A Triggered Email step sends an email automatically when a tester reaches a point in a task. Use it to tell the right colleague that a tester finished something, or to send a tester their next instructions without writing to each one yourself.
Testers never see the step. They move through the task as usual, and the email goes out in the background.
In this article
- When does a triggered email send?
- Who receives a triggered email?
- Can I send a triggered email to testers with a beta label?
- How do I email a specific manager when a tester finishes a task?
- What can I put in the message?
- How do I check that a triggered email was sent?
- Which projects support triggered emails?
When does a triggered email send?
A triggered email sends the first time a tester answers or skips the step just before it. To add one, pick Triggered Email under No feedback step when you create a step. It cannot be the first step of a task.
To send it when a tester finishes a task, make it the task's last step. Several Triggered Email steps in a row all send together.
Each tester who reaches the step sets off their own email. With All managers in a beta of 25 testers, each manager can receive up to 25 emails from that one step.
A triggered email does not send when:
- a tester edits or resubmits an answer they already gave
- a tester was already past that point when you added the step
- a tester skips the whole task, if the task is optional
It also sends whatever the tester answered, so it cannot depend on a specific answer.
Who receives a triggered email?
The To field decides who receives the email:
- Tester who reached this step emails only that tester, not every tester in the beta. Use it to send them their next steps or a thank you.
- Any tester tag, listed by name, emails the tester who reached the step, and only if they carry that tag. This is a workspace tag, not a beta label. Use it to send different instructions to different groups, such as one tag per region.
- All managers emails every manager added to this beta. Use it to keep the whole beta team informed.
- A Person field emails the workspace manager named in that field on the tester's profile. Use it to tell each tester's owner, such as their account manager.
Tester who reached this step and tags only ever email the tester who reached the step. Tags belong to testers, so they cannot send an email to a manager. Joining the beta as a tester does not get you these emails either: a manager who is also a tester only receives it when they reach the step themselves, and that extra tester is counted in your results. To notify a specific manager, use a Person field.
You can choose several options. They add up rather than filter each other: a tag together with Tester who reached this step emails every tester who reaches the step, so choose the tag on its own to reach only tagged testers. Each person still receives one email per tester, even when more than one option includes them. If a tester's Person field is empty, that option sends nothing for that tester.
The Cc field takes Person fields too. It copies the people named in that field on the tester's profile, including external contacts with no Stomio account, who cannot be in To. Nobody is copied on their own email.
Can I send a triggered email to testers with a beta label?
Not through the To field. It lists your workspace tags, and beta labels never appear there. Both group testers, but they live in different places and do different jobs:
- Workspace tags belong to your whole workspace and stay on a tester in every beta they join. A workspace owner creates them under Space, then Tags, on the Custom tags tab, and any manager can apply them to testers. Triggered emails can use them in To.
- Beta labels belong to a single beta. You create them on that beta's Labels page and use them to choose which tasks each tester sees, to group results and to share tickets. Triggered emails cannot use them in To.
To email only the testers with a given label, put the Triggered Email step in a task that only that label can see, and choose Tester who reached this step in To. Only testers who can see the task can reach the step, so only they set it off. How-to segment tasks across testers using Beta Labels shows how to limit a task to a label.
How do I email a specific manager when a tester finishes a task?
Use a Person field that names the manager on each tester's profile.
- A workspace owner opens Users, then Testers, and clicks Add Field. They create a field of type Person, such as "Beta owner", and check the managers who can be picked under Stomio Users. Qualify Your Beta Testers Using Custom Fields covers custom fields in general.
- In the testers table, set that field for each tester to the manager who should hear about them. Any manager can do this.
- Open the task and add a Triggered Email step as its last step. Choose the field in To, then write the subject and message.
- If the beta is already running, publish your changes so testers get the new version of the task. Edit a Running Beta: Publish or Discard Your Changes covers how.
From then on, each time a tester finishes the task, the manager named on their profile receives the email. If every manager on the beta should get it, choose All managers instead and skip the field.
What can I put in the message?
The message supports formatting and variables. Variables such as FULL_NAME, USERNAME, EMAIL and PROJECT_NAME fill in with the details of the tester who reached the step, so a manager's email can say exactly who finished. The subject is plain text and does not support variables.
Replies to a triggered email go to a no-reply address. If the reader may need to answer, put a way to reach you in the message.
How do I check that a triggered email was sent?
Open Results, then Feedback, and open the task. The Triggered Email step shows how many emails were Sent and Opened, and See users lists who received them. Copies sent through Cc are not counted.
- Sent is 0: no tester has reached the step yet, or no option in To matched. Check where the step sits in the task, that testers carry the workspace tag you chose (a beta label does not count), and that their Person field is filled in.
- Sent is above 0, but nobody saw the email: check the spam folder first. Then check whether the recipient unsubscribed from Stomio emails, since an unsubscribed person receives no triggered emails. Make Sure Your Emails Reach Your Testers shows how to spot that and restore delivery.
- Opened looks low: opens are counted when the email's images load, so a reader who blocks images never shows as opened.
Which projects support triggered emails?
- Beta projects support every option above.
- In-app (widget/SDK) projects offer the step with All managers only, because tags and Person fields belong to testers in a beta.
- Survey projects do not offer the step.