Add, edit, and configure automatic email messages for workflow tasks

Civic Platform can send automated email messages when a workflow task reaches a specified status. You specify the status that generates the email in the email's settings.

In addition to establishing the email setting, you must compose the email message Civic Platform sends based on the email setting. Civic Platform sends the message to a specified recipient when a workflow task reaches a certain status, which you specify in the email setting.

To add an email message

  1. From the Classic admin page, select Workflow > Email message.

  2. Select Add.

  3. Complete the following fields as necessary:

    Field Action
    Contents code Enter a unique code, or an abbreviation, to identify the content of the email message.
    Message type Enter a unique name for the email message. The email setting references this name, which determines when to send the message as well as the recipient.
    Message subject Enter the text that you want to appear in the subject line of the email.
    Message content Enter the full text message that you want to send to a recipient using email. You can enter a message up to 2000 characters long.
    Status Select the current mode of the email message. You can enable the message at this time, or disable it and enable it later.

  4. Select Save.

    As an alternative, you can create a new email message by copying an existing one.

To edit an email message, you must first search for the message on your system. You can search for an email message based on the contents code or the message name—both of which are unique identifiers for a certain email message.

To see a list of all messages, select Submit without entering details about an individual message.

To search for an email message

  1. From the Classic admin page, select Workflow > Email message.

  2. Enter your search criteria in the Contents code and/or Message type fields.

    You can also search by Status.

  3. Select Submit.

After you compose an email message, you might need to edit the message content. In addition to editing the content, you can change the message name, subject, and status.

To edit an email message

  1. From the Classic admin page, select Workflow > Email message.

  2. Search for the email message you want. (See the Search for an email message section above for more information.)

  3. Select the red dot that appears in the Edit column next to the message that you want to edit.

  4. Complete the following fields as necessary:

    Field Action
    Contents code Enter a unique code, or an abbreviation, to identify the content of the email message.
    Message type Enter a unique name for the email message. The email setting references this name, which determines when to send the message as well as the recipient.
    Message subject Enter the text that you want to appear in the subject line of the email.
    Message content Enter the full text message that you want to send to a recipient using email. You can enter a message up to 2000 characters long.
    Status Select the current mode of the email message. You can enable the message at this time, or disable it and enable it later.

  5. Select Save.

The email setting for each workflow process determines which email message you want to send when Civic Platform updates the workflow process. For example, after a building review is complete, you can notify the building supervisor.

Although you can set up multiple email messages for the same task status, Civic Platform only sends one email message to a single recipient for each status update. Civic Platform recommends that you set up only one recipient, one email address, and one message for each task status.

When you first add an email setting, you can specify the combination of a workflow process, task, and status that generates an email message. You can also choose which email message you want to send when this combination occurs. You can determine the recipient of the email message later when you edit the email setting.

To specify email settings for a workflow task

  1. From the Classic admin page, select Workflow > Email setting.

  2. Search for the workflow process with the task to which you want to add an email setting.

    You can select Submit without any search criteria to display all workflow processes.

  3. Select the red dot next to the process to which to add the email setting.

  4. Select Add.

  5. Complete the following fields as necessary:

    Field Action
    Task Choose the workflow task. Civic Platform refreshes the window after you choose a task to display the corresponding statuses for the task that you choose.
    Notify contact relationship type Choose the type of contact you are notifying from the drop-down list.
    Notify applicant? If you want to notify the applicant, select the tasks for which you want to send notifications.
    Notify next recipient? If you want to notify someone other than the applicant, choose this option and enter the next two fields with information about this recipient.
    Recipient first/middle/last Enter the name of the recipient.
    Email Enter the email address of the recipient.
    Status Choose the status that you want.
    Message type Choose the email message that you want to send.

  6. Select Submit.

You might have created EMSE scripts to update a workflow process. If you want to send an email message after a workflow task update by EMSE, you must call the following method in the EMSE script:

Accela Automation.workflow.sendEmailForWorkflowTaskUpdated(Task,emailFrom,emailTo,emailCC)

This method sets the email addresses from which and to which Civic Platform sends the notification. For other email notification parameters such as Message type, Civic Platform reads from the email setting for the workflow process in Classic Admin.

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