Despite the desire to be alerted to additions, changes, or deletions in Microsoft SharePoint or Microsoft SharePoint Online, I am completely surprised at the fact the alert is not used nearly as often as one might think. Now I completely understand in this day and age, the number of emails we get is quite ludicrous. There are times I feel like I am shoveling water uphill and not getting anywhere when trying to maintain a zero inbox. I can guess that certainly is a reason why many may not want to sign up for SharePoint Alerts. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. If you create strategic alerts with the correct scope, these alerts could actually save you time!
Understanding the Scope of an Alert
Take a look at the two images below. Both are for alerts, but for very different scopes. The first is an alert for the entire document library, while the second is for just a single document. Why is it so important to understand the scope of a SharePoint alert? Everything. You do not want to have an alert set up sending you too much information. You will either go into information overload or just end up ignoring the SharePoint alerts and lose any benefit it may have given you. The same is true for the opposite. If you are too narrow in your scope, then you will most likely not get alerted for the things you wish to be made aware of.
Image: Scope for entire document library.
Image: Scope for a single document.
Settings of an Alert
Let’s start with an image of what the alert options are and how they can be used.
Image: Choices for an Alert in SharePoint
- Alert Title – Defaults to the location and scope of your choice. It can be changed to something more meaningful.
- Send Alerts To – Will default with your name/email automatically. If you are the owner of the SharePoint site, you will have the option to add others to the alert as well.
- Delivery Method – Email or text via SMS. Most companies will have SMS blocked due to security concerns.
- Change Type – If you are looking for all types or changes or a specific subtype of change.
- Send Alerts to These Changes – If you are looking for all changes in the document library, or something of a subset meaning only what you have created or modified vs. everyone who is a contributor.
- When to Send Alerts – This is to ensure you are able to pick the cadence of email being sent to you. Do you want immediate or something of a slower pace?
Using Alerts to Your Advantage
There are different scenarios where you may find yourself wanting a Microsoft SharePoint alert. Some alerts you may need to be more responsive with the cadence due to high priority or expected completion in a short time frame. In other cases, you are a manager who is looking to just keep an eye on things.
Examples of Use
You are a team who just got an RFP (Request for Proposal) to try to win some business, but you were late to the game. You have only 24 business hours to complete something that usually takes three weeks to complete. As a manager, you start the document to answer the RFP and create an alert for the entire team that is to work on this document to keep everyone abreast of the situation. The Microsoft SharePoint alert will be sent to the entire team, with immediate feedback when any and all changes are made.
A second example might have you as a manager with a team that creates many documents, but nothing is pressing. You would like to just keep notified at a high level what may have changed. In a case like this, you can set up a Microsoft SharePoint alert with the daily or weekly cadence. You select to have the alert sent at 3PM so you have 2 hours remaining in your workday to read the alert and react if necessary.
Final Thoughts
Being both in the know and well informed will help you keep abreast of what is happening around you as an information worker. With alerts, you can keep up with all that is going on without causing yourself to be overwhelmed by too much information. Microsoft SharePoint alerts are the most useful yet forgotten feature in SharePoint.
