How do I allow end-users to subscribe to be notified when an answer is updated?

Environment:

Answers - Notifications, Customer Portal
Oracle B2C Service, Oracle RightNow Cloud Service, Answer Knowledge Base

Resolution:

The Oracle B2C Service end-user pages are configured by default to allow site visitors the opportunity to subscribe to be notified when answers are updated.  This allows your users to flag which answers are of greatest interest to them so that they can be aware of changes to the answer.

From the administration pages, the knowledge engineer can override the email notification from being sent out if the nature of the update is minor, such as for typographical errors or minor edits. When saving the answer, the knowledge engineer can set the Notify Subscribers menu to Do Not Notify and the answer update notification will not be sent. For more information on the Notify Subscribers field, refer to Answer ID 1356: Notify Subscriber Field.

In addition, you can also configure your site to allow users to subscribe to receive update notifications on all answers associated with a specific product or category. Subscribers are also notified when new answers are published that are associated to the product or category.

Two widgets affect the answer notification functionality in your end-user pages:

• The AnswerNotificationIcon widget enables the ability for end-users to subscribe to an answer. This widget is included by default in the answers/detail.php file:
   
            <rn:widget path="standard/notifications/AnswerNotificationIconIcon" />
   
  When included in a file, the Notify Me option displays for logged in users.
   
• The Prod/CatNotificationManager widget allows users the ability to subscribe to all answers assigned to a selected product or category. This widget is included by default in the account/notif/list.php file:
   
            <rn:widget path="standard/notifications/ProdCatNotificationManager"/>
   

There are also configuration settings that must be enabled as well. The first two enable notifications for answers and for products and categories.  If they are not enabled, no email will be sent when an answer is updated or when an answer associated to a particular product or category that a contact has subscribed to is updated.

ANS_NOTIF_PROD_CAT_ENABLED
ANS_NOTIF_ENABLED

Next, this first one is when you want the subscription to notifications to expire.  The last is the unsubscribe url.
ANS_NOTIF_DURATION
CP_ANS_NOTIF_UNSUB_URL

To edit the above settings: Select Configuration > Site Configuration > Configuration Settings > search by Key. For more information, refer to Answer ID 1960: Editing configuration settings.

Additional Considerations

Below are additional considerations relating to the confirmation of Answer Update Notifications.

Length of subscriptions: 
By default, answer subscriptions are set to expire in 365 days.  You can set an amount of time for answer subscriptions to expire by editing the ANS_NOTIF_DURATION configuration setting to a value between 1 - 760 for the number of days you prefer.

A user can renew existing requests, which resets the duration to start from the date of the renewal request, by either clicking the 'Notify Me' option when viewing the answer or through the functionality under the Account Overview > Manage Notifications section in the end-user interface.

An end-user can also delete their answer subscriptions, per answer, from Account Overview > Manage Notifications on the end-user interface. Likewise, when they do receive a notification, there is a link in the email to then Unsubscribe if they wish. 

When the notification has expired, the end-user is sent an email if the following message template is enabled: "Answer Update Notification Expired" under Message Templates > Contact Emails. 

Enabling the notification emails: 
In order for end-users to receive the notification email, the Answer Update Notification message must be enabled in the site. To notify people that their subscription has expired, the Answer Update Notification Expired message must be enabled.  To check this, go to Configuration > Site Configuration > Message Templates > Choose the interface you want to enable messages for > select Contact Emails and expand the Answers section.

Troubleshooting answer notifications: 
In the event you receive a report that notifications are not sending and/or contacts are not receiving answer notification emails, refer to Answer ID 7753: Troubleshooting Answer Update Notifications not sending for tips on confirming proper configuration of this feature.