Working with Alerts: Creation, Management, and Notifications

Creating a New Alert

To create a new alert:

1. Navigate to the Alerts module from the main system menu.
2. Initiate a new alert, usually by clicking a "New Alert" button. This will open the alert creation form.

Filling out the Alert Form

When creating an alert, you'll need to provide several key pieces of information:

• Alert Name: A clear, descriptive title for your alert. This helps in identifying and searching for the alert later.
• Alert Date: The date relevant to the alert, often defaulting to the current day.
• Type of Alert: Select the category that best describes the alert's urgency or nature (e.g., "Just Information," "Significant," "Critical").
• Notify All Users:
  • Check this box if the alert is intended for everyone in the system.
  • If unchecked, you will need to use the Select Individuals to be Notified field to choose specific recipients.
• Brief Description: A concise summary of the alert's content. This is often displayed in list views.
• Details: The main body of your alert. Provide all necessary information here. This field often supports rich text formatting and may track updates.
• Associated Action: If the alert requires a follow-up task, you can link it to an existing action or create a new one in the Action Management module. This helps ensure accountability and tracking of related tasks.

Managing the Alert Lifecycle (Workflow)

Alerts typically follow a workflow to manage their status:

1. Draft: When you first save an alert, it's usually in a 'Draft' state. In this stage, you can freely edit all information.
   • To activate the alert and send notifications, you'll need to submit it to the next step.
2. Open: Once submitted, the alert becomes 'Open' or 'Active'. At this point:
   • Notifications are typically sent to the designated recipients (either all users or selected individuals, based on your configuration).
   • The content might be less editable than in the Draft stage, depending on system settings.
   • There might be an option to "Send Alert" again if you need to re-notify users.
3. Closed: When the alert is no longer relevant or has been addressed, it can be moved to a 'Closed' state. This archives the alert.

The exact names of workflow steps and actions (e.g., "Submit," "Close") can vary slightly but will be indicated by buttons on the alert form.

Understanding Notifications

The primary purpose of the Alerts module is to notify users.

• Who gets notified? This depends on whether you checked "Notify All Users" or selected specific individuals when creating the alert.
• When are notifications sent? Notifications are usually triggered when an alert is moved from 'Draft' to the 'Open' (or active) state.
• What do notifications contain? Email notifications generally include key information from the alert, such as its name, type, description, and the detailed message.

Viewing Alerts

You can view existing alerts in the Alerts module. The list view will typically display key information for each alert, such as:

• Brief Description
• Alert Date
• Alert Name
• Type of Alert
• Current Workflow Step (e.g., Draft, Open, Closed)
• An indicator for attachments, if any.

This list can usually be sorted by columns like 'Alert Date'.

Permissions

Your ability to create, edit, or delete alerts depends on your user role and permissions configured in the system. Standard users typically have read-only access to alerts relevant to them, while administrative or power users will have broader creation and management rights.