Email Notifications

Multiforum supports email notifications to keep users informed about activity on their content. The platform supports two email providers: Resend (default) and SendGrid.

Notification Types

Users receive email notifications for:

Notification	Description
Comment Replies	When someone replies to your comment
Discussion Comments	When someone comments on your discussion
Event Comments	When someone comments on your event
Feedback	When a moderator gives feedback on your content
Mentions	When someone @mentions you in a comment or discussion
Issue Updates	When there's activity on a moderation issue you're subscribed to
Event Updates	When an event you're attending is modified or canceled
Suspension Notices	When your actions are blocked due to suspension

Setting Up Email

Option 1: Resend (Recommended)

Resend is a modern transactional email service with a generous free tier.

1. Create an account at resend.com
2. Add and verify your sending domain
3. Create an API key
4. Configure environment variables:

EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend
RESEND_API_KEY=re_xxxxxxxxxx
EMAIL_FROM=noreply@your-domain.com

Option 2: SendGrid

SendGrid is a widely-used email service with robust deliverability.

1. Create an account at sendgrid.com
2. Verify your sending domain or single sender
3. Create an API key with Mail Send permissions
4. Configure environment variables:

EMAIL_PROVIDER=sendgrid
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG.xxxxxxxxxx
EMAIL_FROM=noreply@your-domain.com

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
EMAIL_PROVIDER	resend (default) or sendgrid
RESEND_API_KEY	Your Resend API key (if using Resend)
SENDGRID_API_KEY	Your SendGrid API key (if using SendGrid)
EMAIL_FROM	The sender email address
SUPPORT_EMAIL	Email address for support-related notifications

How Notifications Work

Real-Time Comment Notifications

The notification system uses Neo4j's Change Data Capture (CDC) to detect new comments in real-time:

1. User creates a comment
2. Neo4j CDC triggers a commentCreated event
3. Backend service receives the event
4. Service queries for full comment context
5. Determines notification recipients
6. Sends both email and in-app notifications

This approach ensures:

• No events are missed during high load
• Fast API responses (notifications are asynchronous)
• Automatic recovery from temporary failures

Notification Content

Each notification includes:

• Who created the content
• What they commented on or did
• A snippet of the content
• A direct link (permalink) to view it

User Settings

Users can control their notification preferences in Account Settings:

Setting	Default	Description
notifyOnReplyToCommentByDefault	true	Notify when someone replies to my comments
notifyOnReplyToDiscussionByDefault	true	Notify when someone comments on my discussions
notifyOnReplyToEventByDefault	true	Notify when someone comments on my events
notifyWhenTagged	true	Notify when @mentioned
notifyOnSubscribedIssueUpdates	true	Notify on subscribed issue activity
notifyOnFeedback	true	Notify when receiving moderator feedback
notifyOnSuspensionBlocks	true	Notify when actions are blocked by suspension

Notification Bundling

To prevent notification spam, users can enable bundling:

Setting	Description
notificationBundleEnabled	Enable/disable notification bundling
notificationBundleInterval	How often to send bundled notifications

Troubleshooting

Emails Not Sending

1. Verify API key is correct
2. Check that EMAIL_FROM domain is verified with your provider
3. Check backend logs for error messages
4. Verify the email provider service is not experiencing outages

Emails Going to Spam

1. Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your domain
2. Use a consistent EMAIL_FROM address
3. Avoid spam trigger words in notification content
4. Build sender reputation by starting with low volume

Missing Notifications

1. Check user's notification preferences
2. Verify the notification service is running
3. Check Neo4j CDC is enabled and working
4. Review backend logs for notification creation errors

Testing

During development, you can:

1. Use Resend's test mode (emails go to dashboard only)
2. Set up a test email account
3. Check backend logs for notification creation
4. Verify in-app notifications appear in the user's notification list