Minimum necessary information

Notifications and communication

Notify people about assessment events without placing credentials, answer content, evidence, or complete results in the message.

Platform ownerAssessment administrator

Who does thisPlatform owner configures channels; assessment administrators manage approved events

Before you startRecipient identities and at least one tested channel are available

Successful outcomeAuditable notices that direct recipients back to authorized ExamNova pages

Assessment integration flow. External IDs enter through validated runs; only finalized results leave through controlled exports.

What this means in plain language

A notification should tell a person that something needs attention and provide a safe route back to ExamNova. The protected page—not the message—makes the final access decision.

Step-by-step

Configure sender identity, SMTP host, port, encryption, username, and secret in the protected settings screen.
Send a test message to an approved test mailbox and confirm delivery, sender identity, links, and time zone.
Choose approved event templates and include only the minimum useful context.
Preview student, guardian, staff, and security messages separately.
Enable events gradually and review delivered, skipped, and failed statuses.
Investigate repeated failures without logging or exposing provider secrets.

ExamNova mail channel settings — **Live seeded-demo screen.** Administrators enter provider-neutral SMTP settings and test delivery.

ExamNova settings components — **Live seeded-demo screen.** Communication and security settings are grouped for review.

ExamNova notifications screen — **Live seeded-demo screen.** Authorized staff review delivery and activity status.

ExamNova communication templates — **Live seeded-demo screen.** Approved templates keep sensitive assessment data on protected pages.

How to know it worked

A test message arrives with the correct sender and canonical HTTPS link.
Templates contain no answer keys, passwords, private evidence, or full result payloads.
Failure and skip statuses are visible to authorized staff.
Following a message link still requires normal authorization.

Common mistakes

Using third-party example credentials in production.
Including sensitive results directly in email or SMS.
Treating successful queueing as proof of provider delivery.

If something goes wrong

Confirm provider-neutral SMTP values against the provider’s current official documentation.
Check encryption/port pairing, sender verification, DNS policy, queue execution, and application logs.
Use the provider message ID and redacted recipient when escalating delivery issues.

Privacy and security: Messages can leave the application boundary. Include only enough information to prompt a secure sign-in and follow institutional consent and retention rules.

What to do next

Use the troubleshooting guide for delivery, access, scheduling, import, or publication problems.