When a status is changed on a board, the time tracker is started. When the time tracker reaches x mins after the status change I want to trigger an email send.
Is there any way to do this with a Pro licence? And without using a 3rd party integration?
The only alternate i can see is to schedule the emails to be sent at a static time each day, if certain criteria are met…
You’ve hit upon a common limitation with most project management tools, including those with “Pro” licenses, when it comes to time-based triggers without external integrations. Directly triggering an email based on a relative time duration (like “x minutes after a status change”) is generally not a built-in feature.
Here’s a breakdown of why and what your options are:
Why Direct Time-Based Triggers Are Difficult:
Real-time Monitoring: Implementing a system that continuously monitors the elapsed time after every status change across all items on a board requires a high level of real-time processing and scheduling capabilities. This is often beyond the scope of core project management features.
Resource Intensity: Continuously checking time intervals for numerous items can be resource-intensive, potentially impacting performance.
Complexity: Providing a flexible interface to define arbitrary time durations and email actions adds significant complexity to the platform.
Your Options with a Pro License (Without 3rd Party Integrations):
Scheduled Emails with Static Time (Your Current Alternative):
This is the most feasible approach without integrations.
How it works:
You’d need to set up a scheduled process (if your platform allows) or manually trigger a script/action at a fixed time each day.
This process would then scan the board for items that:
Have a status change within the relevant timeframe (e.g., within the last 24 hours).
Meet the criteria for triggering the email (e.g., status is “Pending Review”).
The elapsed time from the status change is greater than or equal to ‘x’ minutes.
If the criteria are met, the email is sent.
Limitations:
It’s not truly real-time. Emails are sent at the scheduled time, not precisely ‘x’ minutes after the status change.
The time accuracy depends on the scheduling frequency. If scheduled once per day, the email could be sent many hours late.
if the time value of x is small, then this method is very inefficent.
Using Built-in Automation (If Available):
Some platforms with “Pro” licenses may have advanced automation features that allow for more complex workflows.
Check for:
“Custom Automation” or “Advanced Rules” that might support conditional logic based on date/time fields.
The ability to create calculated date/time fields that store the “status change time + x minutes.”
If the platform has the ability to trigger actions based on date/time fields, then you could set the trigger to the calculated date/time field.
Limitations:
This is highly dependant on the features of the platform being used.
Even if the platform has these features, the complexity of the automation might become very high.
Regards,
Tisha
EZ Pass CT