Reminders
For tasks with a partner, reminders automatically chase the partner if they have not completed the task.
It usually makes sense to set a finish date for the task before setting reminders.
Reminders are only sent when all of these apply:
- A due date is set. The due date is separate from the task planned finish date, but defaults to the planned finish date.
- The send reminder option is set.
- The task is waiting for action from a partner.
Reminders use sensible defaults that will send a couple of reminders before the task is due and send reminders for a week after the task is due. You must, however, set the send reminder option on the task to turn on the reminders.
You can set reminders before you send a task to the partner, and you can set reminders on or off, or change reminder details, after you have sent the task to the partner. You can change the due date shown on the reminders, but this will not change the task planned finish date.
The send reminder option is not switched on by default. However, if the reminder option is set on in a template, when the template is used, the send reminder option will be set and if a planned finish date is set then reminders will be sent. See Templates.
Managing reminders
Set and manage reminders using the Manage reminders option from the task context menu, or from the Manage reminders link in the Dates section of the Task details.
| Due date | Set the due date for the task. If you have previously set a planned finish date, this will be used as the due date. If not, enter a due date here. |
| Send reminder | Check this box to switch the reminders on for this task. |
| Next reminder | The date and time when the next reminder will be sent. You do not need to set this, and it will be set automatically. The default is in the morning a couple of days before the task is due. |
| How many days between reminders? |
How often should reminders be sent? The default is 2. If other defaults are used, this means that the partner will be reminded to complete the task on the morning when it is due. Leave blank to only send one reminder. |
| Title for the reminder | The reminder will send a notification email to the partner. The email will include the name of the task, so the default value of "Please complete the task" is usually OK. |
| Full text of the reminder | The text of the reminder notification. Use the placeholder [due date] to include the due date. |
Use the Overdue reminders... button to open up details for managing overdue reminders.
| For how many days after the due date should reminders be sent? |
The number of days to send overdue reminders. The default is 7. You can leave this blank to not send any reminders when the task is overdue. You should set this to a reasonably short number, typically 7 or 14 days. If the partner has not got back to you in a reasonable time, you need to talk to them, not just send them automatic reminders. This does not alter whether the system will accept late responses. If you want to stop a partner sending a late response, you must recall the assignment. See Send and recall. |
| Title for overdue reminders | Like the reminder title, used when the task is overdue. |
| Full text of the overdue reminder | Like the reminder text, used when the task is overdue. |
Use Save to save the reminders.