Recurring messages

Recurring messages allow you to schedule a message for repeated delivery to any number of conversations.

ℹ️ Conversations include:

• Direct messages with other users
• Multi-person direct messages (group messages)
• Private channels
• Public channels

Nightowl offers optional timezone settings that do the math behind the scenes to help teams with a global footprint.

• Convert

• Convert delivery time to local timezones for channels and users.

  Local time for channels is the top timezone among channel members.

• Postpone

• Postpone your message until 9am local time for a recipient if the selected time is in the past for that recipient.

ℹ️ ### Using these options can vary the time of delivery for each recipient.

To configure a recurring message:

• Head to the Nightowl app home – make sure you are on the Home tab.
• Navigate to the Recurring Messages section and click ⚙ New button.

Configuration

• Choose either or both of the timezone settings.

  These settings are optional.

• Choose a schedule type:

• Weekly

  Repeat on specific day(s) every _ week(s).

  • Select the number of weeks between messages and the weekday(s) on which the message should be delivered.

• Custom

  • Select the day(s), month(s), and weekday(s) on which the message should be delivered.

• Set the delivery hour and minute.

• Select a delivery window.

  This setting is optional.

• Choose the timezone on which this message should be based.

  This field will auto-populate with your current timezone.

⚠️ The interval between recurring messages cannot be greater than 120 days.

After configuring your settings, click Next to compose your message.

Message

ℹ️ Use the ⚙ Edit configuration button to return to the previous modal.

• Enter one or more conversations to BCC.

  When more than one conversation is selected, semicolons will be used as delimiters to display the recipients after the message is created.

  E.g. a message to separately selected DM recipients @Jack, @Jill, and @Jen will show asBCC: @Jack; @Jill; @Jen whereas selecting a group DM between you, @Jack, and @Jill in addition to a separately selected DM with @Jen will appear as BCC: @Jack, @Jill; @Jen.

• Compose your message.
• Optionally enable the insertion of recipient mentions.

  The variable {@} will be replaced with a user tag in DMs and @here in other conversations.

• Select whether or not to show the recipient(s) that this message is from Nightowl.

  Default selection can be modified in App Settings****

• Select whether or not to show previews of linked content in messages containing URLs.

  Default selection can be modified in App Settings****

Click Schedule to set your recurring message for delivery.

ℹ️ Recurring messages will generate the next scheduled message for delivery following initial configuration and after each resulting scheduled message is delivered.

ℹ️ All Nightowl messages are sent from your user.

Recipients will not be able to tell that you did not send the message.

After creating a recurring message, it can be deleted, modified, or converted to another item type.

• Click 💣 Delete to cancel the recurring schedule remove the message.

⚠️ The scheduled message generated by the recurring message will also be deleted.

The same is true if the recurring message is deleted using one of the overflow menu actions with the Delete original option selected.

• The following actions are available in the overflow (...) menu:

• 🖋 Edit

  • Edit the recipients, day(s), month(s), and weekday(s), delivery date/time, and/or the message body

• 📬 Send now

  • Send the message now and optionally delete the original recurring message

    The recipient(s) and message body can be edited

• 📃 Save draft

  • Save the message as a draft and optionally delete the original recurring message

    The recipient(s) and message body can be edited

• 👥 Create group

  • Create a recipient group and optionally delete the original recurring message

    The recipient(s) can be edited

Delivery window

The optional delivery window can be used to stagger message delivery so that recipients do not all receive your message simultaneously. The window begins at the scheduled delivery time. Messages will be spread evenly throughout the window prior to any timezone adjustments.

Original timezone

When your timezone changes due to travel, recurring messages respect the timezone used when the message was created. If there is a difference between your current timezone and the timezone used when the message was created, a field titled Next: (original timezone) will be shown. The Scheduled for field is always shown in your current timezone.

Generated scheduled messages

Recurring messages generate scheduled messages at each recurring interval. These scheduled messages have some important differences to consider relative to scheduled messages created manually.

• Scheduled messages generated by recurring messages will be tagged as 🔗 Generated by a Recurring Message.
• Deleting or editing a scheduled message that was generated by a recurring message will not edit or delete the recurring message.
• Instead, this will cause the recurring message to proceed to the next interval.
• I.e. if a recurring message is set to deliver every Friday, editing or deleting this Friday's scheduled message will cause the recurring message to create a new scheduled message for next Friday.