To create or modify a News article Manager level access is required for the Notifications Module (see Access Levels). See here for how to check your current access level. See here for how to apply for a change in access level.
The majority of Notifications will be automatically generated by the system, for example when a user access permissions are changed.
There are two types of Notifications which can be created by a Notifications Manager, and the process for each is slightly different:
General Notifications - Notifications not associated with a News article. Generally this would be for information you only expect a user to look at once or which is only relevant to a select group of users.
News Notifications - Include a link to a News article and used to publicise its content. The article itself will be accessible to all users (even if they don't receive a notification) and can be referred to after the notification has expired or been closed by the user.
[Any further or better guidance on when the two types of notification should be used?]
To create a General Notification click Main Menu > News & Notifications > Create Notification.
A form will appear for you to complete the following:
Title - A headline for the notification.
Body - The main content of the notification.
Sticky - Whether the notification is sticky. Sticky notifications cannot be closed by the user and will remain in their Notifications bar until the Expiry Date.
Issue and Expiry Date - Defines the period within which the notification will be displayed to the users. The issue date can be in the future if you would like to schedule a notification in advance. Notifications which are not 'Sticky' can be closed by the user before the Expiry Date.
Link to Permissions - Allows you to define which users will receive the notification. If checked a box will appear for you add one or more criteria based on a user's access permission for a particular module or area.
Once complete, click the Save icon on the Command Bar and the notification will be created (and issued immediately if between the Issue and Expiry Date).
In general notifications should be very concise and limited to headline information. Use News article to provide more detail.
When adding multiple criteria for the distribution of a Notification based upon permissions, note that these are cumulative. Only a user which meets all the criteria will receive the notification. This means, for example, if you would like to issue a notification to all the GAD Managers in Areas 1 and 4 only (rather than users who are Managers in both Areas 1 and 4), you will need to create two Notifications, distributed to the two Areas individually. [Is this correct?]
First navigate the to News article, by using the News Summary.
Select the article of interest and click View Notifications.
A list of the Notifications already associated with the article will be shown, for example those generated during Creation of the article.
If another Notification is required click Create Notification on the command bar. From here , the process is as for General Notifications above.
Multiple notifications associated with the same article can be created. This could be used, for example, to give users a couple of weeks advance notice of an event, and then remind them the day before.
The Notifications Summary lists all the user generated notifications on the system. It is accessed from the Main Menu at Main Menu > News & Notifications > Notifications Summary.
Select the notification you want to edit by filtering and sorting this list then click Edit Notification on the command bar.
Edit the details you want to change, then click Save on the command bar.
Note that the Issue Date and distribution criteria cannot be Edited. If these are incorrect you will need to create a new Notification.
Editing a Notification will only change unopened versions of the notification. If a user has already viewed and closed the previous notification it will not be reissued. You should consider whether the changes are significant enough to warrant a new notification to ensure everyone sees it.
Notifications cannot be deleted. Double-check for errors before creating or confirming Edits.
To withdraw a notification, Edit the Expiry Date to a date in the past, this will instantly remove any unread versions of the Notification.