Default Settings

Access from the Admin Console

Location: Site > Notifications > Default Settings

Overview

This page allows the admin to define the notification rule defaults for all users in the community. The settings defined on this page will be pre-populated in the user preferences page where each individual user may adjust the settings to suit their individual needs.

The list of available notifications to configure will change depending upon the features that are enabled in your instance of AnswerHub. For example, if the Article or idea feature module (Knowledge base or ideas) plugins are disabled, the notifications related to these features will not appear in either the admin notification control panel or user’s preferences page.

AnswerHub provides email based notifications by default, and In-application (online) notifications may be added as an available feature starting with version 2.20.0 and available as a standard feature in 2.25.0 and later versions. Email notifications may be configured as instant notifications, or grouped into digests and sent out daily or weekly while online/in-app notifications (where available) provide instant notifications and may be enabled or disabled for each type of notification. Note: If the digest options are selected, they must also be enabled in the outgoing email settings page /admin/site/mail/smtp.html

The user interface is being upgraded in version 2.11.0 and later versions in support new notification capabilities and features.

The main categories for notifications are as follows:

• Notifications
• Following Content
• More Options

Notifications

The subcategories under "Notifications" are as follows, with several scenarios listed below them:

• "Always notify users when" (not space, topic or user-specific) provide notifications when content is added to the community, regardless of location, which topics are attached to the content, what user posted the content, or whether or not the user is following the poster or the content.

For each of the scenarios, you can select the type of notification from the following options:

• Online - On / Off (Instant)
• Email - None
• Email - Instant
• Email -Daily Digest
• Email - Weekly Digest

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Enable In-App Notifications Plugin

To enable the online notification feature, navigate to manage plugins and find the In App Notifications plugin on the list of disabled plugins menu and enable it. Once enabled, return to the default notifications page and the "Online" column should now be present. This new column will also be available on each user's notifications configuration tab found on the user preferences page.

As a best practice, you may wish to use a site notification (announcement) to call attention to this new feature for all users and guide users in configuring / enabling their online notifications and to look for the red dot that will appear on the new bell icon when they have new notifications (based on their settings). Clicking the bell at any time will bring up the list of online notifications for the user. These may be cleared in bulk, or dismissed individually by clicking the X next to the notification.

• "For followed items, notify user when" (space, topic, and user-specific if the user follows these items). These notifications occur only when the follow conditions are met for the user. These settings work in conjunction with the settings in the next section which define scenarios in the user will automatically follow content, which will then trigger the notifications. Note that default follows can be set for all users in the community, and for individual groups. These options allow for a range of follow and notification configurations from simple to complex depending upon the needs of the community.

For each of the scenarios, you can select the type of notification from the following options:

• Online - On / Off (Instant)
• Email - None
• Email - Instant
• Email -Daily Digest
• Email - Weekly Digest

Following Content

Under this section, you can make users automatically follow content. For example, questions in topics the user follows, questions in spaces the user follows and many more options as shown in the screenshot below.

The subcategory under "Following Content" is "Automatically add user as a follower to," with several scenarios listed below them.

For each of the scenarios, you can select the type of notification from the following options:

• Enable – click to slide the switch to the right and it will display in green
• Disable – click to slide the switch to the lift and it will grey out after momentarily highlighting in green

More Options

The subcategory under "More Options" is "Additionally," with several scenarios listed below them.

For each of the scenarios, you can select the type of notification from the following options which apply to the email setting in the left column and the online notification in the right column

• Enable – click to slide the switch to the right and it will display in green
• Disable – click to slide the switch to the lift and it will grey out after momentarily highlighting in green

The bottom of the page allows you to either save your changes by clicking the UPDATE SETTINGS button, or to disable user notifications altogether by clicking the DISABLE USER NOTIFICATIONS button. Changes applied will normally be applied to new user accounts created after the setting change and to existing user accounts where the user has not customized their individual settings already. If the admin wishes to force all user accounts in the system to reflect the new standards, the reset all user notification preferences button may be used. A confirmation dialog will be presented.

As a best practice, avoid frequent changes to notification preferences and carefully consider the application of reset all as this may create some confusion and possible frustration for users. If the reset option is used, consider including a site notification message to advise users of the setting change and remind users how to update their individual settings in the notifications tab of the user preferences section.