Notifications
Who this guide is for: Tenant administrators who configure automated email and in-app notifications for learners, managers, and instructors.
Overview
EmbayLMS sends notifications by email and in-app to keep learners on track and managers informed. You can configure which notifications are active, customize the email templates for your brand, set up automated due-date reminders and overdue escalations, and schedule report delivery. All email templates support English and French (Canada).
Prerequisites
- Tenant Admin role
- A verified custom sender domain (recommended for email deliverability) - see step 2
- Course due dates configured if using due-date reminders (see Course Management guide)
1 - Notification Types
EmbayLMS includes the following notification categories. Each can be enabled or disabled independently.
Email notifications
| Notification | Recipient | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment confirmation | Learner | User is enrolled in a course |
| Course due date reminder | Learner | N days before a course due date (configurable) |
| Course overdue | Learner | Due date has passed without completion |
| Overdue escalation | Manager | Learner on their team is overdue |
| Course completion | Learner | Course marked complete |
| Certificate issued | Learner | Certificate generated on completion |
| Certificate expiry reminder | Learner | N days before a certificate expires |
| New course available | Learner | A new course is published to the catalog |
| ILT/VILT session reminder | Learner | N hours/days before a scheduled session |
| ILT/VILT session cancelled | Learner | Session cancelled by instructor or admin |
| Welcome / account activation | New user | Account invitation sent |
| Password reset | User | Password reset requested |
| Scheduled report delivery | Admin / manager | Per scheduled report (see Reports guide) |
| Announcement | Learner group | Sent manually by admin to a group |
In-app notifications
In-app notifications appear in the notification bell in the platform header. The following are sent as in-app notifications in addition to (or instead of) email:
| Notification | When |
|---|---|
| New course enrollment | Instant |
| Course completion | Instant |
| Certificate ready | Instant |
| Announcement | Instant |
| Upcoming due date | 7 days, 3 days, 1 day before |
2 - Configuring the Email Sender Identity
By default, notifications are sent from noreply@embaylms.com. Configure a custom sender to improve deliverability and reinforce your brand.
2.1 Set a custom sender name and address
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Settings > Notifications > Email sender.
- Enter a sender name (e.g., “Acme Learning Team”).
- Enter a from address (e.g.,
learning@acme.com). - Enter a reply-to address (e.g.,
lms-support@acme.com) - this is where replies from learners go. - Click Save.
2.2 Verify your sending domain
To send from your own domain, EmbayLMS must verify it with AWS SES.
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Settings > Notifications > Email sender > Verify domain.
- EmbayLMS displays DNS records to add to your domain:
- SPF record - authorizes EmbayLMS to send on behalf of your domain
- DKIM records (3 CNAME records) - enables cryptographic signing
- DMARC record (recommended) - protects against spoofing
- Add the records in your DNS provider.
- Click Check verification. DNS propagation can take up to 24 hours.
Until verified, emails fall back to noreply@embaylms.com regardless of the from address setting.
3 - Configuring Email Templates
Each notification type has a default template that can be customized per tenant. Templates support full HTML and can be bilingual.
3.1 Edit a notification template
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Settings > Notifications > Email templates.
- Select the notification type from the list.
- The template editor shows two tabs: English and French (Canada).
- Edit the subject line and body for each language.
- Available merge variables are listed in the right panel. Common variables:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
{{learner.first_name}} | Learner first name |
{{learner.full_name}} | Learner full name |
{{course.name}} | Course name |
{{course.due_date}} | Formatted due date in the learner locale |
{{course.url}} | Direct link to the course |
{{tenant.name}} | Your organization name |
{{certificate.download_url}} | Certificate PDF download link |
{{session.date_time}} | ILT/VILT session date and time |
{{session.join_url}} | Session Zoom/Meet join link |
- Click Preview to see a rendered preview.
- Click Send test to send a test email to your admin address.
- Click Save.
Resetting templates: Click Reset to default to restore the original EmbayLMS template for that notification type.
3.2 Bilingual templates
The platform automatically selects the English or French template based on the learner user profile language preference. Learners without a language set receive the tenant default language template. Configure the tenant default language at Admin Panel > Settings > General > Default language.
4 - Due-Date Reminder Configuration
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Settings > Notifications > Due date reminders.
- Enable the Course due date reminder notification.
- Configure the reminder schedule - you can set up to three reminders before a due date:
- Example: 14 days before, 7 days before, 1 day before.
- Click Save.
Reminders are sent only to learners who have not yet completed the course. Learners who complete before the reminder date do not receive the notification.
5 - Overdue Escalation to Managers
When a learner misses a course deadline, you can automatically notify their manager.
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Settings > Notifications > Overdue escalation.
- Enable Overdue escalation to manager.
- Set the escalation delay: number of days after the due date has passed before the manager notification is sent (e.g., send on day 1 and day 7 after the due date).
- Click Save.
Requirements:
- The learner must have a Manager set on their user profile (see User Management guide, section 7).
- The manager must have an active EmbayLMS account.
The escalation email includes the learner name, the overdue course, the due date that was missed, and a link to the manager dashboard.
6 - Announcements to Learner Groups
Send a one-off email and in-app notification to a specific group of learners.
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Communications > Announcements > New announcement.
- Enter a subject and message body.
- Select the audience: one or more groups, departments, or all users.
- Select channels: Email, In-app, or both.
- Choose to send immediately or schedule for a specific date and time.
- Click Preview to see how the message will appear.
- Click Send (or Schedule).
Sent announcements are logged in Admin Panel > Communications > Announcements > History.
7 - ILT/VILT Session Reminders
Session reminders are sent automatically to registered learners before an instructor-led or virtual training session.
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Courses > [course] > Sessions > [session] > Settings.
- Under Reminders, configure:
- First reminder: e.g., 3 days before the session.
- Second reminder: e.g., 1 hour before the session.
- Click Save.
The session reminder email includes the session date and time, location (or Zoom/Meet join link for VILT), the instructor name, and a link to the learner calendar invite download.
8 - Scheduled Report Email Delivery
Report delivery is configured in the Reports section. See the Reports & Compliance guide, section 5, for the full setup.
Summary:
- Navigate to Admin Panel > Reports > Scheduled reports.
- Reports can be delivered to any email address on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly schedule.
- The delivery email uses the notification sender configured in section 2.
Configuration Reference
| Setting | Location | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email sender name | Settings > Notifications > Email sender | From name on all notification emails | EmbayLMS |
| Email from address | Settings > Notifications > Email sender | From address (must be from verified domain) | noreply@embaylms.com |
| Reply-to address | Settings > Notifications > Email sender | Where learner replies go | noreply@embaylms.com |
| Default language | Settings > General > Default language | Fallback template language | English |
| Due date reminder schedule | Settings > Notifications > Due date reminders | Days before due date to send reminders | 7 days, 1 day |
| Overdue escalation delay | Settings > Notifications > Overdue escalation | Days after due date to notify manager | 1 day |
| In-app notifications | Settings > Notifications > In-app | Enable/disable in-app notification bell | Enabled |
Troubleshooting
Learners are not receiving enrollment confirmation emails
- Confirm the Enrollment confirmation notification is enabled at Settings > Notifications.
- Check that the learner email address is valid on their user profile.
- Ask the learner to check their spam folder. If your domain is not verified, emails may be flagged as spam.
- Check AWS SES sending statistics in Admin Panel > Settings > Notifications > Email health for bounce or complaint rates.
Due date reminders are not being sent Confirm the course has a due date set (Admin Panel > Courses > [course] > Enrollment settings > Due date). Reminders are only sent for courses with a due date, and only to enrolled learners who have not yet completed the course.
Manager is not receiving overdue escalation
- Confirm overdue escalation is enabled.
- Check the learner profile to confirm a Manager is set.
- Confirm the manager has an active EmbayLMS account.
- Confirm the escalation delay has passed (default: 1 day after the due date).
Template changes are not showing in test emails Clear your browser cache and reload. If the test email was sent before saving, the previous template version was used. Save changes and send a new test.
Emails are going to spam Verify your domain (section 2.2). Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are all correctly configured. Use a mail testing service (e.g., mail-tester.com) to score your configuration.