User notifications

In Sitefinity CMS backend, you can receive notifications for the following:

• Workflow events
  If you are part of an approval workflow, you can get a notification whenever a content that you are involved in changes its status.
  For example, if you have sent a new item for review, you can be notified when the content is reviewed. Or if you are an approver, you can get a notification whenever an item is sent for approval to you.
  For more information, see Workflows.


• Form responses
  If you are subscribed for a form, you can get notification whenever a form response is submitted.
  For more information, see Setup sending emails for form responses.


• Sync content and pages
  You receive a notification via the notification system when content items and pages were synced manually (upon completion of the sync operation). You can be notified when you have synced any content items and pages manually, and also when your own content items and pages were synced.
  For more information, see Sync content and pages.


• Outdated content
  If filters and notifications for outdated (expired) pages are enabled, you can receive notifications via the notification system based on the configured expiration setting.
  For example, you can be notified when your pages have not been updated for a long period of time, upon the respective expiration date.
  For more information, see Outdated content settings.

You view user notifications in Sitefinity CMS backend when you log in with your user.

Quick view

In the toolbar of Sitefinity CMS backend you can have a quick view whether you have any new notification.

The notification icon  displays the number of new notifications that you have.

Detailed view

To view a complete list of your notifications, click the notification icon in the toolbar.
The Notifications page appears.

The page displays a list of all notifications that you have received.
The unread notifications are highlighted.

• To mark a notification as read, click its Mark as Read icon.
• To mark all notifications as read, in the upper right corner of the page, click  (Notification preferences) » Mark all as read.

To close the page, in the upper right corner, click  (Close).

You can customize the types of notifications that you receive. For example, you can turn on and off specific notification channels.

To do this, perform the following:

1. Log in to Sitefinity CMS backend.
2. In the toolbar, click the notification icon .
   The Notifications page opens.
3. In the upper right corner of the page, click  (Notification preferences).
4. Click Edit preferences.
   The Notify me for updates for... page opens.
5. You can turn on and off the following notifications:
   Content workflow:
   • Content and pages sent to me for review / approval / publishing
     A notification is sent when an item whose owner are you gets reviewed, approved, or published in an approval workflow.
   • My content and pages were rejected
     A notification is sent when an item whose owner are you gets rejected in an approval workflow.
   Forms:
   • Response to a form I am subscribed for
     A notification is sent when a form that you are subscribed to is submitted.
   SyteSync:
   • My content and pages were synced manually
     A notification is sent when a sync for your content items and pages is complete.
   • Any content and pages I synced manually
     A notification is sent when you have synced any content items and pages, upon completion.
   Outdated content:
   • My pages have not been updated for over 180 days.
     A notification is sent for your outdated pages on the respective expiration date (where you are the owner/author of the page).
   • Pages I edited last have not been updated for over 180 days.
     A notification is sent for outdated pages on the respective expiration date (where you are the last editor of the page).
   • Any pages have not been updated for over 180 days.
     A notification is sent for all outdated pages on their respective expiration date. This notification option is OFF by default.

   NOTE: The number of days, after which a page becomes outdated, is configurable. Hence, the notifications options for outdated content may display a custom time interval. The default setting is 180 days.  

6. To exit the page, click  (Close).

NOTE: These settings are system-wide and apply to all users, not just your user.

To configure notification settings, prform the following:

1. In Sitefinity CMS backend, navigate to Administration » Settings » Advanced.
2. In the treeview, expand Notifications and click UserNotifications.
3. In Retention days, enter the number of days that you want notifications to be kept in the notifications list.
4. In User notifications cleanup schedule, enter when to clean old notifications in a crontab expression.
5. In Notifications check interval, enter the interval in minutes when to refresh the user notifications.
6. Select Enable notifications check on inactive window, if you want to have notifications checked even if the browser window of Sitefinity CMS backend is not the active tab.
7. Save your changes.