Inbox Enhancements
  • 10 Nov 2023
  • 4 minute read
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Inbox Enhancements

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    Light
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Article Summary

  Prerequisite Skills

Inbox; Rules Editor

  Required Permissions

Inbox; Rules Editor

Overview

Enhancements have been made to Inbox message functionality and automation. Include original messages in replies, forward messages, send attachments, create custom inbox message dashboards to display person record data, and track messages at a more granular level using message metadata. Automate the setting of custom Inbox Message-scoped fields, star messages to indicate priority, and flag/unflag SPAM messages that should appear in the Junk folder.

Message Enhancements

Column Sorting

Inbox messages can be sorted in an ascending or descending order by clicking on the Received, Message, or Sender columns.

Tags

You can set a tag on a message to, for example, concisely represent a message's content/subject or action to take. You can use tags to filter messages that appear in your Inbox view.

Message Viewing

Manage responses by seeing if another user is working on an existing message.

If another user is viewing the same message that is currently opened, their icon and name will appear to the left of the message toolbar.

Forwarding

Forward Inbox messages and preserve the original message in replies:

  1. Click the forward icon in the message toolbar to open the Forward Message pop-up window.

  2. Add a recipient. Note that only one email address can be used in the Recipient line. If multiple email addresses should be forwarded the message, include those as a comma-separated list in either the CC or BCC line.

  3. Check Include Attachments if an attachment from the original message should be included.

  4. Select a send setting:

    • Forward - Forwards the message but keeps the message open.

    • Forward and Resolve - Forwards the message and marks it as resolved.

    • Cancel - Cancels forwarding the message.

Address Book and BCC

Use the address book to select a Slate user, relationship, or record email address:

  1. Click the sender/recipient details to open the Edit Properties pop-up window.

  2. Click the address book icon on the right-hand side of either the recipient, CC, or BCC field. 

  3. Select the user, record, or relationship email address in the drop-down.

  4. Click Add Recipient.

Internal Notes

Add custom notes to a message:

  1. Click the notes icon in the message toolbar to access the Add Note pop-up window.

  2. Add a Subject and Note.

  3. Click Save.

When a note is added to a message, it will appear in the thread among the sent and received messages in the order that it was submitted. Within an SMS thread, an internal note is designated in the bottom right corner of the note. Within an email conversation, an internal note is designated by the user that submitted the note, along with the note's subject and content:

Send Attachments

Add attachments to a message:

  1. Click the attachment icon in the message toolbar to access the Edit Attachments pop-up window.

  2. Choose a file.

  3. Click Close.

The number on the attachments icon indicates the number of attachments that have been uploaded to the message.

 Tip!

A paper clip icon will appear next to the subject of any Inbox message with an attachment.

Metadata and Custom Fields

Message metadata can be added for more granular message tracking via custom Inbox Message-scoped fields.

Add custom Inbox Message-scoped fields:

  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Fields.

  2. Click Insert.

  3. Set the scope of the field to Inbox Message and customize your field settings.

  4. Click Save.

Add a metadata form:

  1. Click Forms in the top navigation bar.

  2. Click New Form.

  3. Give the form a title, for example "Inbox Meta Data."

  4. Click Save.

  5. Click Edit Form, then Edit Properties and change the scope of the form to "Inbox Message Metadata."

  6. Delete the person-scoped fields and add the desired inbox message-scoped fields.

Grant form access to role:

  1. Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Role Groups & Permissions.

  2. Select a role that should have access to the form.

  3. Select the form from the "Notes Form" drop-down:

    metadata.png

Add metadata to an individual message:

  1. Click the metadata icon in the message toolbar to access the Edit Metadata pop-up window.

  2. Fill out the inbox message fields that are relevant to the message.

  3. Click Save.

Important!

Only Inbox Message-scoped fields can be used to set message metadata.

Star Messages

Mark important messages with a star:

  1. Click the star icon in the message toolbar.

  2. View starred messages along with all messages, or select the Show Starred status filter on the right-hand side of Inbox to show only messages that have been starred.

 Tip

The brightness of the envelope in the message list is based on a combination of the message being starred and read or unread.

Dark Envelope: Starred & Unread
Light Envelope: Starred & Read

Enable a Message in the Reader

Set a message to be viewed in the Reader:

  1. Click the Reader icon in the message toolbar to flag the message as enabled in the Reader. When Enable Reader Display is turned on for a message, the icon will turn yellow.

  2. Set up a Reader Tab Material to show Inbox Emails:

    • Use a Reader tab Material Type of Inbox Emails

    • Select the Role of the flagged inbox emails that should be displayed

  3. View the flagged message in the Reader.

  Tip!

Changes to Reader Tab Materials may not be reflected immediately in the Reader. Be sure to clear the cache in your browser to see the most up-to-date changes in the Reader.

Custom Dashboards and History

The Dashboard and History tabs can be viewed below each message. Add specific fields to view on the message dashboard.

Create a custom Inbox message dashboard query:

  1. Click Queries / Reports in the top navigation bar.

  2. Click New Query.

  3. Enter the following configurations in the pop-up window:

    • Name - Add a name for the query.

    • Sharing - Mark the query to share with others.

    • Folder - Select System.

    • Base - Select Message Inbox.

    • System Key - Dashboard

  4. Click Save.

Visit the Customizing Dashboards documentation to learn how to customize dashboards.

View notes, message access details, and message audit events in the History tab:

Editing Past Replies in Responses

When a message in Inbox is responded to or forwarded, previous replies can be edited. Simply click on an Inbox message to respond and adjust the content of prior messages and the current message as desired.

Signatures

Add user-specific signatures to Inbox messages:

  1. Click Inbox in the top navigation bar.

  2. Click Snippets.

  3. Click Edit Signature to customize the signature.

  4. Save.

 


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