How to Set up a Send Email Element in Jotform Workflows

Including an Email element in an approval workflow is crucial for improving communication and efficiency. For processes like expense approvals, leave requests, facility use, volunteer applications, and help desk tickets, automated emails notify requesters and key parties about approvals, denials, or the need for further action. This keeps everyone updated on important decisions, streamlines tasks, and ensures a smooth flow of information, helping manage requests more effectively.

Adding Email Elements

Follow these simple steps to add automated emails to your workflow:

1. In Workflow Builder, click on Add Elements on the left side of the screen to open the Workflow Elements menu.
2. Under the Basic tab, drag and drop or click the Email element to add it to your workflow.

3. Next, draw a flow line to and from the Email element to connect it to other elements. See How to Add and Connect Elements in Jotform Workflows to learn more.

Now that you’ve set this up, you can enhance your approval workflow’s efficiency, keep everyone informed, and ensure quick, clear communication at every step.

Workflow Email Properties

When you click the Email element on the Workflow Builder, then hit the Mail icon beside it, the Email Properties window opens, where you can customize the subject, content, set reply-to and recipient emails, and handle attachments for your workflow emails.

You’ll find three tabs in the Email Properties window: Email, Sender, and Advanced.

Email

On the Email tab, you can personalize the subject and content of the workflow email, since not every email has the same purpose. Use the Form Fields dropdown to include form field values in your message, making it more engaging. You can also add approval comments from the Approval Fields dropdown.

Recipients

On the Recipient tab, you can set the sender name, reply-to email, and recipient email for an Email element. The Reply-to Email should be your address, a colleague’s, or whoever handles responses after approval or denial. To inform requestors about their request status, select the email field from your form for the Recipient Email. If you need to send the email to specific individuals or departments, enter their email addresses directly in the Recipient Email.

Advanced

On the Advanced tab, you can set up file attachment options for the workflow email. You can also automatically hide empty form fields in the email content and set your preferred sender email address.

Here’s a summary of what each Advanced setting for the Email element in your workflow does:

• Send File Uploads as Attachments — Enable this to include files uploaded to your form as attachments to the workflow email.
• Attach PDF — Enable this to send the PDF copy of the submission to the workflow email as an attachment.
• Attach File — This allows you to upload and attach external files to the workflow email.
• Hide Empty Fields — Keep this enabled to exclude form fields that were left empty during submission from the workflow email content.
• Sender Email — Initially set to one of Jotform’s default sender email addresses. You can select a custom sender email address for your workflow email by adding it to your account using SMTP. See How to Set up SMTP for a Form for additional information.