Repeat Scheduling

Use Case

Repeat Scheduling of a SnapComms message is the same concept as creating a recurring meeting in a calendar. It is ideal for a message that needs to deliver the same content to the same target users at the same time either daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.
 

Prerequisite

Repeat Scheduling is a licensed SnapComms feature. If you do not see the radio button for Repeat Scheduling when you enter the Advanced Targeting screen under Dates for any SnapComms asset (e.g. Alert, RSVP, Quiz, Survey, Screensaver, Wallpaper RSS Ticker, Standard Ticker etc.) you are not currently licensed for this feature. If you do not have the appropriate license, this can be arranged by your SnapComms Sales agent.



 

Overview

The Mode radio buttons give you the option to select either One-Time Scheduling (a method of targeting a single occurrence of an asset) or Repeat Scheduling (allowing you to send the same asset multiple times on specific dates).













One-Time Scheduling is a method of targeting a single occurrence of an asset. The alert will be sent out once only. Please do not confuse this with recurrence settings found on the Advanced screen relating to notification recurrence.

Repeat Scheduling is a feature that enables you to send the same asset several times over (not just the notification multiple times, but the actual message itself). You may set how frequently you wish the asset to be re-sent, and on which days of the week, month, year. You effectively set up a pattern of dates that our software will be instructed to send your asset on.

How to use Repeat Scheduling

To use Repeat Scheduling you must first create an asset using the Content Manager (e.g. Alert). Once you have created your message, click on Target Dates.

Mode: There are two types of scheduled Publishing. The default is One-Time Scheduling. To enable Repeat Scheduling, change the Mode radio button to Repeat Scheduling.





First Date: The First Date sets when the asset will first be delivered to your target audience. Click in the date field to set a date and time you wish to send the first instance of your message. You will be presented with a calendar screen from which to make your selection.

























Publish Duration: The Publishing Duration determines the publishing end date for each time the asset occurs. You are effectively setting up the asset to occur for a set period of time, after which the asset will be disabled until the next Publishing Schedule is triggered.



Note: Some consideration should be made as to how regularly you wish to repeat the publication of your asset, and how long you wish for it to be published. For example, an asset that is set to repeat daily should have a Publish Duration of 24 hours or less.

Repeat Pattern: The default selection is Weekly. Other available patterns are Daily (includes Hourly), Monthly and Yearly.




Daily Repeat is used when you intend your asset to be published every X amount of hours, every day, every X amount of days, or every weekday. Setting this recurrence for 7 days is the equivalent of the Weekly option. However, when you need to set your Repeat Scheduling to a non-weekly pattern (e.g. every 13 days), the Daily Recurrence is better suited.










If you select Daily Repeat, you may select that it happens every X amount of hours, X amount of days, or every Weekday. For example, if you select Daily - Every 2 days, starting on Monday (set by the First Date) the next time it would re-occur would be Wednesday, then Friday, then Sunday (each alternative day).

Weekly Repeat (default setting) is used when you intend your asset to be delivered on particular days of the week. Like the Daily Recurrence, you may opt for it to occur every X amount of weeks. e.g. Every third Tuesday and Thursday as shown below.









Monthly Repeat is used when you intend your asset to be delivered on a particular day of every month or months. Alternatively, you may opt to specify this by the day of the week in the month. e.g. every third Tuesday of every second month as shown below.








Yearly Repeat is used when you intend your asset to be delivered on a particular day of the year. Alternatively, you may opt to specify this by the day of the week and month in the year that you want the asset to recur. e.g. Every third Tuesday of March each year as shown below.

End Date of Repeat Pattern: You may select to have no end date. In this case, you are still able to stop the Repeat Pattern by clicking on your Content folder where the asset resides, tick the box next to the asset, and then click on the Disable button. All repeats are removed once an asset is disabled.




You may alternatively choose to end the Repeat Pattern after X amount of times it has repeated, or on a particular date (irrespective of whether the asset is published on the date you have selected). In the example below, the repeat schedule is selected to end after the asset has been published 35 times.

Notification Times of Day: This gives you an option to specify the beginning and ending time of the day that the asset will publish on any day it is scheduled to do so. The time is set in 24 hour clock times. The default is set with 00:00 (midnight) to 23:59 (11:59 pm) which is all day. Of course, the target audience will only get the asset when they log onto the computer, but should you need to alert them only at certain times of the day, this is how you may do so.






Once you have made your selection, click on the Save Changes button.


 

 

Quick Changes to Pattern Scheduling

Once you have published your asset with the set recurrences for Repeat Scheduling, the Repeat Schedule is saved on the SnapComms server. When the specified dates are reached, the asset will be automatically republished.

Content or Target Users changes: If you need to make changes to content or target users - simply save your changes and they will be published automatically on the next scheduled repeat publish. There is no need to manually publish.

Date changes - if you need to make changes to the Repeat Scheduling simply go directly to the Dates screen for the asset, make your changes, then click on the Save Changes button, then manually republish to initiate the new automatic publishing pattern.

 

Notification Recurrence vs Repeat Scheduling

It is worthy of note that Repeat Scheduling (located on the Dates screen) is not Notification Recurrence (located on the Notification screen). Repeat Scheduling republishes the actual message, whereas Recurrence Settings sets how many notifications the recipients receive, notifying them that a message is unread. These two features can be used in conjunction with each other and are fully compatible.