Introduce email notifications for ArcGIS.com group owners & members.

[GregBonynge]

It would make administering ArcGIS.com groups more convenient if owners could choose to be notified via email when someone requests to join their group.  Likewise, it would be useful for group members to learn via email when a fellow member has shared new content with a group, rather than having to actively log into the site to review the latest changes.

[AZendel]

Yes, please!

[Indra_SharanKC]

This Idea presented above if implemented is going to be very important system for managing operations on AGOL properly. I am in need for such system - which allows me to opt to send or not to send email notifications to the members of the organization and the groups to inform them on certain tasks for collaboration, sharing or creation of features. 

[MegHoole]

Katie Cullen Kelly Gerrow‌ any updates for this idea?  We have a lot of users who would appreciate this enhancement in AGO.

note this tool from Esri has been very useful to administrators (sadly non-admins can't leverage the tool because its admin access only: AGOL Subscription Group Emailer )

Will Burt‌

[MegHoole]

Kelly Gerrow‌ Katie Cullen‌ ???   Where are we at with this request?  thx

[KellyGerrow]

Hi Meg,

We are still considering and working on this idea but do not have it designed or scheduled for a specific release currently. Is the email component of this critical to your organization or would in-app notifications also work? Based on our research, emails aren't the most effective way of reaching out to some users, but would like to know more about how you would plan to use either email or in app notifications with your users.

[MegHoole]

Thx for the reply Kelly.  Glad to hear you're still working on the idea.  IMHO is critical to efficient communication.  Business justifications:

• Not all staff are ALWAYS signed into ArcGIS Online - but they always have access to emails and email notifications (we are a government organization).  Thus it makes sense for AGO Group owners/managers/member to be able to hit a button "email all group members" or "email group owner/manager" allowing communication outside of AGO.   Currently group owners can manually add group members to an email distribution list (difficult to maintain and cumbersome to enter every time you need to connect with group members).
• We are an organization with almost 500 AGO members (and growing).  Some of our AGO groups have a lot of members.
• In absence of an "email button" for AGO groups, we waste a fair amount of time finding alternative (usually a manual process).  Some have tried to create a script; however, their level of access (non-admin) does not permit them access to member emails.  Instead they generate a list of usernames from their groups, which then they add to outlook and 'check names' to generate emails (it doesn't need to be this hard).
• In app notifications could be useful - but they don't address the need to communicate with folks who haven't signed in to AGO.
• Group communications (via email or in some cases in-app notifcations) would be VERY useful for collaborating on AGO projects and ensuring that all group members are included on the communications (based on the group membership).
• Examples of why we want to communicate with Group members:
  • ask questions about content
  • facilitate feedback and collaboration on content shared to the group
  • solicit feedback on changes made to content shared to the group
  • notify members of new content or changes to content
  • notify members of changes to processes or methodology concerning content
  • facilitate data management practices.

[JoshuaChan2]

wanted to echo Meg's comment that email is the most preferred method of communication. I'm not constantly plugged in to AGO. Also it's a lot more plugged in to how we schedule our work around here. Our email is connected to our calendars. 

[KellyGerrow]

Meg Hoole‌ and Joshua Chan‌,

Thanks for the additional input. This is helpful while we work through this.

-Kelly

[CarlynneWorsham]

I like this idea but my agency is more interested in using messaging within AGOL and Portal to allow Administrators the ability to notify individual users of violations to the content creation and sharing rules and to send other important messages. We believe receiving a notice to correct something from a Portal Administrator would make a response more likely than receiving a notice to correct something from an individual named user. 

[KellyGerrow]

Thanks Carlynne,

How would you want to set up the rules for the administrator to be notified? What are some of the specific rules that your organization would like to be notified about?

-Kelly