[Send email] process element

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Send emails as part of a business process using the Send Email element (Fig. 1). The element can send emails automatically or open a new email page for the process user to send the email manually. It uses all common email integration features available in Creatio, such as macros, templates, and linking emails to section records.

Fig. 1 The Send email element on the process diagram

Note. Email integration is required to work with emails in Creatio.

The Send email element is a means of automating email communication without a programming background. For example, the element lets you:

Move on to the next step in the business process while Creatio is sending emails to multiple recipients on your behalf automatically.
Send important system messages, notifications, and updates automatically.
Personalize emails with information available in other process parameters using macros.
Assign email-related activities to other employees in your company automatically.

To display the element title and user hint in the assignee's language, make sure the “Create business process tasks in the owner's language” (“UsePerformerCultureInUserTask” code) system setting is enabled and the Translation section includes the translation. Learn more: Localize UI via the Translation section.

Note. If the assignee is a group whose members use different Creatio languages, the title and hint will use the default culture.

Set up the main element properties

Creatio displays the following Send Email element properties regardless of how the email is sent (automatically or manually) and how the message text is generated (template message or custom message):

From	An email account integrated with Creatio and used for sending emails. Fill out this parameter with the values from the Mailbox synchronization settings lookup. There are several ways to retrieve the parameter values: Specify the email account directly by selecting it from the Mailbox synchronization settings lookup. Specify a system setting that uses the Mailbox synchronization settings lookup values. For example, “Mailbox for sending email with information on approval” (“VisaMailboxSettings” code). Map any other process parameter that uses the Mailbox synchronization settings lookup values. Learn more: Process parameters. If the element sends the email automatically, the From parameter is required. If the process user sends the email, the parameter is optional. The user may select an email account from the list on the email edit page.
To	The recipient's email addresses. Click the button to add carbon copy (Cc) and/or hidden copy (Bcc) recipients. You can populate the To/Cc/Bcc fields in several ways: Enter the emails manually (e. g., john_best_business@yahoo.com). Click the button and specify other addresses to add multiple recipients manually. Select accounts/contacts from a lookup. Select system settings, whose values are email addresses. For example, “1st-line support.” Select the account or contact email of the user who runs the process (“Current user account,” “Current user contact”). Retrieve the email from another process parameter. You can map any parameter of the “text” type. Note that the value of the mapped parameter must still be a valid email address, otherwise the element will not execute properly. Learn more: Process parameters. If you select either a contact or an account, Creatio will pull the email from the Communication options detail. If there are multiple emails specified for an account/contact, Creatio will use the most recent email added to the detail.
What is the message?	Select “Custom message” to create a unique email for the business process in the Content Designer. Select “Template message” to use one of the templates from the Email templates lookup.
How is the message sent?	If you select “Send email manually,” the email edit page will open (or the email activity will be created) for the process user once the Send Email element is activated on the process diagram. If you select “Send email automatically,” Creatio will send the email automatically from the mailbox specified in the From field once the Send Email element is activated on the process diagram.
Subject	Enter the email subject. You can populate the field in several ways: Enter the subject manually. Map a process parameter of the “text” type. Learn more: Process parameters. Select a system setting of the “text” type. Use a formula to create a personalized subject, e. g., “Hi, John Best!,” where the name “John Best” is received from the previous process element. Learn more: Process formulas. The subject text is also displayed on the Business process tasks tab of the communication panel. If you select a template, Creatio will populate the Subject field with the subject specified in the template.

Set up a custom message

If you select “Custom message” in the What is the message? field, the following properties will become available:

Email body

The area below the Subject field displays an email body preview. Hover over this area and click to open the Content Designer to create a custom message.

Template message properties

If you select “Template message” in the What is the message? field, the following properties will become available:

Template message

Select a template from the Email templates lookup. Click the button to open the selected template in the Content Designer. You can send localized emails using multilingual templates. If you specify contacts with different languages or contacts without the preferred language in the To field, Creatio will send the template in the default language to all recipients. Learn more: Work with message templates.

Record for macros

The record to use as a source for email template macros. For example, if the template contains macros like #Contact.Name# and #Contact.Mobile phone#, the actual name and phone number in the email will correspond to the contact specified in the Record for macros field. Learn more: Process parameters.

This field is linked to the Macro source field in the selected email template record. For example, if you specify “Contact” in the Macro source field, the value in the Record for macros field will be a specific contact record.

You can retrieve a macro source record in several ways:

Map a process parameter. The parameter must have a “Lookup” type, and the lookup itself must correspond to the object selected in the Macro source field in the email template.
Select a record from a lookup.
Select a system setting of a “Lookup” type, whose lookup corresponds to the one selected in the Macro source field in the email template. For example, “Test email recipient.” Select “Current user contact” to generate macros based on the data of the user who runs the process.

Note. Use the Formula process element or the “Formula” option of the parameter value menu to generate dynamic text for email subject and body. Learn more: Process formulas. Switch the Send email element setup area to the “advanced mode” to populate the email body using a formula.

Send the email automatically

If you select “Send email automatically” in the How is the message sent? field, the following properties will become available:

Importance	Creatio populates the Priority field of the corresponding email activity with the value of this property.
Ignore errors on sending	If this checkbox is selected, the process will progress further even if sending errors occur. If the checkbox is not selected, and errors occur, the Send email element will end with an error and will not activate its outgoing flows. You can view any process-related errors in the Process log section.
Run following elements in the background	If the checkbox is selected, the process will run the element in the background without displaying the loading mask.
Create an activity	If the checkbox is selected, the process will create a corresponding activity when executing this process step. Selecting the checkbox will make the Email connections field group available.
Email connections	Connect the task to other Creatio entities. For example, an account. Creatio will display the task on the Activities detail of the connected record. By default, the element setup area displays account and contact connections. Click the button to connect the task to other Creatio entities.

Set up the manual sending

If you select “Send email manually” in the How is the message sent? field, the following properties will become available:

Who performs the task?	Select one of the options and fill out the field that opens: “User” – specify the user who will see the email edit page in the Contact field. “Employee’s manager” – specify the user whose manager will see the email edit page in the Contact field. “Role” – specify the role the users with which will see the email edit page in the Role field. You can specify a dynamic parameter value or select a constant in the parameter value box. Once the process reaches the Send Email element, the email edit page will open for the user or role if the Show page automatically checkbox is selected. If not, the email task will be displayed on the user or role's communication panel.
User hints	A text hint for the user who performs this process task. The user can view the hint by clicking the button on the email page.
Show page automatically	If this checkbox is selected, the email edit page will open for the user selected in the Who is the sender? property once the process reaches the Send Email element. Note that if the Run following elements in the background checkbox is selected for a preceding element, the edit page will not open once the process reaches the Send email element, even if the Show page automatically checkbox is selected.
Run following elements in the background	If this checkbox is selected, all process elements connected to the outgoing flows will run in the background without displaying the loading mask or opening the corresponding pages.
Email connections	Use this property to connect the email to other Creatio records. Creatio will display the connected records in the Connected to block of the email page and in the form of links on the Email tab of the communication panel. Click the button to add different record types.

Note. If you choose to send emails manually, all due email tasks (drafts) will be displayed on your communication panel.

Set up the email attachments

Add and set up the Process file element before setting up attachments in the Send email element. The Process file element will allow you to map a file collection to the Send email element.

Add attachments

Click in the Add attachments block of the Send email element setup area to attach files to the email.

In the field that appears, click → “Process parameter.” In the parameter window, map the element to the needed file collection. Click Select.

As a result, Creatio will send the file collection as an email attachment during the Send email element execution.

Retrieve the outgoing element parameters

Task Id	The Id of the email sending activity created during the element execution. Type: “Id.” In Creatio, all manually created emails and drafts are considered activities and have a unique identifier in the database. Learn more: Work with data in a business process.
Recommendation	Retrieve the value of this parameter from the Hint for user field, available only for manual emails. Type: “Text.”
Ignore email errors	Retrieve the value of this parameter from the Ignore errors on sending setting, available only for automatic emails. Type: “Boolean.”

Element activation

If the email is sent manually:

Creatio will open a new email window for the process user if the Show page automatically checkbox is selected, and the element does not run in the background. The draft will use all properties specified in the Send Email element. For example, the email template, the mailbox, etc.
Creatio will display the email task on the communication panel for the process user if the Show page automatically checkbox is cleared in the element properties.

If the email is sent automatically, Creatio will generate a message based on the Send Email element properties. For example, the email template, the mailbox, etc. The email will be sent automatically from the address specified in the From field on the email page.

Element completion

The completion of the Send email element depends on how the message is sent.

If the email is sent manually, the element will be deemed complete as soon as the user sends the email.

If the email is sent automatically, the element does not require any user actions and will be deemed complete as soon as the email is sent.

If any errors occur while sending, the element completion will be determined by the Ignore errors on sending checkbox:

If the Ignore errors on sending checkbox is selected, the element is deemed complete as soon as the first sending attempt is made, regardless of its result. For example, if the email server returns a sending error, the element will still be completed successfully and activate its outgoing flows.
If the Ignore errors on sending checkbox is cleared, the element will be deemed complete only if the email is sent successfully. If any errors occur while sending, the process will not progress to the next step. You can view any process-related errors in the Process log section.

Upon completion, the element will update the values of its parameters according to changes the user made on the email page and activate its outgoing flows.