Changes to notifications in Totara 16
  • 12 Apr 2022
  • 2 minutes to read

Changes to notifications in Totara 16


Article Summary

In Totara 16 the centralised notifications system has been expanded to include course, course activity, and seminar notifications. The notifications for courses and course activities are new, however, the centralised seminar notifications replace the existing seminar notification system, now known as legacy seminar notifications.

New notification system

With the centralised notification system, you can now customise and configure seminar notifications at the site level, course level, or activity level. Notifications are inherited from higher levels to lower levels unless a change is made at a lower level. This gives both Site Administrators and trainers a greater level of control over the content and target of notifications.

Customise message content

It is now easier to customise your message content and target content for different recipients. Previously, if you wanted to notify a manager then you could send them a copy with a manager prefix, but this was limiting. With the centralised notification system, it is possible to tailor messages to different recipients, with entirely different content for each recipient group. For example, you could create a booking cancellation notification for managers that prompts them to rebook for their staff members. This would only be seen by the manager, and a different email could be sent to the attendee (the subject) who cancelled. 

Third-party messages

With the legacy notification system, it was possible to specify a third-party email address to receive copies of all seminar notifications. This could result in the third-party recipients receiving a very high number of duplicate emails when a notification was sent. 

In the centralised notification system, it is possible to set up a notification for a third-party recipient for specific events. This means that the third-party recipient only receives emails for the events that they need emails for, and that they only receive one email per event. 

iCal

It is now possible to include iCal attachments in notifications for any recipients. Previously, only the attendee would receive an iCal attachment, but now this can optionally be enabled in the manager or third-party recipient emails as well. 

Ad hoc messages

With the introduction of the centralised notification system for seminars we have separated ad hoc messaging from legacy seminar notifications. This means that you can continue to use the ad hoc message feature to send one-time messages to groups of users associated with a seminar.

Transition guidance

If you were previously using seminar notifications and you want guidance on how to transition to the new system then you can find this on the Transitioning to new seminar notifications page. 

© Copyright 2024 Totara Learning Solutions. All rights reserved.


Was this article helpful?

Changing your password will log you out immediately. Use the new password to log back in.
First name must have atleast 2 characters. Numbers and special characters are not allowed.
Last name must have atleast 1 characters. Numbers and special characters are not allowed.
Enter a valid email
Enter a valid password
Your profile has been successfully updated.