How Does the Automations Feature Work?

New! You can now automatically create eCards using automations!

Automations is a feature available on Enterprise level plans that, when enabled and setup, will create boards or cards for birthdays, work anniversaries, and new employee welcomes in your organization automatically. This feature uses birthdays and work start dates of registered users on your plan (added by Org Admins or through an integration with your HRIS). 

NOTE: Boards and cards will only be automatically created for birthdays, work anniversaries, and new employee welcomes that are 7+ days out from the date the automation is created and turned on. 

To setup automations: 

1. Login as an Org Admin.

2. On the left-hand side of your Dashboard, under the Admin category, click Automations

3. Click Set up Automations. 

If you have Automations set up already, boards and cards created via Automations will show here, and you'll have the option to Manage Automations. 

4. Alternatively, you can navigate to the Automations page via the Admin Panel.  Click the settings icon on the upper right-hand side of your Dashboard and choose Admin Panel from the dropdown.

5. Navigate to the Automations tab. Once in this tab, click Setup to the right of the automation that you'd like to create.

Note: If you have already set up Automations, you'll see the following view, where you can choose to go to Settings or Edit template by clicking the gear icon. 

Note: By default, Birthdays and Work Anniversary boards and cards will be created on an annual cadence, but for Work Anniversaries, you can choose custom intervals to celebrate the important milestone years in your organization (for example, years 1, 5, 10 & 15). 

Click the settings (gear) icon next to Work Anniversaries and choose Customize intervals.

Switch the interval option from Every year, to Specify years, and enter the years of your choice separated by commas. Each time you enter a comma, the interval will transition into a blue "bubble" that you can delete by clicking the "x" should you make a mistake or change your mind. Click Apply to confirm.

Read the pop-up notification carefully, as all previous settings will be cleared should you switch intervals. Click Create automations to confirm. 

You'll then be able to customize each interval by clicking Setup next to each one.

6. After clicking Setup for either automation type, you will be taken to the automation's settings page, where you can do the following: 

Choose the automation format - Board or Card

Note: Only one format can be selected per automation type.

Customize the board or card template

Boards:

• Enter a board title, and add a dynamic title (pulls the first and/or last name of the recipient automatically). You can use @FirstName, @LastName, and/or @AnniversaryYear by typing "@" and selecting the field you'd like to use. This will only apply if the first name, last name, and anniversary of the recipient are filled out in the Users tab of the Admin Panel.
  
• Choose to use a default background for all boards - choose "Default" from the dropdown, then "Select" to choose your background, which will be used on all boards created with this template.
   
  
  Or, randomize backgrounds for each created board - choose "Randomize" from the dropdown, then "Select", where each board created with this template will have a background randomly selected from your chosen backgrounds. 
  
• Add template posts that will appear on every board created via Automations - click "+ Add to board". Keep in mind that this post will appear on each board created with this template. For this reason, you'll want to keep the posts general and be sure not to include specifics, such as an employee name, unless you use the variable options @FirstName and/or @LastName. However, you'll want the posts to be thoughtful enough so that if the board were to be delivered with only those posts, it would still be meaningful.
  
• From here, you can toggle the header color on/off, update the navbar logo with your Org's logo, choose fonts for the title and posts on the board, toggle the intro animation on/off, choose effects, new post placement, whether to include the contributor name, and whether to include a post timestamp. 
  
  Click the Settings toggle to view additional options regarding administration, access & privacy, engagement, and data & analytics (these are the board settings that normally show in the settings panel of boards created on a plan). 
  

Cards: 

• Enter a card title under the Envelope tab, and add a dynamic title (pulls the first and/or last name of the recipient automatically). You can use @FirstName, @LastName, and/or @AnniversaryYear by typing "@" and selecting the field you'd like to use. This will only apply if the first name, last name, and anniversary of the recipient are filled out in the Users tab of the Admin Panel.
  
• Choose to use a default theme for all cards - choose "Default" from the dropdown, then "Select" to choose your theme, which will be used on all cards created with this template.
   
  
  Or, randomize themes for each created card - choose "Randomize" from the dropdown, then "Select" to pick multiple themes, where each card created with this template will have a theme randomly selected from your selections. 
  
• Add a message that will appear on every card created via Automations by clicking the example message on the back of the card to edit it. Keep in mind that this post will appear on each card created with this template. For this reason, you'll want to keep the message general and be sure NOT to include specifics, such as an employee's name, unless you use the variable options @FirstName and/or @LastName.
  

• From here, using the "Card" and "Envelope" tabs, you can choose effects, the card texture, fonts for the message and title on the envelope, whether or not to show a stamp (you can use your Orgs logo if you have one uploaded to your site!), envelope color, lining design, as well as a couple of additional settings under the "Settings" toggle.

  

Manage Settings 

Boards:

• Choose a board owner -- the individual to whom the board will be assigned when created. You can add a Custom board owner of your choice, who will be listed as the owner for all boards created with this automation. Or, more commonly for larger organizations, choose Manager from the dropdown to automatically assign that individual's Manager as the board owner (listed or added in the Users tab of the Admin Panel).
  

• See how many users will be included in the automation (receive a board for that life event), and how many users are missing data and will not be included. If you want to include these users in the automation, you can update their information in the Users tab of the Admin Panel, via spreadsheet upload or automatically through an integration with your HRIS. To ensure that users are included, make sure the relevant information is listed under their user (ex. birthday date, if you want them included in the birthdays automation).
  
   
• Choose specific users to exclude. Note: Individual Users can exclude themselves from Automations via their Account settings (this is helpful for users who wish to opt out of milestone celebrations). 
  
• Choose when the board will be auto-generated.
  
• Pick a time and timezone for all created boards to be delivered.
  
• Choose how boards should be delivered.
  • Remind the assigned board owner to invite contributors a week before the board is delivered - best for boards where you'd like others to contribute before the board is delivered. You can choose to set a "low post" threshold so that boards that collect few posts need to be delivered manually by the board owner (we'll notify the board owner in this case).
    
  • Or, don't remind the board owner, and send boards to the recipients directly - best for boards where you don't want others to contribute to the board before it is delivered. 
    

Be sure to click Save at the bottom of the settings page any time you make a change.  

Cards: 

• Choose a card owner -- the individual to whom the card will be assigned when created. You can add a Custom card owner of your choice, who will be listed as the owner for all cards created with this automation. Or, more commonly for larger organizations, choose Manager from the dropdown to automatically assign that individual's Manager as the card owner (listed or added in the Users tab of the Admin Panel).
  

• See how many users will be included in the automation (receive a card for that life event), and how many users are missing data and will not be included. If you want to include these users in the automation, you can update their information in the Users tab of the Admin Panel, via spreadsheet upload or automatically through an integration with your HRIS. To ensure that users are included, make sure the relevant information is listed under their user (ex. birthday date, if you want them included in the birthdays automation).
  
   
• Choose specific users to exclude. Note: Individual Users can exclude themselves from Automations via their Account settings (this is helpful for users who wish to opt out of milestone celebrations). 
  
• Choose when the card will be auto-generated.
  
• Pick a time and timezone for all created cards to be delivered.
  
• Turn card owner notifications on/off. This will notify the card owner when the card is delivered.
  
• Add an optional custom message to the delivery email of the card. You can preview the email by clicking the blue hyperlinked "Preview email" text. Note: the card delivery notification here is required.

Be sure to click Save at the bottom of the settings page any time you make a change.

Once an automation is setup you can toggle it on and off from the Automations tab in the Admin Panel:

Or, from that automation's settings page: