Set up alerts and notifications

There are multiple methods available to monitor work items and artifacts in Jira Align. You can use email notifications, subscriptions, and workflows to alert yourself or others when changes are made to a particular item or set of work. Admins may also use site announcements and scheduled emails to distribute important information to users.

• Enable email functionality
• Subscribe to work items
• Notify others within discussions
• Review notifications in Jira Align
• Create workflows to notify users automatically
• Set up unique workflows
• Enable unique notifications
• Make announcements and schedule recurring emails

Enable email functionality

To receive emails for any subscription, notification, or workflow, you must first enable email functionality in your personal settings. To check the correct setting:

1. Select your avatar in the top navigation bar and then select Personal settings.
2. On the Preferences page, ensure the Change Tracking Emails toggle is switched on.

Admins may ensure all newly created users have the Change Tracking Emails setting enabled by default. This setting may be found in User Record Settings:

1. Select the Settings gear in the top navigation bar.
2. On the administration settings page, select Platform under Settings.
3. Select the Users tab from the top of the page.
4. Set the Personal User Notification drop-down to Default To On. Once set, you may select the Reset All Users button to push the setting change to all users.

Subscribe to work items

You may subscribe to a single work item from its slide-out details panel. When subscribed, you will receive an email notification each time an update is made to any of the item’s fields.

To subscribe, select the highlighted ID of an item to open its slide-out, then select the Subscribe link on the right side of the panel.

To stop receiving alerts for a work item, open its slide-out details panel and select the Unsubscribe link.

Work items, timeboxes, and planning artifacts that support the Subscribe function:

• Themes
• Epics
• Capabilities
• Features
• Stories
• Tasks
• Defects
• Dependencies
• Risks
• Sprints
• Goals
• Specifications
• Brainstorming
• Success Criteria
• Feeds
• Ideas
• UI Designs

Notify others within discussions

The Discussion link within an item’s slide-out details panel can be used to chat with teammates and stakeholders about a particular work item (the discussion link is enabled/disabled using the Enable Conversations program setting). To alert a user or team that you’d like them to review or comment on a discussion, use the @ symbol to notify them. They will receive an email notification if email alerts are enabled for their profile.

For example, to notify John, type “@John” into when making a new comment. To notify the Incredibles team, type @Incredibles. Helper text will display closest matches while typing. A user or team must belong to the program to be notified.

Work items that support notifications via the Discussion link:

• Epics
• Capabilities
• Features
• Stories
• Defects
• Impediments
• Brainstorming

You can also access discussions for these work items when the Chat column is displayed on a work item grid page. Select the chat icon for a particular item to quickly jump to discussion entries.

Review notifications in Jira Align

Select the bell icon in the upper-right corner of Jira Align to open the Notifications panel. This is a collection of alerts from your work item subscriptions, notifications within discussions, and notifications generated from workflows. Users who cannot utilize email functionality can use the panel to see all of their notifications.

Work items that support notifications via the notification bell:

• Epics
• Capabilities
• Features
• Stories
• Defects
• Impediments
• Brainstorming

Create email workflows to alert others automatically

Workflows allow you to automatically notify yourself and others when a work item, team, or timebox is created, edited, or deleted. Each workflow is specific to the type of work item or object. Workflows for a type apply to the entire organization, including all portfolios, programs, and teams within.

Depending on the type of workflow being used, all roles within a program, Agile team roles, or individual email addresses may be notified, up to 50 users per individual email.

Work items, timeboxes, and planning artifacts that support email workflows:

• Epics
• Features
• Stories
• Defects
• Dev Tasks
• QA Tasks
• Test Cases
• Program Dependencies
• Team Dependencies
• Risks
• Impediments
• Objectives
• Life Cycles
• Program Increments
• Release Vehicles
• Iterations (Sprints)
• CVRs
• Enhancements
• Teams
• Terminations

Notes:

• Some items have a PI filter, which lets you create different workflows for specific product increments.
• Some items allow you to designate a role that will be notified. When toggled-on, all users in that role will be notified for the type of item.
• Some items allow you to enter one or more external emails to be notified. Separate multiple values with a semicolon.

Set up unique workflows

Some work items and pages have unique locations to set up specialized workflows that will send notifications under certain conditions:

Features

You may create a state workflow for features from the features page. Select Workflow from the More Actions button.

This is useful for notifying users automatically when a feature reaches a certain state. For each state, you can specify what email addresses will be notified and the custom message that will be sent. Helper text will reveal matching email addresses of Jira Align users.

Notes:

• Recipient fields in feature workflows do not support Jira Align usernames. Enter the full email address of the person you want to notify. External email addresses are supported.
• You may also create state workflows for epics and stories from this modal found on the features page.

Kanban boards

You may set up notifications for a specific column on a Kanban Board through the Setup Workflow option.

You may notify card assignees, card owners, teams, members, and external email addresses when a change occurs in the column.

Strategic snapshots

When creating a strategic snapshot, use the Setup Funding Workflow option to set up specific email notifications when certain funding conditions are met. You may notify users, teams, or external email addresses when funding is over/under a specified dollar amount. Use this function to automatically send a request to an individual for financial approval. You may notify Jira Align users via email address, and/or use external email addresses.

Process flows

Within a process flow, you can set up a responsibility assignment matrix for a specific process step. This will notify specified teams, roles, and users in the matrix when work changes occur in the process step. These may be created at the theme, epic, capability, feature, and story levels.

Note: You must have process flows enabled to use this functionality. External email addresses are not supported.

Enable unique notifications

Some work items, pages, and reports have unique notification abilities via dedicated fields or buttons:

Defects

You may use the Notify field when creating or editing defects to notify others that the defect has been created or updated. Type in a Jira Align username, or an external email address to send to.

Risks

You may use the Notify field when creating or editing risks to notify specific users when a Target Resolution Date is not met. Type in full email addresses of users you would like to notify. Type-ahead search will suggest matches.

Strategic snapshots

When creating a strategic snapshot, use the Notifications checkboxes to send notifications to users when the snapshot or strategic items are updated. Members set in the Configurations tab of a strategic snapshot will receive the notifications.

Make announcements and schedule recurring emails

Outside of work and planning item updates, administrators have ways to message all users, specific users, roles, or teams of company news, events, or outages.

Announcements

Admins may create announcements that will be displayed on the login page of their instance. You may create announcements and schedule them to appear for a set date range:

Scheduled Emails

You can send scheduled messages at a certain time and date. You can send messages on a weekly or monthly basis to remind the team of deadlines or other deliverables, up to 50 users per individual email. Create scheduled messages from the Scheduled Email tab of the Email settings page:

1. Select the Settings gear in the top navigation bar.
2. On the administration page, select Email under Settings.

Multiple basic and advanced filters are provided to send messages to specific roles, users, or external addresses. When creating a scheduled message, use the Advanced Recipient Filters button to set specific recipients.