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How Online and Offline Status Affects Email Notifications

Why You Might Not Receive an Email Even When a Client Sends a Message

 

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Offline ✅ Yes – email & optional text sent ❌ No – you're no longer active in-session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

  1. Stay logged in with the messaging tab open = No email

  2. 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. 🚀