Alert Me - User Guide: How To Create an Alert

Alert Me – User Guide: How to Create an Alert

This guide provides a complete, step-by-step walkthrough of how to create an Alert using Alert Me. Users can either:

• Follow along directly in the UI using the Info (ℹ️) buttons for inline help, or
• Use this guide as a quick, end-to-end tour of all available options

A video walkthrough will accompany this guide to support onboarding and reduce support tickets during initial rollout.

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Before You Begin

You can create alerts on:

• SharePoint Lists
• SharePoint Document Libraries

You must have permission to view the list or library items you want to monitor.

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How to Start Creating an Alert

You can start creating or managing alerts in two ways, depending on how you prefer to work.

Option 1: From an Item Context Menu (Future)

Item-level alerts will be available in a future release. Until then, alerts are created from the Ribbon.

1. Navigate to the SharePoint list or library you want to monitor
2. Open the item context menu (right-click or ellipsis ...)
3. Select Add Bamboo Alert

The Create Alert panel opens and guides you through the process.

💡 Tip: Look for the Add Bamboo Alert label and icon shown above when opening the item menu.

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Option 2: From the Ribbon (Command Bar)

You can also access Alert Me directly from the Ribbon (Command Bar) at the top of a list or library:

• Add Bamboo Alert
  Opens the Create Alert experience without selecting a specific item
• Manage Bamboo Alerts
  Opens your personal alert management view, where you can:
  • Review existing alerts
  • Edit alert settings
  • Enable or disable alerts

This makes it easy to either create new alerts or manage existing ones without navigating item-by-item.

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Step 1: Choose What Triggers Your Alert

In this step, you decide what kind of change should trigger the alert.

Important: What you see in this step depends on where you're creating the alert:

• Lists → Simple trigger selection (same as before)
• Document Libraries → Additional options for scope and behavior

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If You Are Using a SharePoint List

The experience is simple—just choose what event should trigger your alert.

Available Options

• Item is Created
  Get notified when new items are added.
• Item is Modified
  Get notified when items are updated.
• Item is Created or Modified
  Best for general activity tracking.
• Item is Deleted
  Get notified when items are removed.
• Item Meets a Condition
  Only trigger alerts when specific criteria are met.
• Anything Changes
  Triggers on all creates, updates, and deletes (use with caution).

💡 Tip: Hover over the Info (ℹ️) icon next to each option for quick guidance.

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If You Are Using a Document Library

You’ll see additional options that give you more control over how alerts work.

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Alert Type (Where to Watch)

Choose how much of the library you want to monitor:

• Items in This Folder
  Only monitor items in the current folder.
• Items in This Folder and Subfolders
  Monitor everything in the folder, including all subfolders.

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Alert Behavior (What to Watch)

Choose what type of changes should trigger alerts:

• Items (Default)
  Alerts are triggered for all documents and folders.
• Selected Items (Trigger alerts for items)
  Used when alerts are scoped to specific items.

• Folders Only (Ignore Contents of the Folder(s))
  Only triggers alerts when folders themselves change.

  💡 When to use this:

  • You care about folder structure changes
  • You want to avoid alerts for every file inside folders

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Event (What Happens)

Finally, choose the event that will trigger the alert:

• Item is Created
• Item is Modified
• Item is Created or Modified
• Item is Deleted
• Item Meets a Condition
• Anything Changes

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Important Notes for Document Libraries

• In libraries, items include both files and folders.

• When a file is updated inside a folder, SharePoint also updates the folder.

  To prevent duplicate alerts:

  Alert Me automatically suppresses the extra folder alert.

• When a folder itself is created, an alert will still be sent.

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Set Recurring Alert (Item Meets a Condition)

If you selected Item Meets a Condition, you can choose whether the alert runs once or repeats on a schedule.

Set Recurring Alert

• Yes / No option
• Default: No

No (Default)

• The alert fires once when the condition is met
• It will not run again unless the condition changes and is met again

Yes

• The alert will continue to run while matching items exist

Re-Trigger Every (Days)
 (Visible only when Set Recurring Alert = Yes)

• Controls how often the alert re-runs
• Value is entered in days (minimum 1)
• Timing is calculated from the last time the alert ran

Example

Notify me every 7 days while a task remains overdue

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Step 2: Add Filter Conditions (Optional)

Filter Conditions let you narrow down which items actually trigger alerts.

When to Use Conditions

• Optional for most triggers
• Required for Item Meets a Condition

Adding a Condition

For each condition:

1. Select a column or metadata field
2. Choose a comparison operator based on the column type
3. Enter a value

The input automatically adjusts based on column type (People Picker, relative date options, dropdown, etc.).

How Conditions Are Evaluated

• All conditions use AND logic
• Every condition must be true for the alert to fire

Date Filters (Important)

When filtering on Date columns, Alert Me uses relative date options instead of static dates.

There is no date picker in the current release. All date-based filtering is evaluated relative to the date the alert runs, ensuring alerts remain accurate over time without manual updates.

How Date Filters Work

• Date conditions are evaluated each time the alert runs
• Results automatically shift as time progresses
• This is ideal for tracking overdue, upcoming, or expiring items

Available Date Options

You can choose from the following relative date options:

• Is on the day the alert runs (Today)
   Matches items dated today.
• Is within the next 2 days (from run date)
   Matches items dated today through two days after the alert runs.
• Is within the next 5 days (from run date)
   Matches items dated today through five days after the alert runs.
• Is within the next 7 days (from run date)
   Matches items dated today through seven days after the alert runs.
• Is within the next 30 days (from run date)
   Matches items dated today through thirty days after the alert runs.
• Is before the run date (Past dates)
   Matches items dated before the day the alert runs.

💡 Tip: These options cover the most common alert scenarios without requiring manual date updates.

Person / User Filters

Person / User filters allow you to trigger alerts based on who is assigned, who created an item, or any other Person or Group column.

Supported Operators

• Is
   Triggers when the selected user matches the value in the column.
• Is Not
   Triggers when the selected user does not match the value in the column.

Selecting a User

• Users are selected using the SharePoint People Picker
• As you type, the picker shows matching users from the SharePoint directory
• You can select one user per condition

Only users available within the current SharePoint site context will appear in the People Picker.

Common Examples

• Alert me when Assigned To is John Smith
• Alert me when Created By is not the current user
• Alert me when Task Owner is a specific team member

💡 Tip: Person / User filters are commonly used with Item Meets a Condition alerts to target alerts based on responsibility or ownership.

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Step 3: Choose Delivery Options

This step controls when and how you receive notifications.

Select a Schedule

Choose one of the following:

• Send Immediately – Real-time alerts
• Daily / Weekly Summary – Consolidated notifications

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Send Immediately Alerts

Best for time-sensitive scenarios.

What to expect:

• Alerts are evaluated every 15 minutes
• Each qualifying event sends a separate notification

You can configure:

• Delivery method (Email)
• Recipients (To and optional CC)
• Alert subject and message body
• Enabled / Disabled status

💡 Tip: Use tokens in the subject or body to include item names, links, and column values.

⚠️ Important: Deleted Items and Tokens

If your alert is triggered by Item is Deleted, you may notice that tokens return blank values.

This happens because:

• SharePoint deletes the item and its data immediately
• The alert no longer has access to field values like Title, Created By, or custom columns

Example:
An alert email may be sent, but fields like item name or owner may appear empty.

This is a SharePoint limitation and not specific to Alert Me.

Sending Alerts to Item-Based Recipients

Alert Me allows you to send alerts to people listed in the item (for example, the Task Owner or Assigned To).

To do this, enter the field name inside curly brackets in the To or CC field.

Example

If your list has a field called Task Owner, enter:

{Task_Owner}

 

When the alert runs, it will be sent to the person listed in that field for each item.

How to Find the Correct Field Name

If you’re unsure of the exact field name:

1. Add the field as a token in the email body
2. Save or preview the alert
3. Copy the token format
4. Paste it into the To or CC field

You Can Combine Recipients

You may include:

• Multiple field tokens
• Standard email addresses
• A combination of both

Separate entries with commas.

Example: Task Due Reminder

• Trigger: Item Meets a Condition
• Filter: Due Date is within the next 7 days
• To: {Task_Owner}

This ensures the reminder is automatically sent to the correct person for each task.

💡 Tip: Dynamic recipients work especially well with date-based alerts and Item Meets a Condition to create reminders without manual follow-up.

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Daily / Weekly Summary Alerts

Best for ongoing monitoring without excessive emails.

What to expect:

• Alerts run at a scheduled time
• All events since the last run are grouped into one email

You can configure:

• Time the summary is sent
• Days (daily, weekly, weekdays, or custom)

Each summary email includes:

• A single header
• One repeated section per alert event
• A footer

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Step 4: Review Alert Details

This final step helps you identify and manage alerts later.

Alert Name

• Enter a clear, descriptive name

Best practice:
Include the list name and purpose (e.g., Contracts – Status Changes).

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Alert Description

• Optional but recommended
• Helps you understand the alert’s purpose when reviewing it later

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Save the Alert

Choose how to save your alert:

• Enabled – Starts monitoring immediately
• Disabled – Saved for later without sending notifications

You can manage, edit, enable, or disable alerts at any time from Manage My Alerts.