Introduction
For many SharePoint users, built-in alerts are helpful but limited. They allow notifications for item additions or changes, but lack flexibility, conditional targeting, or advanced scheduling. That's why Infowise Ultimate Forms contains an Alerts component. It's an advanced alerting tool that extends SharePoint alerts with powerful customization, logic-driven triggers, and smarter delivery options. With it, Infowise Ultimate Forms delivers an essential upgrade for anyone relying on SharePoint notifications.
Why Upgrade from Built-In SharePoint Alerts?
- Broader recipient support: Send alerts to both internal and external email addresses - not just SharePoint users.
- Conditional logic: Define precise criteria so alerts only fire when relevant conditions are met.
- Schedule-based alerts: Trigger notifications relative to date columns or recurring intervals - flexible timing.
- Template customization: Use rich templates to craft branded, informative messages while integrating SharePoint data.
- Multi-item alerts: Aggregate events into digest emails or detailed individual alerts.
Infowise Ultimate Forms covers all the basics and far surpasses SharePoint's native feature set, making it a go-to solution for professional alert management. And with the built-in alerts in SharePoint Online are soon to be discontinued, it provides a rich alternative, without the need for custom development.
How Ultimate Forms Integrates with SharePoint
Ultimate Forms is fully integrated within SharePoint. Once installed, you’ll see a new “Add Alert” button in any list toolbar - replacing the standard alert creation experience with a far richer interface.
Alerts Anywhere You Need Them
Whether you're in list, a document library, or within Infowise form configuration, Alerts' options are immediately accessible - making it intuitive and simple to replace standard alerts whenever you need.
Internal and External Alerts
One of Ultimate Forms' standout features is its ability to send notifications to anyone - employees, managers, or partners via internal emails, and clients or suppliers via external addresses. This reduces reliance on complex permissions or additional SharePoint accounts when notifying people outside your organization.
Crafting Conditional Alerts
Want alerts only for tasks assigned to a certain manager? Or sales orders over a specific amount? Alerts lets you define conditions that filter alert triggers so notifications are relevant and targeted.
- Example: Send a purchase order alert only if the Order Amount is greater than $5,000.
- Example: Notify sales reps if pipeline status equals “At Risk”.
- Example: Send a follow-up alert only when a task remains “In Progress” for more than a week.
Schedule Your Alerts by Date or Recurrence
Beyond immediate notifications, Alerts supports alerts tied to date columns or recurring intervals - ideal for reminders or summary digests.
Date-Based Alerts
Select “According to date” and choose a date column (like Due Date). Then set the timing:
- Before or after the date column (e.g., 1 day before the due date).
- Exactly on the date (e.g., send alert on the due date).
- Repeating alerts (e.g., send daily reminders until a task is completed).
You can also send alerts for items with the date falling on Today, Tomorrow or This Week without the need to configure more complex rule and date ranges.
Recurring Digest Summaries
By default most alerts are delivered immediately. You can however choose to receive your alerts batched daily or weekly, to reduce the clutter in your inbox. When using the postponed delivery options, you can specify how you want to receiver your alert messages:
- Separate messages (one per item),
- Single combined message with full templates, or
- Summary mode - one-line entries per item in a simple list.
This allows you to send daily or weekly summaries of upcoming events or daily task reminders - all without manual effort.
A Detailed Walkthrough: Weekly Event Summary
Imagine your team manages a public events calendar in SharePoint. You want a summary email every week listing all events scheduled in the upcoming days. Here's how to set it up:
- Add a new alert in Ultimate Forms.
- Set conditions: “Start Time is this week.”
- Schedule a weekly alert: choose day of the week and hour to send.
- Select message format: summary mode works well here.
- Customize summary mode subject line, headers and footers under Administration.
- Save it. Now, every week, recipients get a polished overview of the week ahead.
Template Personalization
Alerts provides editable templates. Use the provided rich text editor to design:
- Company logos and colors
- Formatted item data - line items, bold headings, images
- Links back to the SharePoint item
Email templates support dynamic columns, such as [Title], [Due Date], [Assigned To], making alerts informative and actionable.
Advanced Features That Make Alerts Smarter
There is even more functionality built into Smart Alert Pro:
- Alert grouping: Combine multiple alerts into one consolidated email.
- Pause/resume scheduling: Temporarily disable alerts without deleting them.
- Dynamic recipient lists: Choose recipients based on item columns (e.g., manager column).
- External recipients: Send alerts to people without SharePoint accounts.
- Custom conditions: Alerts only fire when all conditions are valid or when required columns are present.
- Action buttons: include buttons within the email message to execute actions directly from your email (think approvals).
Live Alert Examples in Real Use Cases
Task Due Reminders for Project Teams
Project managers often request daily or weekly reminders summarizing upcoming or overdue tasks. With an Alerts configuration like:
Condition: Due Date is tomorrow or overdue
Schedule: Daily at 8:00 AM
Format: Summary mode
Recipient: Assigned To
your team receives concise reminders of their upcoming workload to stay on track.
Automated Contract Expiration Alerts
Legal departments maintain contract end dates. Send alerts 30 days before expiration, and every week after until renewal or closure.
Condition: End Date is in next 30 days AND Status is Active
Schedule: Weekly on Mondays at 9:00 AM
Format: Combined message
Recipients: Contract Manager
Inventory Re-Order Notifications
Manufacturing teams need to know when stock levels are low. With a SharePoint list tracking inventory:
Condition: Quantity < Reorder Threshold
Schedule: Daily at 7:00 AM
Recipients: Purchasing Team
This ensures proactive, timely restocking.
Setting Up Alerts Step-by-Step
- Install Ultimate Forms.
- Create a new alert: From list or document library toolbar.
- Define "What to Send": Choose events or date-based logic.
- Set conditions: Filter by form columns or user data.
- Schedule timing: immediate or postponed.
- Choose recipients: Static or based on columns.
- Choose email format: Separate, combined, or summary.
- Customize your template: Add rich text design and dynamic placeholders.
- Save and test: Verify trigger timing and layout.
Integrations and Ecosystem
Alerts is a part of the Infowise Ultimate Forms suite, which includes components like Forms, Actions, and Import. Combining these, you can build comprehensive, automated business workflows entirely within SharePoint - no code required.
For example, you could combine Alerts with Actions to send an alert when status columns is updated, or match alert notifications based on wizard mode progression in Forms.
Support and Educational Resources
Need help setting up Smart Alert Pro? Infowise provides a library of support:
- Training tutorials and how-to videos
- In-depth blog posts with real-world solutions
- Live and recorded webinars featuring expert use cases
- A gallery of prebuilt solutions to deploy immediately
- Responsive live support and dedicated documentation
Conclusion
Infowise Ultimate Forms empowers SharePoint sites with next-level alerting - covering rich recipient options, conditions, timing, templates, and group messaging. Its capabilities make it a valuable enhancement for any SharePoint business solution. Whether you're managing tasks, events, contracts, or inventory, Ultimate Forms helps you stay informed - and keeps your team on top of what matters.
To explore Ultimate Forms further, install a free 30 day trial in your own environment or in our sandbox (no permissions required).
