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Activating and applying the email integration

Working with external email providers can often be cumbersome and time-consuming as you constantly need to copy and paste emails to other tools or forward them individually to your colleagues. Therefore, use email integration to automatically forward emails to a specific location in Stackfield. This way, you'll ensure that all relevant information will stay available to all authorized users in one central place.

Alternative to email integration: API / WebHooks

Tip: In case of frequent exchange, see: How do I work with people outside my company?

Notes: Individual functions may not be available due to settings on organization / room level (keyword: assigned right group -> room admin)! The email integration is generally available in rooms with no End-to-End encryption within the Premium plan and Enterprise plan. (See: Options for Admins)

Convert email into task, discussion or message

The automated forwarding of emails to rooms as individual elements can be used for various purposes. Be creative and optimate your processes by automating them as well as possible. Yet, we listed some exemplary occasions for you that will benefit from the email integration:

Procedure

Quick guide:
  1. Allow the email integration in the organization settings.
  2. Open the Integrations tab in the room settings.
  3. Select the option "Set up new Email forwarding".
  4. Define the form the email should be created in.
  5. Generate the target address.
  6. Forward the email from your external email service to the target address.

To be able to use the email integration, you have to enable it in the organization settings. Afterward, you can also activate the email integration in the room settings to add emails as new items to the room.

To do so, click on the Integrations tab and select the "Set up new Email forwarding" button under "Forwarding of emails to Stackfield".

New email forwarding
Set up new email forwarding in the room settings

In the opened menu, define in which form (task, chat message, or discussion) the email address should be created. By clicking "Create forwarding" you confirm your selection.

Element forwarding
Set the type of element to be created

Now, you have your own target address to forward emails directly to Stackfield. Of course, it is possible to create multiple target addresses to have target addresses for multiple module types within a room.

Display

If emails are forwarded to the target address, the majority of the email content will be adopted within the final entry:

Email -> Entry Tasks Chat messages Discussions
Subject -> Title x x
Content* -> Description / Content of the entry x x x
Attached file -> Attached file x x** x

*including all key data: sender and recipient address, subject
**are created loosely in the chat history

Email content
Email to be forwarded

Note: All forwarded emails that are created as tasks automatically receive the status defined in the first status column (default: to do).

Forwarded email
Final entry (here: task)
Forwarded email file
Attached file in the created task

Note: Not all file types can be recognized and forwarded by the e-mail integration (see: Accepted file types).

Attach email as comment to task or discussion

Instead of converting emails into whole module elements, you can also add them as comments to existing tasks / discussions by activating the email integration directly within the entry. Here, we listed some exemplary occasions for you that will benefit from the email integration within entries:

  • Longer-term tasks / discussions* that involve heavy email traffic
  • Collaborations with external partners / customers
  • Application processes for pending vacancies

*Note: The email integration cannot be activated within chat messages.

Procedure

Quick guide:
  1. Allow the email integration in the organization settings.
  2. Click on the More button (symbol: "Three dots") in the opened task / discussion.
  3. Select the "Show Email Address" option.
  4. Use the slider to activate the entry's email address.
  5. Generate the target address.
  6. Forward the email from your external email service to the target address.

To be able to use the email integration, you have to enable it in the organization settings. Afterward, you can open the required entry and click on the More button (symbol: "Three dots") in the upper right corner. Now, select the option "Show Email Address".

Email integration task 1
Select the "Show Email Address" function via the More button (in the opened entry)

In the opened dialog window, use the slider to activate the email integration and you will be given an email address (/ target address) for the entry to which you can forward emails in the future.

Email integration task 2
Enable email integration via the slider

Display

Files attached to the email are also attached to the element*. The text of the email including all key data, such as subject, sender, and time, appears in the form of a comment.

Email to be forwarded
Email to be forwarded
Final entry
Final entry: here task

*Note: Not all file types can be recognized and forwarded by the e-mail integration (see: Accepted file types).

Usage of the email integration for End-to-End encrypted rooms

If communication through rooms without End-to-End encryption is not possible due to valuable contents, we recommend creating an room with deactivated End-to-End encryption that functions as a collective mailbox. All elements that are created via the email integration can then easily be moved to the required End-to-End encrypted room.

Procedure

Quick guide:
  1. Create an room with no End-to-End encryption.
  2. Enable the email integration for the required items.
  3. Create automatic forwardings in your email account.
  4. Move the elements** into the End-to-End encrypted room by right-clicking.

Create a new room without End-to-End encryption on Stackfield, which in future will act as a central mailbox for all incoming emails.

Create a room without End-to-End encyprion
The room serving as a collective mailbox must without End-to-End encyprion

Now decide how you want to forward emails to Stackfield and activate the email integration for the respective element(s) in the room settings.

Next, create one or more automatic forwardings* in your email account and enter the target address(es) that Stackfield has generated for your forwardings. Now, all necessary emails are automatically forwarded to your Stackfield mailbox.

Automatic forwarding
Create automatic forwardings (e. g. Gmail)

Finally, move the individual elements** into the intended (End-to-End encrypted) room by right-clicking the element and selecting the option "Move to...".

Move element
Move elements to the intended room

*Reading tips:

**Note: It is not possible to move chat messages to other rooms. Only tasks and discussions, as well as individual files, can be moved.

Further notes, tips and use cases

Accepted file types

The following file types are recognized by the email integration: pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, csv, ppt, pptx, txt, one, bmp, jpeg, jpg, png, zip, rar, 7z, ics, odt, ods, odp, odf, odg, odc, odi, odm, .wav and mp3

All other file attachments will be filtered out. In this case, a corresponding note for all users will appear in the affected task / discussion / message / comment: "The Attachment "abc.xy" was filtered out"

Filtered file
Not all file types are forwarded by the email integration

Store the target addresses with keywords in your contacts

Store target addresses
Email addresses stored as contacts are suggested in the address line

To avoid having to copy target addresses out of Stackfield all the time, it is recommended to store them in the contacts of your own email provider*.

You can add keywords as names and/or prefix them directly to the target address. This way, the target address will be suggested to you directly as soon as you enter the keyword(s) in the address line.

a recommended keyword can be a room name, a topic, an element type (e.g. task), and / or a date. (Tip: Make sure that the keywords are clearly named!)

Example: jobs_munich_trainee_testing_task_2020-01_c11b111-1111-11cc-b111-1e11c11d1111@mail-stackfield.com

*Reading tips:

Use Case: Sick notes

You can, for example, forward sick notes from employees in the form of a message (if it is just for informational purposes) or as a task for the HR department to process (see: Hello there, Email Integration!).

Sick notes
Forwarded sick note

Support requests

Stackfield's Kanban Board is the perfect place for a ticket system for support requests. To optimize the support process you can forward incoming customer requests to Stackfield as tasks (see: Hello there, Email Integration!).

Support requests
Support requests from emails in the Kanban Board

Use Case: Application processes

To get an overview of all incoming applications for open vacancies, you can, for example, create single tasks for all open positions and activate the target address for each task (see: Hello there, Email Integration!).

Application processes
Display an overview of all incoming applications in one task

Options for admins

At organization level

To be able to use the email integration, it must be enabled in the organization settings. Activate the slider next to "Email" in the tab Integrations.

Email integration admin
Activate the email integration within the organization settings

At room level

Only a room admin has access to the room settings and can therefore set up new email forwardings.

Note: Entries created by the email integration do not count as self-created entries, but as third-party entries and are therefore also taken into account in the right groups. This means that you can only delete such an entry if you have the authority to delete all entries in the room.

If the email is attached to a task or discussion as a comment, the user needs at least the right to modify / delete their own messages in order to modify / delete the comment from the email service.

Right group to delete messages
Corresponding right group for deleting messages
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