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Author Topic: Using "Activities" to send email  (Read 1418 times)

peteforsyth

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Using "Activities" to send email
June 04, 2010, 02:12:20 pm
I think this would be a feature request, though maybe the feature exists somewhere and I'm not seeing it?

If go into a contact's activities and begin composing an email, I would like the option to save a draft to work on later. This would be especially useful, for instance, if an assistant who is not yet very familiar with CiviCRM, or needs the approval of our Communications person prior to sending.

Is there a way to save a draft to be completed later?

Also, is there a way to schedule a completed email message for future delivery?

-Pete
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peteforsyth

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 04, 2010, 02:19:04 pm
A couple related thoughts:

In order to track past emails more easily, it would be really nice if there were a check-box to "add sender as BCC". I know it's possible to do that manually already, but a simple check-box would save several clicks/typing for this task, which I think will be very common for us.

And, it would be nice if it were possible to delete a past email message. All I seem to be able to do now is "view" them -- but I've done a number of test messages that are now cluttering up the database a bit.
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peteforsyth

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 04, 2010, 02:56:42 pm
And here is the strangest bit: the emails I have entered are reflected on my dashboard as "scheduled" -- however, when I click into them, they are listed as "sent."

I'm not certain whether or not they were sent, and which is the accurate reflection of what happened! :o
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Dave Greenberg

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 07, 2010, 12:12:00 pm
Hi Pete - Couple of thoughts / responses ...
1. You can save drafts for bulk mailing (CiviMail mailings) but not currently for the simple "Send email to contact(s)" feature. This does seem like an nice enhancement - perhaps something for someone on your team to work on / contribute.

2. RE: "add sender as BCC" - I can see the usefulness, BUT I've never seen this feature in other email clients (including my Gmail). This makes me wonder if it's generally useful enough to add another bit of complexity to that form. ???

3. I'm not seeing the behavior your reporting on sent email statuses. Both in by 3.2 sandbox, and on the 3.1 demo - the email 'activities' are set to status = Completed after I send them.  Example at:
http://drupal.demo.civicrm.org/civicrm/contact/view?reset=1&cid=103&selectedChild=activity

4. RE deleting past emails - I think that makes sense to allow deletion. If it's an easy fix, we'll add for 3.2. I'll post back here.
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Dave Greenberg

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 07, 2010, 04:36:00 pm
In 3.2 release, users with 'delete activities' permission will be able to delete the sent Email activity records:
http://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-6336
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peteforsyth

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 09, 2010, 02:35:11 pm
Dave, very helpful as always! Some responses:

1. Nice to know there's more functionality with bulk mails -- we may end up using that more, and I haven't tested it yet. I do think scheduling future delivery would be a nice enhancement -- if we go in the direction of doing our own development, I'll try to get that on the list!

2. The feature exists in Apple Mail, and I know I've seen it in other clients. But I think it's more important in something like CiviCRM -- unless there's a feature I'm missing -- because CiviCRM doesn't have the ability to act like an email client (look through all my "sent messages," filter them for certain recipients or content, etc.) If it DOES have those features and I've just missed it, maybe that is a good solution for us.

3. OK, let's just assume mine is an anomaly then! I'll see if I can find a way to get 'em off my dashboard.

4. Very cool about allowing deletion!
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Dave Greenberg

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 09, 2010, 04:36:48 pm
Pete - Regarding item 2, the new "Find Activities" search tool (in 3.2) does allow you to find sent emails by searching for activity type = Email, and filter by sender (i.e. you and or others) as well as recipients (the "With" criteria in the search form). Not as focused / elegant as a dedicated email client - but might be useful for your requirements. There's also always the option of creating a custom search or report which could focus just on "Email" activities and automatically default the "sender" to the currently logged in user.
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peteforsyth

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Re: Using "Activities" to send email
June 10, 2010, 11:12:26 am
Love it! The 3.2 upgrade just keeps sounding better and better. Thanks!
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  • CiviCRM Community Forums (archive) »
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  • Using "Activities" to send email

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