Activity Messenger Help Center

Background operations and notifications

Some work takes too long to finish while you wait: a large report, a ZIP of invoice PDFs, a big form import or a message to a long list. Activity Messenger runs it in the background and tracks it on the Background operations page. Separately, a few settings decide who is emailed about events such as failed payments or incoming text replies.

Activity Messenger has no single notification centre and no bell icon in the top bar. This guide lists every place where progress and notifications actually appear.

What runs as a background operation

For the columns inside each export, see Exports to Excel and CSV.

Some tools that sound similar do not create a background operation. Class Bulk operation actions, described in Bulk operation, do not. List imports show their progress on the Lists page. Exports below the thresholds above download straight away.

Follow progress and download the result

1. Click your user icon at the top right, then Background operations. The item is hidden for users limited to Access control or Point of sale access.
2. Find the operation by its name or its No. The Progress column shows a bar, the number processed out of the total, and a status.
3. When the status is Finished and the operation produced a file, the File column shows the file name. Click it to download. Until then it shows Queued.

The page refreshes by itself every few seconds while an operation is active. Use the status menu to filter by status. Choose 10, 15, 25 or 50 rows per page.

On other pages, a small Background jobs panel lists your five most recent operations that you have not dismissed. Large message sends are not shown there. The arrow icon opens the full page, and the x (Dismiss) hides the operations from the panel only. They stay on the Background operations page.

Who sees what

You always see the operations you started. You also see the operations of other users when your access includes financial reports or sending messages, or when your organization uses editable form imports or the federation page. Seeing an operation does not let you download its file: the file is available to the person who requested it. Among your organization's users, only that person can use Notify me when finished, dismiss the operation or cancel it.

Statuses

When an operation fails

1. Open the Background operations page and note the No. of the operation.
2. For a report, an absence report or an invoice ZIP, start the same action again from the page where you began. There is no Retry button.
3. For a form import, the status can read Finished even if some rows failed. A red line reads Failed import rows: with a count. Click Show details to see the first 10 rows and the reason for each, then correct those rows and import them again.
4. If the same operation fails again, contact support and give the operation number.

To stop work that is still active, click Cancel on the row and confirm Cancel this background operation? Remaining items are not processed.

Get a message when an operation finishes

While an operation you started is queued or running, a Notify button (Notify: off by default) appears on its row, and a bell icon appears in the Background jobs panel. Choose Notify me when finished, then Email, SMS or Both, or keep No notification. The options appear only when your user account has an email address or a mobile number.

The message is sent when the operation finishes, fails or is cancelled. The email subject is Background job finished: followed by the name. It shows the status and the processed count, and links to View background jobs. The text message links to the same page. The download itself stays on the Background operations page.

Where notifications appear

Dashboard alerts

If your access includes messages, the Dashboard shows an alert when replies to your texts are waiting (You have a new SMS reply. or You have new SMS replies.), and one when messages are scheduled (You have :count scheduled send outs.). The link Go see those messages. opens the message list. Users without access to all messages only see their own messages, messages from lists they can reach, and messages sent from their email. The alert disappears once the replies are acknowledged. See Receive and respond to message replies.

Email digests and alerts to users

These emails go to the users you select. Each list is set in the place shown.

For the failed payments digest, you can select confirmed, non-archived users with Account Owner, Organization Owner, Human Resources or Administrator access. It is sent once a day around 9:30 AM Eastern time, and only when there is at least one failed payment. Each failed payment appears with its invoice number, the client, the payment type, the amount and the error. A link opens the failed payments report. Payments paid, cancelled or cleared since are left out. See Payments reports.

Staff schedule notifications

On Organization settings › Team & operations › Staff scheduling & management, Notify staff when their schedule changes sends a notice to the assigned staff member when they are added to, removed from or moved on a published booking, class or shift. Activity Messenger waits Wait before sending the summary (minutes) after the last change, then sends one summary by email, text message or both. The page also sets reminders before upcoming bookings, classes and shifts. See Staff operations.

See who is notified

Communications › Notification paths lists each notified user or email address, how many paths reach them and which settings those paths come from. It is read only. Click the link on a path to open the setting that controls it. You need access to manage the organization.

Settings reference

Common questions

Where is my export? Open your user icon, then Background operations. When the status is Finished, click the file name in the File column. Only the person who requested the file can download it. If the status is Queued or Running, wait: the page updates by itself.

Why did I receive a failed payments digest? You are selected under Failed payments daily digest for your organization, and at least one payment failed since the start of yesterday and is still unresolved. The email lists each one and links to the report.

How do I stop or add a recipient to a digest? Open Organization settings › Finance › Stripe, find Failed payments daily digest, and remove or add users in the list. It saves as soon as you change it. You need access to payment settings. The same list appears on the Interac tab. To check who receives what, open Communications › Notification paths.

Why am I not receiving the digest? Check that you are selected, that your user is confirmed and not archived, and that your access level is one of those allowed. The email is only sent when there is a failed payment to report.

What does the bell icon show? There is no bell in the top bar, so nothing counts unread notifications. A bell on an operation row opens Notify me when finished. A bell marks the Notification paths page and the Notifications tab of the Hierarchy page. In an attendance list, a bell marks a participant whose departure was requested.

Can I cancel an operation someone else started? No. Only the user who started it can cancel it from the page.

Why did a form import say Finished although rows failed? An import keeps going when a row fails. Open Show details under the progress bar to see the failed rows, then correct and import them again.

Are digests sent by text message? No. The failed payments, inbound SMS and Zoom digests are emails. Only Notify me when finished, form import notices and the staff schedule notifications can also use text messages.

Related guides

• Exports to Excel and CSV
• Import a list from an Excel file into a form
• Bulk operation
• Invite users and manage their access
• Download multiple invoices as PDFs
• Receive and respond to message replies