Message Channels are used to group messages by production area, department or even project. The Channels are also responsible for defining who receives messages. A user can be “subscribed” to a Message Channel if they are given access.
By default, your Flow Instance has a "System" Message Channel configured. You can add Message Channels as necessary. In the following image, a Message Channel named "Performance KPIs" has been added.
A Message Channel provides the following functionality:
- Message organization similar to folders
- Group level channel access
- User level channel subscription
Right-click in the message definition section to create a new “Channel”. Give it a relevant collection name for all the messages that it might contain (for example, "Level 4 Management Team KPIs", or "Engineering Short Interval Control KPIs").
Double-click the Channel to open its editor. The “Allow” section of the editor defines which user groups have access to receive messages defined in this channel. By default, the “Everyone” group has access to the channel.
However, just because a group is given access to the channel, does not mean the users in that group are “Subscribed” to the channel.
The “Subscribed Users” section of the editor defines which users are subscribed to receive messages defined in the channel.
Select the “Users” tab at the bottom of the Model View, and drag the relevant group into the “Allow” section. Notice the available users that can now subscribe to the channel.
Both “Windows Users” and “Message Recipient” users can subscribe to Message Channels.
- Windows Users refer to people who have access to your business domain/workgroup. If the contact information for the person has been configured in Active Directory, this information (Name, Email, Mobile Phone) will pull through when the user is added as a Subscribed User
- Message Recipients may be external users (e.g. suppliers) who do not have access to your business domain/workgroup, but to whom you'd like to send messages using one of the notification services
Users can be subscribed to a channel in one of the following ways:
- Drag an individual user from the “Allow” section to the “Subscribed Users” section.
- Drag a whole group from the “Allow” section to the “Subscribed Users” section. Note that this will subscribe all the users currently defined in that group, but will not automatically link users that are added to the group at a later stage.
From the Flow Server front-end (i.e. from the web browser), a signed in user can view the Channels they have access to via their “Profile”.
Clicking the available channels in the “Subscriptions” section allows the user to toggle which channels they want to subscribe to.
