Digest Emails

digest email functionality in activate helps reduce email volume by grouping eligible notification emails instead of sending each one separately this is useful when users receive a large number of notifications and do not need every message to arrive immediately what digest email does when digest email is used, activate groups eligible notification emails and sends them through the notification process instead of sending each message individually as soon as it is generated this helps to reduce inbox clutter make notifications easier to review improve the experience for users who receive frequent workflow notifications where digest email is used digest email applies to notify style workflow emails these are the standard notification messages sent by workflow notify actions, such as general status updates, reminders, and informational messages approval emails should be treated as immediate unless digest behaviour has been specifically confirmed for your implementation when to use digest email digest email is best suited to messages that are informative rather than urgent common examples include general workflow notifications reminder emails informational updates high volume notifications sent to operational teams digest email is generally not suitable for messages that require immediate attention how digest email is controlled digest behaviour can be controlled at two levels task level default a task can be configured so that notify messages use digest delivery by default this is useful when most notifications for that task should be grouped rather than sent immediately message level setting a specific notify message can also be configured to use digest delivery or immediate delivery this makes it possible to use digest delivery for routine notifications send important messages immediately when needed send time and queued delivery notify messages can also be configured with a send time this is separate from digest delivery, but both options use the same notification handling process in practice, this means a message can be sent immediately, queued for later, or included in digest style delivery depending on how the workflow is configured message content digest capable notify messages can still include the same message content used for other activate notifications, including recipients subject body from address templates cc recipients attachments customising digest email content the digest email layout can be customised by editing the summary email template the template is stored at //resources/configuration/email/email summary template what you can customise you can use the summary template to change how the digest email is presented, including the overall layout of the email the columns shown in the digest table the labels and headings used in the digest additional row values drawn from the information already available to the template for sites that want to show more information on each digest row, this is the main place to make that change adding more information to each row you can extend the digest email by updating the summary template to show additional values in each row a common approach is to add extra columns to the digest table for information that is already available to the digest, such as job related details or other notification values some values can also be added using expressions in the template, but these should be used carefully to avoid making the digest harder to read or maintain what to watch out for when extending the digest rows prefer values that are already available to the template use expression based values sparingly avoid adding too many extra columns, as this can make the digest harder to read test the output with realistic notification volumes before publishing the change what administrators can change administrators can update the digest layout in //resources/configuration/email/email summary template add extra columns where suitable values are already available to the template use expressions in the template where appropriate if the information you want to show is not already available in the digest template, further implementation work may be required recommended approach when setting up digest email, start by identifying which messages are useful to group and which should still be sent immediately a good approach is to use digest delivery for routine notification traffic and immediate delivery for messages that need fast action for example use digest delivery for reminders and status updates use immediate delivery for urgent or time sensitive messages managing expectations when digest email is enabled, users may receive fewer individual emails this is usually a benefit, but administrators should make sure users understand that some notifications are being grouped rather than delivered one by one troubleshooting if digest notifications are not behaving as expected confirm the workflow is using a notify action check whether digest delivery is enabled for the relevant task or message review whether the message has been configured to send immediately instead check whether a send time has been applied confirm the notification process is handling queued messages as expected if approval emails are still being sent immediately, review the workflow design and any implementation specific configuration summary digest email in activate is designed to reduce email volume by grouping eligible notify style workflow messages instead of sending each message separately it is best used for routine notifications that do not require immediate action administrators can control digest behaviour through workflow configuration, using task level defaults and message level settings to decide which notifications should be grouped and which should be sent immediately