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Timeline & Notifications

SideDrawer Timeline, Timeline Notifications, and other Notification emails

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Written by Support
Updated over 3 weeks ago

This article is for: All SideDrawer users

You will receive notifications from SideDrawer to keep you informed of activities in your account: when new files are uploaded, when Collaborators are added, when you are invited to a new SideDrawer or Record, and more.

Most notifications come from the SideDrawer Timeline, the log of activities in each SideDrawer.
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This article covers the Timeline, the kinds of notifications you'll get from SideDrawer, and how to manage and troubleshoot your notification settings.

SideDrawer Timeline

The Timeline is a log of activities in each SideDrawer, maintained in real time.
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You can access the Timeline by clicking on the 3 dots next to the SideDrawer name, and selecting Timeline from the menu
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Each entry in the Timeline shows:
​User - the person/account who performed the action
​Action - what they did (added, deleted, updated, created, etc.)
​Object - File, Record, Collaborator, etc.
​Location - Tile and/or Record involved
​SideDrawer - Name of the SideDrawer where the action took place
​Date - Month/Day/Year when the action took place
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The Timeline is hyperlinked, so you can click on a line about adding a file to navigate to that file, as long as you have permission to access the Record where it's saved

Timeline Notifications


The SideDrawer platform takes a 'snapshot' of each SideDrawer every 2 hours, looking for new activity.
If there has been new Timeline activity - files uploaded, files deleted, Collaborators added, etc. - the system will generate and send a Timeline Notification email

Notifications are batched, so one email will include all the activity in that 2-hour window
So if you upload 10 files, your client won't get 10 notification emails, just the one email with 10 events listed in it
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The link in the Notification email will take users to the SideDrawer login page, then navigate them directly to the Timeline once they've logged in

Notification emails are sent to all Collaborators on the SideDrawer with Viewer-level access or higher (SideDrawer Owner, SideDrawer Editor, SideDrawer Contributor, or SideDrawer Viewer)
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​Exception: the user who performed the actions will not get a Notification email
So if you upload a file in a client's SideDrawer, the Notification email will be sent to the client, but not to you

Collaborators with Record-level access (Viewer or higher) will receive Notification emails only for the Record(s) that they have access to

Other Notifications

Besides Timeline Notifications, there are other activities in SideDrawer that will trigger notification emails.
Settings that mute Timeline Notifications will not affect these other notifications.

  • Invitations: clients will receive an email from SideDrawer notifying them when they've been added as Collaborators on a SideDrawer or Record.
    Invitation emails include a link to the SideDrawer login page - existing users will be prompted to log into their account, and new users will be prompted to register, before navigating to the new SideDrawer or Record
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  • Info Requests: sending an Info Request to a SideDrawer will trigger a notification email, showing the name of the Info Request, the user/account who sent it, and the name of the SideDrawer.
    The link will take users to the login page, and once they log in, they'll be navigated right to the Info Request
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  • Reminders: Reminders generate a notification with the customized message that's created for the recipient.
    Simple File Requests and Share File both use the Reminder email template for their customized messages.
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Managing Notifications

SideDrawer is designed for maximum transparency, so the default settings ensure that all Collaborators on a SideDrawer receive all relevant notifications.
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We do have some options to help users manage their notifications, to mute Timeline notifications for an account or for a SideDrawer - the aim is to make sure that you're always informed, but not overwhelmed with emails!

Account Notifications

You can mute Timeline notifications for your SideDrawer account, from your My Account settings

This will turn off Timeline notifications only - you will still be notified about new invitations, Info Requests, or Reminders, but will not get the day-to-day messages about new files, Records, or Collaborators.
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Note also that this setting is for your entire account, so it will mute Timeline notifications from all SideDrawers that you have access to.

  1. In the SideDrawer front-end app, click on My Account at the lower left
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  2. In the My Account settings, toggle Activate personal notifications to the off position, then click Update to complete the change
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    If you ever need to turn notifications back on, just set the toggle to the on position and click Update again
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    While you have Timeline notifications turned off, make sure to log in to your SideDrawer account periodically to check for new activity!

SideDrawer Notifications

Timeline notifications can also be muted at the SideDrawer level - this will turn off Timeline notifications for all Collaborators on that SideDrawer
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This option is useful for admins or advisors who want to do setup work in a client's SideDrawer before inviting the client.
Setup can involve a lot of Timeline activity - creating Records, adding files, etc. that may not need notifications right away.

  1. Click on the 3 dots next to the SideDrawer name, then select Manage SideDrawer from the menu
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  2. In the Manage SideDrawer screen, scroll to the bottom, and toggle Activate SideDrawer notifications to off
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​If you're turning notifications off temporarily, remember to turn them back on when you're done!

As with Account Notifications, remember that this control only mutes Timeline notifications - other notifications, for Info Requests, invitations, and Reminders, will still be sent

Custom Messages in Console

This section is only relevant to SideDrawer Console users

If you're an admin user with access to the SideDrawer Console, you can use Settings > Custom Messages, to see the templates for all the notification emails used in your SideDrawer environment

From this menu, you can activate or deactivate individual message templates, or edit their content

Remember that these controls are for the entire Affiliate, so turning a message on or off from here means that message is activated or deactivated for all users in your environment

For more details on Custom Messages in Console


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Troubleshooting Notifications

If you notice that you (or your client) are not getting notifications, here are some troubleshooting steps:

  1. Check email settings
    Make sure that notifications aren't going to your Junk folder, and that [email protected] (the email address that sends our notifications) isn't being blocked by your email program
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  2. Check the account settings
    Go to My Account in the lower left-hand menu, and check that you have Timeline notifications turned on for your account
    If notifications are turned off, click to toggle on, then click Update
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  3. Check the SideDrawer settings
    If you're getting notifications from some SideDrawers but not others, click on the 3 dots next to the SideDrawer name, select Manage SideDrawer, and check that notifications for that SideDrawer are turned on
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    If notifications are turned off, toggle them to on
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    Only users with SideDrawer Owner, Editor, or Contributor access will be able to use this menu and change these settings
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  4. Check permission role
    Not all notifications go out to all users!
    If you're set up with Record access and not SideDrawer access, then you won't receive most Timeline notifications - you'll only get notified about the Record or Records that you have access to.
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    If you're set up with SideDrawer access as an Observer or No Details, you won't get Timeline notifications for that SideDrawer
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    For more on Collaborators and permission roles


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  5. Check Custom Messages in Console
    Only admin users with Console access will be able to view these settings, so you may need to ask your advisor or admin
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    In Console, under Settings > Custom Messages, the Activity Summary email needs to be turned on in order for users to receive Timeline notifications
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    ​Deactivating this item turns off Timeline notifications for all users in your environment
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    Note that Activity Summary log and Activity Summary email are separate entries!
    The log just collects the batched activity every 2 hours, the email is the actual notification that goes out to clients
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