How can I get e-mail notifications about new or updated content?

There are a number of ways to obtain updates about new or updated content on this site. These include:

• Mail - Default option, sends short plain-text notices by e-mail.
• Web - Displays notifications upon next login to the site.
• Feed - (Not available yet) Provides one or more custom RSS News Feed addresses.
• SMS - (Not available yet) Sends short plain-text notices to cell phones.
• Twitter - (Not available yet) Provides notices to someone's Twitter account. 

As most prefer the e-mail option, this is set as the default for all accounts upon creation. Work has started on adding more options into how notifications are provided through the creation of a Notifications Improvement Team. Those interested in volunteering for testing should use our Contact page.

The web option is intended primarily for those who visit the site and login on a frequent basis. However, it is made available for those who wish to suppress notifications for a brief time, such as during vacations.

All notifications are sent from the site’s address ( no – reply at cebug dot org ) using the plain-text format. It is highly recommended that anyone using spam filtering software of any type add this address into friends/white lists. If notifications are not appearing in someone’s inbox when expected, please check spam folders. 

Where Subscriptions are Stored

To see what subscriptions have been setup for an account, make changes in methodology, etc., someone should be login and click on the My Account link showing within the main Navigation menu. This is visible under someone’s username in the left-hand column while logged in. When viewing their Profile, they should click on the Notifications tab to see a summary of all established subscriptions. All active subscriptions are listed under the Subscriptions tab, with an edit or drop option provided next to each listing. Keep in mind some subscriptions are considered a mandatory requirement for having an active account on the site. 

Those with a number of subscriptions will probably prefer to use the tabs that organize them by type. These being: Author, Content Type, Tags, and Thread. Please refer to the list below for a more detailed explanation of these options. Additional subscriptions can be made when viewing content on the site or through the Add Subscription tab in this area.

Subscription Types

Here is an overview of the types of subscriptions possible:

• Content Type - Notifies the user when a particular content type is created or updated. Types of content include:
  
  • Webform – Interactive forms used on the site, such as the Contact page, or other application, registration, or reporting pages.
  • Blog entry – Articles written by members or contributing authors that may be public or private.
  • Poll – Setup by an officer of CEBUG to gather data of some type from users.
  • Forum topic – Only content type that may be created by all active users, posts – when published – appear within some board area in the forum.
  • Book page – Used within the Shared Web Links area.
  • Event – Contains details about a CEBUG sponsored presentation.
  • Page – Used to create pages having to do information about CEBUG as an organization, policy statements, and how things work (the FAQ section).
  • Private page – Used to create content visible only to CEBUG members in the Mailbox section.
  • Story – This content type is not used on this site.
• Tags - Categories of content stored within a given content type. A good example would be messages posted within board areas of the forum. The list of tags available for subscription on this site will change over time.
• Thread – This type of subscription is good for following replies or comments made to a specific page or post. Users may activate an option in their Profile to be automatically subscribed to any message post they create. (This option is turned off by default.)
• Author – The least versatile of subscription options offered, provided primarily for the convenience of contributing authors who are not members of CEBUG. This will provide notifications when a specific person creates or updates content; or when a comment is added. Those in other roles should avoid using this option as there is a high risk of duplicate notifications being sent when combined with other subscriptions. 

Sending Intervals

By default, all subscriptions are set to the Immediate setting, as this will generate notices the quickest. As message traffic increases, others may wish to experiment with digest options that send summaries at these intervals: Every Hour, Twice per Day, Daily, and Weekly.  

Mandatory Subscriptions

All actively registered users are expected to maintain a subscription to the forums Announcement board. This is to facilitate the sending of important notices about our organization or the site itself. Traffic from this area of the forum is expected to be low, so this requirement should not be burdensome for anyone. Experimentation with the interval setting is certainly encouraged, if this should change.

The majority of those registered on the site are also expected to maintain an active subscription to the Events content type. This is so notifications about our presentations can be sent along with updates as they occur. We will allow exceptions to this rule – upon request – for members of other user groups or who are business sponsors. (Read more about Sponsorship of CEBUG.)

Finally, all dues paying members of CEBUG will find an active subscription for the content type Private Page. This is so they receive prompt notice about posting in this section. If message traffic from this area increases, we suggest members experiment with the digest subscription options mentioned above.