Custom workflow stage notifications in 8.3.0.2

You can now edit and create email notification templates within the Workflow Designer and assign templates to workflow stages.

Administrative users can create email stage notification templates that are specific to a workflow stage. You are no longer constricted to using one universal template for notifications that are sent to assignees, subscribers, or end stage notification recipients.

For notifications that are sent to assignees or subscribers, a new Customize selection is available on the Action Properties panel under the Email section.

For notifications sent when a workflow has completed, a new Customize email template button is available within the Stage Properties panel under the General section.

Figure 1. Customizing email notifications for actions and stages
Two images are shown. The first image shows the Action properties panel. The Notify Assignees and Notify Subscribers sections each have a link that is called Customize. The second image shows the Stage properties panel. The Notify other users section has a button that is called Customize email template.

When you click Customize or the Customize email template button, a panel opens. Initially, it displays the default templates for the subject and body application text strings. You can select any Subject email template within OpenPages under the Subject section or any Body email template within OpenPages under the Body section. Any edits that you make to a template in this panel apply to all workflow stages that are assigned to the template.

Figure 2. Selecting and customizing templates for assignee notifications
The Customize Assignee Notifications panel is shown. The panel has two sections: Subject and Body. Each section has two fields: one for selecting a template and another for viewing or editing the HTML of the template.

You can also select a template and click Copy to new template. With this option, you enter a name and description for the new template, and the strings that are supplied by the template you selected are made available for you to edit. A name for the new template is generated for you. You can modify it as needed.

Figure 3. Creating a template by copying from another template
The Customize Assignee Notifications panel is shown. The Copy to new template is highlighted. Another image shows the Copy to new template panel. The example shows copying from the default template to a new template that will be used for the Submit for Review stage of an issue workflow.

The text of the email template can be previewed by clicking Preview, which displays how the email will be presented to the recipient. If your environment integrates with Watson Language Translator, you can also translate the strings that are created or edited in a template. After you complete your edits on the email template and click Done, the notification for the selected action or end stage notification is sent to the recipient using the selected email template.

Figure 4. Previewing a notification
The Customize Assignee Notifications panel shows a preview of an email notification. The preview shows the subject and body of the email, which includes links, colors, and application text strings such as [$System Fields:Description$].

Any template that is created or edited within the Workflow Designer is reflected on the Application Text screen, which is accessible from Administration menu > System Configuration. Additionally, any changes to an email template from the Application Text screen get reflected within the Workflow Designer.