Event notifications
What this page is — the email and WhatsApp invitations a calendar sends when an event is created or changed.
What it is for — making sure the people on an event actually hear about it.
The problem it solves — an event nobody was told about is a note to yourself. Notifications are per calendar, so a calendar with no connection silently tells nobody.
Route: a calendar's settings → Communication Channels · Permission: Edit Orbit calendar
1. Notifications are per calendar
Each calendar chooses its own connections. Two calendars in the same project can send through different mailboxes, or one can send and the other stay silent.
A calendar with no email or WhatsApp connection records participants and sends nothing. Nothing on the event says so. If people report never hearing about events, check this section first.
2. What gets sent, and when
| When | Who gets it |
|---|---|
| An event is created | Its participants, its assignee, and its creator |
| An event is changed | The same people, as an update to the original invitation rather than a new one |
| A public booking is made | The guest who booked |
Updates replace the original where the receiving system supports it, so an invitation is not duplicated in somebody's calendar each time you move an event.
3. Email
Choose a connection under Email Communication. Connections are created in Comm Channels; this screen only chooses between the ones that exist.
4. WhatsApp
WhatsApp messages are sent from an approved template, not free text. Choose:
| Field | Type | Required | Holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connection | Picker | Yes, to send | The WhatsApp connection |
| Template name | Picker | Yes, to send | The approved message template |
| Language | Picker | Yes, to send | The template's language |
| Variable mapping | Field pairs | As the template requires | Which event details fill each placeholder |
Only participants with a phone number receive WhatsApp. Everyone else is skipped silently.
5. Field reference
| Field | Type | Required | Holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email Communication | Switch + picker | No | Whether to send email, and through which connection |
| WhatsApp Communication | Switch + picker | No | Whether to send WhatsApp, and through which connection |
6. Don't confuse this with…
| Comm Channels | Where connections are created and authorised. This screen only selects one |
| Orbit-wide notifications | The bell in the app header is a different system |
7. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Nobody receives anything | No connection is set on that calendar — §1 |
| Some people get WhatsApp, others do not | Only participants with a phone number can |
| A WhatsApp message did not send | The template, language or variable mapping is incomplete |
| The invitation shows an odd sender | The connection's own configuration, in Comm Channels |
More in troubleshooting.