Alert Admin – Administrator Guide

Overview

Alert Admin uses the same underlying engine as Alert Me, but is designed for administrators and power users who need broader visibility and control over alerts across a site or tenant.

While Alert Me is focused on end users creating alerts within a list or library context, Alert Admin provides centralized alert management and delegated alert creation capabilities.

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Target Audience

Alert Admin is intended for:

• Site Collection Administrators
• SharePoint Administrators
• Departmental Power Users
• IT Support teams
• Governance and compliance teams

Alert Admin is ideal for organizations that need:

• Centralized visibility into alerts
• The ability to create alerts on behalf of users
• Administrative oversight of alert configuration
• Governance and monitoring across multiple lists or libraries

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Deployment Model

Alert Admin is deployed through the App Catalog, similar to Alert Me.

However, unlike Alert Me (which integrates into list ribbons and context menus), Alert Admin functions as a web part.

How It Works

1. Add the Alert Admin solution to the Tenant or Site Collection App Catalog
2. Add the Alert Admin web part to a SharePoint page
3. Publish the page

Once added to a page, Alert Admin acts as a centralized alert management interface.

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User Experience

When a user opens a page containing the Alert Admin web part, they are presented with two options:

• Create Alert
• Manage Alerts

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Create Alert (Alert Admin)

Alert creation in Alert Admin is similar to Alert Me, with a few important differences.

Note:
Once a list or library is selected, the alert configuration experience (Steps 1–4) is identical to Alert Me.
This includes the enhanced Step 1 experience for Document Libraries.

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Replace the Entire “Step 1: Enter Target URL” Section With the Following

Step 1: Enter Target URL

Unlike Alert Me (which is launched from within a list or library), Alert Admin begins by asking the user to enter the URL of the SharePoint site containing the target list or library.

Once the Site Collection URL is entered, Alert Admin automatically retrieves and displays all available:

SharePoint Lists
Document Libraries

The user simply selects the desired list or library from the picker interface.

This enhanced List and Library Picker eliminates the need for users to manually build or validate SharePoint URLs.

Document Library Folder Picker

When a Document Library is selected, Alert Admin now also supports selecting a specific folder directly from the interface.

Instead of manually entering or decoding folder paths, users can visually browse and select the desired folder location.

How It Works

Enter the SharePoint Site URL
Select a Document Library from the available library picker
(Optional) Select a specific folder from the Folder Picker
Continue through the remaining alert configuration steps
Once selected, Alert Admin automatically configures the correct internal URL and folder path for the alert.

Benefits

No manual URL decoding required
No need to identify or copy SharePoint folder paths
Eliminates formatting and capitalization issues
Simplifies Folder Level Alert configuration
Reduces setup errors for administrators and end users

Folder-Level Alert Targeting

Folder selection can be used together with Folder Level Alerts to scope alerts to a specific area within a document library.

Examples include:

Monitoring a department folder
Tracking document activity within a project folder
Watching a client-specific folder structure
Monitoring only subfolders and their contents

Important Notes

Folder Picker functionality applies only to Document Libraries
SharePoint Lists do not contain folders in the same manner and therefore do not expose the Folder Picker experience
Once the list or library is selected (and optionally a folder is selected), the remaining alert configuration steps follow the same workflow as Alert Me

Important:
The Step 1 experience will vary depending on what you selected:

SharePoint Lists → Standard trigger selection (no additional options)

Document Libraries → Additional options for:

Alert Type (folder scope)
Alert Behavior (items vs folders)
Event (trigger condition)

These options provide more granular control when working with document libraries.

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For detailed instructions on configuring triggers, filters, delivery options, and alert details—including differences between Lists and Document Libraries—refer to:

🔗 Alert Me User Guide
https://bamboosolutions.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/49046303207315-Alert-Me-User-Guide-How-To-Create-an-Alert

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Key Difference: Assigning the Alert Author (Future Release)

Alert Admin allows the creator to assign another user as the Author of the alert.  

This enables:

• An administrator to create an alert on behalf of a user
• The alert to appear in that user’s Manage Alerts section within Alert Me
• The assigned user to manage, edit, enable, or disable the alert going forward

How It Works

• The alert is created by the admin
• The Author field is set to another user
• The alert is then visible to that user in Alert Me

This feature supports delegated alert creation and centralized setup with decentralized management.

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Manage Alerts (Alert Admin)

The Manage Alerts view provides broader visibility than Alert Me.

View Behavior Based on Permissions

The alerts displayed depend on the user's permission level:

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Standard User

A standard user will see:

• Only alerts they have created
• Alerts assigned to them as Author

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Site Collection Administrator (or Higher)

Users with Site Collection Admin permissions (or higher) will see:

• All alerts within the site collection (or tenant, depending on scope)

This allows administrators to:

• Audit alert configurations
• Troubleshoot alert behavior
• Review alert usage
• Enforce governance standards

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Two Manage Views

Alert Admin provides two management perspectives:

• My Alerts – Alerts owned by or assigned to the current user
• All Alerts – All alerts within scope (visible to Site Collection Admins and above)

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When to Use Alert Admin vs Alert Me

Use Case	Alert Me	Alert Admin
End user creating alert in a list	✅
Admin creating alert for a user		✅
Centralized alert governance		✅
View all alerts across site		✅
Quick list-based alert creation	✅

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Summary

Alert Admin extends Alert Me by adding:

• Web part-based centralized interface
• Cross-list and cross-site alert targeting
• Delegated alert creation (Author assignment)
• Administrative visibility across alerts

It is designed for governance, scalability, and administrative control while maintaining the same alert engine and configuration model as Alert Me.