Admin Configuration Guide

This guide walks through the specific steps for setting up and managing notifications in your makerspace. For a broader overview, see Notifications Overview.

Setting Up Event Notifications

When you first set up your makerspace, a default set of notification rules is created. You can customize these or create new ones.

Creating a notification rule

1. Go to Admin → Communications
2. Click Add Rule
3. Fill in the rule details:

Field	Description
Trigger	The event that fires the notification (e.g., “Registration confirmed”, “Event starting soon”)
Timing	For scheduled triggers: how far before/after the event to send. Leave blank for immediate sends.
Recipients	Who receives the notification: the registrant, the instructor, waitlisted members, or admins
Template	Which email template to use
Channel	Email, SMS, or Push

4. Click Save — the rule is immediately active

Editing or disabling a rule

• Click any rule in the Communications page to edit it
• Use the toggle to enable/disable a rule without deleting it
• Disabled rules stop all future sends immediately. Scheduled notifications that were already queued for that rule are cancelled.

Timing examples

Scenario	Trigger	Offset
Confirm registration immediately	Registration	None (immediate)
Remind 24 hours before event	Event start	-1440 minutes (1 day before)
Follow up 1 hour after event	Event end	+60 minutes
Expiry warning 7 days ahead	Membership expiry	-10080 minutes (7 days before)

Customizing Templates

Overriding a default template

1. Go to Admin → Notifications → Templates
2. Find the template you want to customize
3. Click Edit
4. Select the channel tab you want to customize (Email, SMS, or Push)
5. Modify the content
6. Click Save Override

Your customization applies only to your makerspace — it doesn’t affect other makerspaces using the same default template.

Channel-specific editing

Email tab

• Modify the subject and/or body (HTML)
• Use variable chips to insert dynamic content

SMS tab

• Write a plain text message body
• The segment indicator shows how many SMS segments your message will use (160 chars per segment, up to 3 segments)
• Keep messages short and actionable — SMS is for alerts, not detailed content

Push tab

• Title (100 characters max) — the bold headline in the notification
• Body (255 characters max) — the message text. The higher limit accommodates template variables that expand at send time.
• Deep Link URL (optional) — where the member goes when they tap the notification. Supported protocols: https://, http://, makervera://

Reverting to default

If your customization isn’t working well:

1. Open the template editor
2. Click Revert to Default
3. Confirm the action

This permanently removes your override and restores the platform default.

Template variables

Common variables available in most templates:

Variable	Description
{{member_name}}	The recipient’s full name
{{event_title}}	Name of the event
{{event_date}}	Formatted event date
{{event_time}}	Formatted event time
{{makerspace_name}}	Your makerspace’s name
{{unsubscribe_url}}	Link for the member to manage preferences

The exact variables available depend on the template — the editor shows which ones are available for the template you’re editing. Variables work across all channels (email, SMS, and push).

Monitoring Delivery

Daily check

Visit Admin → Notifications → Analytics to review:

1. Sent this month — is it in the expected range?
2. Delivery rate — should be above 95%. Below that, investigate the issues tab.
3. Suppressed count — a rising number may mean you have outdated member emails

Investigating a specific notification

Use the Delivery Log tab to search for a specific send:

1. Filter by rule to see all sends for a particular notification type
2. Filter by status to find failures or suppressions
3. Click a row to see the full details including error messages

Handling delivery issues

The Delivery Issues tab shows members whose emails are consistently failing:

• Bounced addresses — the email address doesn’t exist or the mailbox is full. Click through to the member’s profile and ask them to update their email.
• Complaints — the member marked an email as spam. Their address is permanently blocked. This protects your makerspace’s sending reputation.

Resending Failed Deliveries

If a notification delivery fails due to a transient issue, you can resend it from the analytics dashboard.

1. Go to Admin → Notifications → Analytics → Delivery Log
2. Find the failed entry
3. Click Resend
4. Confirm in the dialog

A new delivery attempt is created — the original failed entry stays in the log for audit purposes. The resend goes through the full pipeline including suppression checks.

Fix the root cause first

Before resending, make sure the underlying issue is resolved (e.g., a template was broken and has been fixed, or a temporary provider outage has cleared). Resending without fixing the cause will likely fail again.

Understanding Member Opt-Outs

Members manage their own notification preferences from their Profile → Settings tab. They can opt out of:

• Event reminders
• Membership lifecycle notices
• Announcements

They cannot opt out of transactional notifications (receipts, confirmations, security notices). These preferences apply across all channels — email, SMS, and push.

For SMS specifically, members must also complete a double opt-in flow before receiving any SMS notifications, regardless of category preferences.

What you’ll see in the delivery log

When a member has opted out, notifications to that member show as Suppressed in your delivery log. This is the system working as designed — not an error.

What you can’t do

• You cannot change a member’s notification preferences
• You cannot send optional notifications to members who have opted out
• You cannot reclassify optional notifications as transactional to bypass preferences

What you can do

• Point members to their Profile → Settings if they ask about notification preferences
• Check the delivery log to confirm whether a member has opted out (look for suppressed status)
• Ensure your notification content is relevant so members choose to stay opted in