit notifications 

To edit a notification: 

1. Click on the template name of the one you want to edit from the table. 

2. This opens up the Edit Notification page, where you can start editing and personalizing your automated notifications! Here are some of the fields you can edit to personalize your automated notifications: 

  • Status: This can be set to Active or Inactive
    • The notification is sent every time the action or event takes place which triggers it if the status is Active

✏️ Quick tip: To disable an automated notification, change the status from Active to Inactive

  • Subject: You can change the subject line of the notification.
  • Message: You can also personalize the message; however, we recommend using the available template keys to auto-populate specific details—like the user's name, the title of the Need the notification is for, etc. 

 Heads up! Your editing tool may look different from this one.


3. Be sure to click Submit when you're done to save your changes! 

  • You can always click Reset Template to start over from the default template too! 

So you know: You aren't able to edit the time a notification is sent or add new or custom automated notification templates. However, you can send a personalized Email Blast to your volunteers whenever! 


Change a notification's status

While you can always open a notification and change its status on the Edit Notification page, you can also do this right from the Notifications list too! 

1. Under the Status column, use the dropdown to select Inactive

2. Find the notification you want to make active and select Active under the Status column. 

  • Repeat these steps to make an Active notification Inactive


A note about updated notification templates

We periodically update notification templates. But don't worry! We keep you informed about these and other updates through the enhancements page and informational popups. So how do you know if a notification template has a system update? There's one sure way to tell if a notification template has been updated outside of our posted announcements: 

  • The notification template has a thumbs up icon under the Update column. 
  • You can also tell by the color and content of the banner at the top of the notification: 

    • You can review those changes and then accept them, to see those changes applied and active in your own templates. 
    • Don't like the changes? Not a problem! You can keep the templates as they are or edit them as necessary.


How to check for system updated notifications

To tell if an automated notification has a system update: 

1. Go to Communication > Notifications

2. Select the template you want to review. 

  • If the template is the latest version, then the banner is blue and reads Galaxy Digital has not updated this notification template since you last edited this page. 

  • If the template has been updated, then the banner is orange and reads Galaxy Digital recently updated this Notification Template. Click here to preview the new version in your editor. 

To accept and apply the changes made to an updated notification template: 

1. Click where it says Click here to preview the new version in your editor

2. Review the updated template and if you want to apply those changes click Submit

  • The updated template is live and ready for use! 


The volunteer perspective 

You can always "preview" an automated notification template by visiting a user's profile and checking their notifications. For example, if you know a volunteer recently responded to a Need, then you can visit their profile to see what the Need Response Thank You notification looks like to a user:

1. Go to Volunteerism > Users

2. Select the user. 

3. Select Messages from their profile. 

4. Review the notification. 

  • Here is an example of the New User Welcome Message notification: