How Online and Offline Status Affects Email Notifications

Canvas uses an intelligent system that knows when you're online or offline in the dashboard. This helps reduce unnecessary email clutter while ensuring that you never miss a message when you're away.

Here’s how it works and how to check if your account is set up as expected.

🔁 How Online/Offline Status Works

The system checks whether you're actively viewing your messaging tab in the Canvas dashboard.

✅ Online = You’re logged in and have your messaging tab open and active
🚫 Offline = You’ve logged out, closed the tab, or navigated away from the messages view

✉️ When You’ll Receive Email Notifications

Status	Will You Get an Email?	Will You Get a Browser Notification?
Online	❌ No – we don’t send email to avoid clutter	✅ Yes – instant browser notification
Offline	✅ Yes – email & optional text sent	❌ No – you're no longer active in-session

💡 Tip: You’re considered offline if:

You log out of the dashboard
You close the tab
You navigate away from the page within the tab for more than a few seconds

✅ How to Test It Yourself

Stay logged in with the messaging tab open = No email
Log out or close the tab = You’ll receive the next message via email

This behaviour is intentional—clients don’t want duplicate messages, and inboxes can quickly become overwhelming.

🧠 Why We Designed It This Way

Emails are becoming less reliable—especially for corporate clients using strict firewalls or platforms like Citrix
Our system promotes real-time messaging and minimises inbox noise
Clients can see if a venue is online, allowing for quicker, live conversations
You’ll still receive messages via email or text the moment you go offline

👥 For Clients & Users

The same rules apply for your clients (the users making enquiries):

If they are online and active in Canvas, they will not receive email or text alerts
They will receive browser notifications instead
As soon as they go offline, the system switches back to sending email and text notifications

📌 We also automatically log users out after 24 hours of inactivity. This ensures that follow-ups from venues are delivered even if the client forgets to check back in.

💡 Tip for venues:
If a user hasn’t responded to your initial reply within a couple of days, it’s a good idea to send a polite follow-up message. The user may now be offline, so your message will go straight to their inbox and phone.

📅 Best Practice for Venues

Stay logged in during working hours to benefit from live chat and browser notifications
If you prefer emails, log out when you’re away or unable to check the dashboard
Check your dashboard at least once per day to ensure you never miss a message

💬 Still Unsure?

If you’re not receiving notifications as expected, or need help testing your setup, contact our support team—we’ll walk you through it and make sure you’re covered. 🚀