Configuring Email Settings

Benefits

Emails notifying users of compliance assignments or questionnaire responses can be easily customized. Color schemes, logos, and text can be branded and personalized to support each organization according to its business needs. This gives recipients confidence that the email is coming from a familiar company and is not spam or a phishing attempt. In addition, a preview mode allows you to view the email customization as recipients would see it in their inbox.

Overview

Information that can be altered includes the following:

• Logos.
• Sender's name.
• Reply-To email.
• Header and footer information.
• Email content.
• Text and background color.
• Days of the week to be sent.
• Instant notifications to users next in line to take action on assignable items.
  
  

Accessing Email Settings

To access the email notification settings, complete the following:

1. Click Settings | Email Settings in the left-hand navigation.
   
   

Adding Sender Details

The contact information displaying in the user's email inbox can be modified to reflect your organization's information.

To modify the main display name, complete the following:

1. Enter the information in the Sender's Name text box.
   
   
   
   
2. The name displays in bold within the user's inbox as shown in the following email example.
   
   
   
   
3. Update the Reply-To email* with an email address you monitor if recipients respond to the notification.
   
   
   
4. NOTE: The initial email will still display the original value of notifications@reciprocitylabs.com as shown below. Your email only displays when the user clicks "reply" or "reply all."
   
   

Creating the Header and Footer

The header and footer allows for customization of text and background color and provides the option to display a logo. The color selector works the same for all color options.

To alter the color of text, headers, and footers, complete the following steps:

1. Click the color circle displaying beside the text box.
   
   
   
   
2. To select a shade in the same hue, click the selector within the gradient and move it to the desired shade.
3. To select a different color, click within the vertical color band and move up or down to the desired hue.
   
   
   
   
4. If the original color was white, or if the selector isn't displaying in the gradient, click in the upper, left corner (this is the default placement of the selector) and drag the selector to the desired color.
   
   
   
   
5. Alternately, enter the color's hexadecimal value preceded by the hashtag. If the code is incorrect or if the hashtag is missing, the color circle displays with a red x.
   
   

Displaying a Logo

Add your organization's logo by either uploading an image or adding a link to where it exists on another server.

To upload a logo, complete the following steps:

1. Click click to browse.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the file from your computer and click Open.
3. Alternatively, drag and drop a file from the desktop to within the dotted box.

4. The graphic displays under Logo preview.
   
   
   
   

   TIP

   If the logo is white on a transparent background, it will not display in the preview.

5. To add a link to an image without uploading the image itself, click Enter URL manually.
   
   
   
   

6. In the Logo URL* text box, add the link. Make certain it's an absolute link, which means it starts with https://. If that information is missing, the application places a red line around the box to show it's incorrect.

Removing a Logo

There is no delete button to remove a logo. However, there is a solution.

To remove an uploaded image, complete the following steps:

1. Click Enter URL manually.
2. Enter a link and click Save.
3. Remove the link you just added and click Save again.

Enabling the Footer or Header

There are a couple of conditions to be aware of when displaying text or a logo in the header or footer.

The section under Logo position determines where the logo displays.

• If Footer is selected to show the logo, also ensure the Enable Footer check box is selected or else the footer section won't display.
  
  
  
  

• If Header is selected to show the logo, please note that the text in the Header title will not display.
  
  

Scheduling Notifications

There are two types of email notifications in ZenGRC. They are as follows:

• Daily Digest - A daily email that summarizes all assignments due. It can be configured to be sent every day or only on selected days for selected items.  It is sent out at 10 UTC on the days you select.
• Instant Notifications - This is configured separately from the Daily Digest and prompts instant notifications when you have an assigned item. 

Turning On and Off Notifications

To enable email notifications, complete the following steps:

1. Select the Summary email notifications enabled check box under Notifications.
   
   

   NOTE

   When the check box is selected, notifications are on. When the check box is deselected, notifications are off.

2. Click Save.

Determining Notification Days

To schedule email notifications for action items on specific days, complete the following steps:

1. Select the days to send notifications under Notifications.
   
   

   NOTE

   When the day is lined in blue, it is selected and email notifications will be sent that day.

2. Alternately, deselect days when notifications are not to be sent.
3. Click Save.

Changing the Action Items Sent

To include action items in the notifications, complete the following steps:

1. Select or deselect the following (those selected will be sent in the notifications):
   1. Assessments
   2. Requests

   3. Tasks

2. Click Save.

Enabling Instant Notifications

To send immediate emails to users when they have action to take and when notes are added to the Comments tab, complete the following:

1. Click Settings | Email Settings.
2. At the bottom of the page, make sure the check box next to Instant email notifications enabled is selected. 
   
   
   
   

3. Alternatively, deselect the check box to stop all instant notifications. This is separate from the daily digest.
   
   

   NOTE

   To understand when and to whom notifications are sent, please see Workflow for Requests and Tasks and Workflow for Assessments.

Sending an Instant Email for a Newly Created Item

Once instant notifications are enabled as described in the previous section, a new check box displays for selection on assessments, requests and tasks. For instructions, please see Enabling Instant Notifications on a New Item.

Viewing an Example Email

To preview how the email notification looks to the end user, complete the following steps:

1. Click Save.
2. Click Email preview.
   
   
   
   
3. The sample email displays.