SurveyTester sends you email notifications about a project only while that project is in one of the phases you ticked under Relevant project phases in My Account → Notification Settings. The check happens at the moment the event occurs, and @mentions bypass it. The typical use is a survey developer who only wants to hear about a project while it is in Script Update Needed.
What has to be true before you get an email
Every notification email has to pass all of these checks. If one fails, no email is sent.
| Check | Where it is set | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| You watch the project | Project subscription – Auto subscribe new projects in My Account, or subscribing to a project manually | Only subscribers of a project receive its notifications. |
| Email notification frequency | My Account → Notification Settings | Never send email notifications switches all emails off. Every few Minutes, Hourly and Once a day only change when the emails arrive. |
| Event type switch | My Account → Other Notifications | ... on new issues, ... on changed issues, ... on new comments, ... on project phase changed, ... on new/deleted projects. Deleted issues count as changed issues; changed or deleted comments count as new comments. |
| Relevant project phases | My Account → Notification Settings | The project must currently be in one of the phases you ticked: Initial, Ready for QC or Script Update Needed. |
| Project Languages | My Account → Project Languages | If you selected languages, issue and comment emails are limited to issues in those languages. No selection means all languages. |
| Recent login | automatic | Users who have not logged in for about half a year no longer receive emails. |
| Not your own action | automatic | You never get an email about something you did yourself. |
Note
Company prerequisite. The phase filter only exists when your company has project phases enabled (Show Project Phases List in the company settings). If phases are switched off, every event passes the phase check.
The phase is checked at the moment the event happens, not when the email is sent. If you receive a daily digest, an issue reported while the project was in Ready for QC stays filtered out even if the project moved to Script Update Needed later that day. Likewise, an event that passed the filter stays in your digest even if the phase changes again before the digest is sent.
Walk-through: a survey developer with only "Script Update Needed" ticked
Settings assumed: the frequency is not Never, ... on project phase changed and the issue and comment switches are on, Relevant project phases is Script Update Needed only, and the developer is subscribed to the project.
The project is in "Ready for QC"
Testers add issues, change issues and write comments.
- No emails reach the developer. The project is in Ready for QC, which is not one of their relevant phases, so every issue and comment event is filtered out.
- The developer also received no email when the project entered Ready for QC. A phase change email is checked against the new phase, and Ready for QC is not ticked.
- Exception: @mentions. If a tester mentions the developer directly, or a role the developer holds, in an issue or a comment, that email is sent right away. Mentions ignore the phase filter and the frequency setting. A mention by role still respects Never send email notifications; a direct mention of a user does not.
The phase changes to "Script Update Needed"
- The developer receives the "Project phase changed" email: project name with link, new phase, previous phase, date, who changed it, and a "Confirm and send Message" button.
- It arrives according to the frequency: Every few Minutes means with the next scheduler run (about 5 minutes), Hourly at the chosen minute, Once a day at the chosen time.
- The in-app notification (the bell) for a phase change goes to every user of the project, regardless of these settings.
While the project is in "Script Update Needed"
- All subscribed events now pass the phase filter: new issues, changed issues (for example a tester adds information or reopens an issue), new, changed or deleted comments, deleted issues. Which of them you get depends on your event type switches.
- When the developer clicks "Confirm and send Message" and enters a note, a "Project phase acknowledged" email with that note goes to the other subscribers. It is governed by the recipients' ... on project phase changed switch and their own relevant phases. Because the project is still in Script Update Needed at that moment, a tester who only ticked Ready for QC will not receive the acknowledgement email.
- Mentions continue to arrive immediately, as always.
The phase goes back to "Ready for QC"
- Emails for issue and comment activity stop again for the developer.
- The developer does not receive the phase change email for Ready for QC, because that email is checked against the new phase. Developers who want to know when the script went back to QC should also tick Ready for QC.
Recommended settings
| Role | Relevant project phases | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Survey developer / scripter | Script Update Needed – plus Ready for QC if you want to see the hand-back | You only hear about the project when it needs your work. Mentions reach you anyway. |
| Tester | Ready for QC – plus Script Update Needed to receive the developer's acknowledgement note | Keeps your inbox quiet while the script is being updated. |
| Project manager | All three | Sees everything. |
Tip
Role defaults. Administrators can set these as defaults per role under Administration → Roles, for example Default To Phase 'Script Update Needed', so new users of a role start with the right settings. Users can still change them in My Account.
Summary
- Relevant project phases is a filter on the project's current phase at the time of the event. Events in other phases are never emailed, not even later.
- Phase change emails are checked against the new phase.
- @mentions bypass the phase filter.
- Everything else – subscription, frequency, event type switches, languages – still applies.