Introduction

We want to talk about Core Messaging Dispatch scheduler, which it in DNN from 5.3 version.

This scheduler task has the responsibility to remind users from messages and notifications that have not been read. The mechanism used to remind users is an email with all needed information regarding the unread messages and notifications.

Now, in this new version, we have improved this scheduler in order to be more customizable and localized.

What’s new

Email templates

The most highlighted new feature in this version is the ability to customize the email texts. Now, the emails can be customized because they are mounted based on resource files.

Therefore, admin users can modify these resource file to customize the final email. This feature allows to set a more appropriate company logo, branding colors, a custom footer,...

The template texts are in the file \App_GlobalResources\GlobalResources.resx. You can customize the following entries:

• EMAIL_SUBJECT_FORMAT: Template for the email subject

• EMAIL_MESSAGING_DISPATCH_BODY: Template for the email body

• EMAIL_MESSAGING_DISPATCH_ITEM: Template for an item part in the email body

Remember, if your website is using different languages, you should add any change to the corresponding resource file for each language, because emails also are localized depending on receiver user.

Localized emails

As we have said above, the emails are located and they are sent using the receiver Preferred Locale, found in the User Profile. See the image 1


Image 1. Preferred Locale Profile property


You can modify this property on User page > Edit Profile button > Manage Profile tab > Preferences section

Using this property, we are able to send emails written in the most appropriate language for the receiver user.

Email Delivery Schedule properties

In this version, we have introduced some user properties to customize the scheduler behavior.

You can find these properties on User page > Edit Profile button > Communications tab > Email Delivery Schedule section. See image 2


Image 2. Email Delivery Schedule user properties


These properties are the following:

• Notification Frequency: Set the frequency to check if there are some unread notifications to dispatch. By default the value is Hourly. It means that an email will be sent recovering all unread notifications created in the last hour

• Message Frequency: Set the frequency to check if there are some unread messages to dispatch. By default the value is Instant. It means that the Scheduler task will send an reminder email just after to receive a message


The set of possible values for these properties is the following:

• Instant: The Scheduler task will send an email just after to receive an item. Therefore, there will be one email for each item

• Hourly: An email will be sent recovering all unread items created in the last hour. The email will included a reference for each found item

• Daily: An email will be sent recovering all unread items created in the last day. The email will included a reference for each found item

• Weekly: An email will be sent recovering all unread items created in the last week. The email will included a reference for each found item

• Never: The Scheduler task will not check unread items


With this feature, users are able to take control of their inbox size and charge.

Digest emails

In the point above, we have mentioned two kinds of emails. Indeed, until now the Scheduler only sent one email for each found item. This is the email kind used now for Instant frequency. But now we have introduced digest emails.

These digest emails are sent when the receiver has set some custom property as one of the following values: Hourly, Daily or Weekly.

This kind of emails improves the email traffic performance and the result is only one message with all found items, in the Scheduler run, referenced in its body.

Below, we show an example of an instant email and, also, another of a digest email


Image 3: Example of an instant email



Image 4: Example of a digest email