Creating Feed/Message Tasks for Automations

Feed/Message tasks automatically post messages to record feeds, Collaboration Group feeds, or send direct messages to individual users when an Automation's criteria are met. This task type is essential for automated communication, audit trails, stakeholder engagement, and process commentary directly within the collaboration interface. Feed/Message tasks enable real-time notifications and discussions without relying on email or external communication channels.

Requirements

To create and configure Feed/Message tasks for Automations, users must be assigned a Security Role with the following permissions:

Administrator System Role

Only administrators can access Automations, create Feed/Message tasks, configure message content and recipients, and manage task settings. Standard users, partner users, and customer portal users cannot configure Automation tasks.

Before You Begin

Before creating Feed/Message tasks, ensure you have:

• Feed-Enabled Entity: Feed/Message tasks require Automations created on entities with feed tracking enabled. Verify the entity supports feeds by checking entity configuration or viewing the record feed in the user interface.
• Sender Identification: Identify which user should appear as the message sender. The sender must be active, have permissions to post to target feeds or groups, and have access to send direct messages if using that message type.
• Message Content: Plan message content including any @mentions of users or groups. Messages support rich text formatting and file attachments for comprehensive communication.

Creating Feed/Message Tasks

Accessing the Task Creation Interface

1. Navigate to Setup → Create → Automations
2. Click the Automation (on a feed-enabled entity) to which you want to add a Feed/Message task
3. In the Automation Tasks section, click New
4. Select New Feed/Message from the task type options
5. Click Next

The Feed/Message task configuration page displays three primary sections: Detail Information, Message Sender, and Message Details.

Configuring Detail Information

The Detail Information section defines basic task properties and execution order within the Automation.

Automation (Read-Only)

Displays the parent Automation this task belongs to. This field is system-populated and cannot be modified. The link opens the Automation detail page.

Name (Required)

Enter a descriptive name for the Feed/Message task that clearly identifies its purpose and target audience.

Examples of effective task names:

• "Post Approval Message on Deal Record"
• "Send Welcome Message to New Partner"
• "Post Status Update in Sales Team Group"
• "Direct Message Account Manager on Escalation"

Clear task names help administrators understand Automation workflows when reviewing or troubleshooting multi-task sequences.

Sequence (Required)

Enter a numeric value defining when this task executes relative to other tasks in the Automation. Lower sequence numbers execute first.

Description (Optional)

Enter notes explaining the task's purpose, business justification, or special considerations. Use this field to document:

• Why automated messages are posted at this workflow stage
• What information the message communicates to stakeholders
• Which scenarios trigger the message posting
• Any dependencies on other tasks or notification strategies

Comprehensive descriptions help future administrators maintain and troubleshoot Feed/Message tasks.

Configuring Message Sender

The Message Sender section identifies which user appears as the author of the automated message.

Sender (Required)

Click the lookup icon to search for and select a user who will appear as the message sender. The sender must:

• Be an active user in the system
• Have permissions to access the target entity record
• Have access to the target Collaboration Group (if posting to a group)
• Be allowed to send Direct Messages (if using Direct Message type)

Sender Selection Considerations:

System or Bot Users: Many organizations create dedicated system users (e.g., "System Notifier," "Automation Bot") specifically for automated messages. This clearly identifies automated communications and prevents messages from appearing under individual employee names.

Role-Specific Users: Use role-based users (e.g., "Sales Operations," "Support Team") to represent functional groups rather than individuals. This maintains message continuity when specific employees change roles or leave the organization.

Record Owner: While not a direct option, you can create formula-based message content or use consistent sender accounts to represent record ownership perspectives.

Configuring Message Details

The Message Details section defines where the message will be posted and what content it contains.

Message Type (Required)

Select how and where the message will be delivered. Three options are available:

Post on the Record

Posts a message directly to the feed of the record that triggered the Automation.

When to Use:

• Documenting workflow progress or status changes
• Creating audit trails of automated actions
• Notifying record followers about important events
• Logging approval decisions or system updates

Configuration Requirements:

• Select Message Visibility (described below)
• Compose message content

Who Receives Notifications: All users following the record receive notifications according to their individual feed notification preferences.

Post in a Group

Posts a message to a Collaboration Group feed rather than an individual record.

When to Use:

• Broadcasting updates to entire teams or communities
• Sharing automated reports or summaries with groups
• Notifying communities about relevant record events
• Creating group-level audit trails of system actions

Configuration Requirements:

• Select the target Group using the group lookup
• Compose message content

Who Receives Notifications: All group members receive notifications according to their group notification preferences.

Direct Message

Sends a private message directly to a specific user through the portal's messaging system.

When to Use:

• Sending private notifications to specific stakeholders
• Delivering confidential information that should not appear on public feeds
• Providing personalized instructions or next steps
• Alerting individual users about actions requiring their attention

Configuration Requirements:

• Select the Recipient user using the user lookup
• Compose message content

Who Receives Notifications: Only the selected recipient receives the direct message and related notifications.

Message Visibility (Required for "Post on the Record" Only)

When posting messages on records, select who can view the message:

Share internally

The message is visible only to internal/employee users who have access to the record. External users (partners, customers) cannot see the message even if they have record access.

Use this option when:

• Messages contain internal-only information
• Discussions should remain within employee teams
• Content includes sensitive operational details
• Messages document internal processes or decisions

Share with anyone with access

The message is visible to any user who has permission to view the record, including external partners and customers.

Use this option when:

• Messages communicate status updates relevant to external stakeholders
• Content should be transparent to all record participants
• Updates benefit from broad visibility across internal and external users
• Messages document publicly shareable decisions or progress

Target Group (Required for "Post in a Group" Only)

When posting to Collaboration Groups, use the group lookup to search for and select the target group.

The dropdown displays groups where:

• The selected sender is a member
• The sender has permissions to post
• The administrator configuring the task has access

If a desired group does not appear, verify the sender is a group member with posting permissions.

Recipient (Required for "Direct Message" Only)

When sending direct messages, use the user lookup to search for and select the recipient user.

Message (Required)

Compose the message content that will be posted or sent. The message field supports:

Plain Text: Enter text content directly into the message field.

@Mentions: Reference users or groups using @ symbol:

• Type @ followed by a user name to mention specific users
• Type # followed by a group name to mention groups
• Mentioned users receive notifications even if they are not following the record or group

File Attachments: Attach files to the message using the attachment interface. Attached files become available to message recipients and appear in the feed post.

Message Content Best Practices:

Clear Communication: Write messages in plain language that recipients understand. Avoid technical jargon or system terminology that may confuse users.

Actionable Information: Include relevant context and next steps if the message requires user action. For example, "Deal approved - please proceed with contract generation" rather than just "Status updated."

Professional Tone: Maintain consistent professional tone appropriate for your organization's culture and the message audience.

Concise Content: Keep messages brief and focused. Long automated messages may be ignored or skimmed by busy users.

Merge Fields: While the message field supports text entry, it does not support merge fields or dynamic content insertion. Message content is static and identical for all Automation executions.

Saving the Feed/Message Task

After configuring all settings:

1. Review all configuration for accuracy
2. Verify the sender has appropriate permissions for the selected message type and target
3. Confirm message content is clear and appropriate
4. Check that @mentions reference correct users or groups
5. Click Save

The Feed/Message task is added to the Automation's task list and will execute according to its sequence number when the Automation triggers.

If validation errors occur:

• Check that Name is provided
• Verify Sequence is a valid number
• Confirm a Sender is selected
• Ensure Message Type is selected
• Verify required fields for selected message type are completed (Visibility, Group, or Recipient)
• Confirm message content is not empty

Understanding Feed/Message Task Behavior

Task Execution

When the Automation criteria are met and the Feed/Message task's sequence is reached:

1. The system validates sender permissions for the target (record, group, or recipient user)
2. The message content is prepared with @mentions converted to proper user/group references
3. The message is posted to the target feed or sent as a direct message
4. Attached files are associated with the message
5. Notifications are sent to relevant users according to their preferences

Message posting occurs immediately during Automation execution. There is no delay or queuing for feed messages.

Notification Delivery

After messages are posted, notifications are delivered according to user preferences and message type:

Record Feed Posts:

• All record followers receive notifications according to their feed notification preferences
• @Mentioned users receive notifications even if they are not followers
• Notification timing depends on user settings (immediate, digest, or disabled)

Group Feed Posts:

• All group members receive notifications according to their group notification preferences
• @Mentioned users receive additional notifications highlighting the mention
• Group notification frequency affects delivery timing (immediate, daily, weekly, or never)

Direct Messages:

• Only the recipient receives the private message
• Direct message notifications are typically immediate
• Recipient can view the message in their messaging interface

Message Visibility and Access

After messages are posted, visibility depends on message type and settings:

Record Posts - Share Internally:

• Visible to employee users with record access
• Hidden from partner and customer users
• Appears in record feed with "Internal Only" indicator

Record Posts - Share with Anyone:

• Visible to all users with record access
• Includes internal employees, partners, and customers
• Appears in record feed without visibility restrictions

Group Posts:

• Visible to all group members
• Respects group privacy settings (public vs. private groups)
• Non-members cannot view messages even if they have record access

Direct Messages:

• Visible only to sender and recipient
• Private and confidential
• Not visible on any public feeds or to other users

Failed Message Posts

Message posting may fail if:

• The entity does not support feed tracking
• The sender is inactive or suspended
• The sender lacks permissions to access the record, group, or recipient
• The target group is deleted or the sender is no longer a member
• The recipient user is inactive (for Direct Messages)
• Direct Message is attempted between non-Employee users
• Message content is empty or contains validation errors

Integration with Social Collaboration

Feed/Message tasks integrate with Mingle social collaboration features to enable comprehensive automated communication:

@Mention Notifications

Users and groups @mentioned in automated messages receive special notification handling:

• @Mentioned users receive notifications even if they do not follow the record or belong to the group
• Mention notifications typically override user "only mentions" preference settings
• Multiple users can be @mentioned in a single message for broad stakeholder engagement
• Group @mentions notify all group members about the reference

Use @mentions strategically in automated messages to ensure critical stakeholders receive notifications regardless of their following status.

Coordination with Follow Tasks

Feed/Message tasks work optimally when sequenced after Follow tasks:

1. Follow task subscribes stakeholders to the record (lower sequence number)
2. Feed/Message task posts a message to the record (higher sequence number)
3. Newly subscribed followers immediately receive notifications about the posted message

This coordination ensures automated messages reach intended audiences without requiring manual follow actions.

File Attachments and Resources

Messages with file attachments make resources immediately available to recipients:

• Attached files appear in the feed post
• Recipients can download or preview attachments directly from the feed
• Files become part of the record's file library or group resources
• File access respects user permissions and visibility settings

Use file attachments for automated distribution of reports, documents, or reference materials relevant to the workflow event.

See Mingle documentation for detailed information about feed features, @mentions, notifications, and social collaboration capabilities.

Common Use Cases

Deal Approval Notifications: When a deal registration status changes to "Approved," post a message on the record feed (Share with anyone) congratulating the partner and providing next steps. @Mention the partner account owner to ensure they receive notification about approval and can guide the partner through fulfillment.

Escalation Audit Trail: When a support case priority changes to "Critical," post an internal-only message on the case record documenting the escalation, timestamp, and triggering conditions. This creates an automatic audit trail visible to support staff for case history and quality assurance reviews.

Team Broadcast Updates: When quarterly goals are updated in a business planning record, post a message in the "Sales Team" Collaboration Group announcing the new targets and linking to the updated plan. This ensures all sales team members receive immediate notification about goal changes.

Onboarding Welcome Messages: When a new partner user is created, send a Direct Message to the user's assigned partner manager welcoming them to review the new partner's profile and initiate outreach. This provides private notification to the manager without broadcasting the new user creation publicly.

Milestone Achievement Recognition: When a partner completes a certification journey phase, post a message in the "Certified Partners" group congratulating them on the achievement and @mentioning the partner by name. This provides public recognition and encourages peer engagement in the certification community.

Compliance Deadline Reminders: When a compliance record approaches its due date (detected by Automation date criteria), post an internal message on the record @mentioning the compliance officer and listing required actions. This creates a documented reminder visible in the record feed for tracking and follow-up.

Best Practices

Use Dedicated System Users as Senders: Create and use system user accounts (e.g., "Automation Bot," "System Notifier") rather than individual employee accounts as message senders. This clearly identifies automated communications, maintains consistency when staff changes, and prevents confusion about message authorship.

Default to Internal Visibility: When posting record messages, default to "Share internally" unless there is a specific business reason to expose messages to external users. Internal visibility prevents accidental sharing of system-generated content that may contain technical details or internal terminology confusing to partners or customers.

Write Clear, Actionable Messages: Compose message content in plain language that recipients understand immediately. Include relevant context and specific next steps if action is required. Avoid technical jargon, system field names, or cryptic status codes that require interpretation.

Use @Mentions Strategically: @Mention specific users when you need to ensure they receive notifications regardless of following status. Do not over-use @mentions, as excessive mentions can cause notification fatigue. Reserve @mentions for truly important stakeholder notifications that require attention.

Coordinate with Follow Tasks: Sequence Feed/Message tasks after Follow tasks to ensure newly subscribed followers receive notifications about automated messages. Use lower sequence numbers for Follow tasks and higher sequence numbers for Feed/Message tasks to establish proper notification timing.

Verify Sender Permissions: Before activating Automations, verify sender users have appropriate permissions to access target records, post to selected groups, and send messages to designated recipients. Test with sample records to ensure messages post successfully. Permission changes after configuration can cause previously functional tasks to fail.

Keep Messages Concise: Write brief, focused messages that busy users can quickly scan and understand. Long automated messages are often ignored or skimmed. If extensive information must be communicated, consider posting a brief message with a link to detailed documentation rather than lengthy feed posts.

Test Message Formatting: Before activating Automations, test message content including @mentions and file attachments with sample records. Verify that mentions display correctly when posted (not as IDs), attachments are accessible, and overall message formatting appears as intended to recipients.

Document Message Purpose: Use the Description field extensively to explain why automated messages are posted, what information they communicate, and what business purpose they serve. Clear documentation helps administrators maintain message strategies as workflows evolve and stakeholder needs change.

Troubleshooting

Messages Not Being Posted: If messages do not appear when Automations trigger, verify the Automation is active, rule criteria match the triggering record, the entity supports feed tracking (TrackFeeds = true), the sender user exists and is active, the sender has permissions to access the target (record, group, or recipient), and the task's sequence number is correct.

Sender Permission Errors: If Feed/Message tasks fail with permission errors, verify the sender can access the entity record triggering the Automation, the sender is a member of the target group with posting permissions (for group posts), the sender has Direct Message permissions (for direct messages), and the sender's Security Role grants necessary feed access. Test sender access manually before investigating Automation configuration.

Recipients Not Receiving Notifications: If messages are posted but recipients do not receive notifications, verify users have not disabled feed notifications in their personal preferences, users follow the record or belong to the group (unless @mentioned), user email addresses are valid and current, and external email services are functioning properly. Remember that Feed/Message tasks post content but do not override user notification preferences.

@Mentions Not Working: If @mentions do not generate notifications or display as IDs rather than names, verify mention syntax uses correct @ or # symbols followed by user or group names, mentioned users exist and are active, mentioned groups exist and are accessible, and test mentions in manual feed posts to confirm system mention functionality is working. @Mention display issues during configuration are normal but should resolve when messages are actually posted.

Direct Messages Failing: If Direct Message tasks fail, verify both sender and recipient are Employee users (Direct Messages do not work with Partner or Customer users), recipient user exists and is active, sender has permissions to send Direct Messages, and recipient has not blocked the sender. Consider using record posts with internal visibility instead of Direct Messages if employee-only restriction is problematic.

Wrong Visibility Applied: If messages are visible to unexpected audiences, review Message Visibility settings for record posts ("Share internally" vs. "Share with anyone"), verify group privacy settings for group posts, confirm Direct Message configuration for private communications, and check that message type selection matches intended distribution. Test visibility with sample users from different user types (employee, partner, customer) before broad deployment.

Group Not Available in Selector: If the desired group does not appear in the group lookup, verify the sender is a member of the target group, the sender has permissions to post to the group, the group exists and is active, you have administrator permissions to access the group, and the group has not been deleted or archived. Add the sender to the group or select a different sender who is already a member.

File Attachments Not Appearing: If attached files do not appear in posted messages, verify file uploads completed successfully during task configuration, file sizes are within system limits, file formats are supported by the portal, and recipients have permissions to access attached files based on their record or group access. Re-upload files if attachments are missing after configuration.

See Troubleshooting Automations documentation for additional problem resolution guidance.

Related Documentation

Supporting Resources:

• Mingle (Feed and Messaging)
• Groups (Social Collaboration)

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