Documentation always plays an important role in project management. In the event of malfunctions, an SEO crash or other problems on a website, it is always good to be able to trace which changes or updates were made and when. Even if customers make inquiries, it is an advantage if you have the project documentation at your fingertips and can provide the customer with information about updates and changes at any time.
There are two types of documentation in SYSSY
Automatic e-mail notifications can be set up for documentation. These notifications can be set per project and several recipient e-mail addresses (separated by commas) can be added. The recipients thus receive an e-mail every time documentation is created, whether automatically or manually.
Documentation can also be sent to specific customers.
Notes
Each documentation entry can be provided with a note. Notes are internal and are not sent in the email.
Types of documentation
1. Automatic documentations
Automatic documentation is created automatically by SYSSY when changes to the CMS or server are detected.
Specifically, documentation is created when
- CMS version changes, e.g. automatic WordPress updates
- Change of the PHP version
- Changes to the MySQL version
Automatic documentation can be recognized by the subject, as it always begins with "Automatic update detected via API".
2. Manual documentations
Manual documentation can be added manually at any time.
It is advisable to use a descriptive subject, and detailed information can be added in the description text.
Here is an example of documentation:
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Subject: WordPress Update and PHP version change
Description:
- Update WordPress to6.6.1
- Change PHP to 8.2
- Replace plugin "SCSS Happy Compiler" with "WP SCSS" - SCSS Happy Compiler is outdated and is no longer maintained
- Security update for plugin "Easy Table of Contents"
- Security update for plugin "Elementor Website Builder"
- Security update for plugin "Ninja Forms Contact Form"
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Sending documentation to customers
Documentation can be automatically sent to customers by ticking "Notify customer of documentation by email?". The corresponding e-mail address must be configured in the settings.
The big advantage of notifying customers is that they are constantly informed about updates so that they don't get the feeling that nothing is happening with their money for website maintenance. Furthermore, customers feel well looked after and are passively in contact with the agency. This promotes customer loyalty and conveys a positive feeling.
Email templates for sending documentation
Email templates can be created for sending documentation.On the one hand, a global template can be defined that is used for the documentation of all projects; on the other hand, a template can be stored for each project that contains project-specific data, such as a personalized salutation for the customer.
Global templates
Unter "Documentations" -> "Global settings" (https://app.syssy.net/documentation/globalsettings/) you will find the settings for the global e-mail template.
The following points can be set:
- Sender name (name that is displayed to the recipient)
- Reply address (e-mail address to which "Reply" is sent)
- Subject for the email
- Introductory text for the e-mail
- Closing text or signature for the e-mail
Placeholders for the project can be used in the subject and introduction. Specifically, {projectdomain} can be used for the domain of the project and {projectname} for the name of the project.
The documentation entry is inserted later in the email between the introductory and closing text.
Project-specific template
The global email template can be overwritten for each individual project so that personalized emails with documentation can be sent to customers. The setting for this can be found in the project under "Documentation" -> "Email template".
Individual items of the global template can be overwritten here, but not all items need to be overwritten. For example, if the sender's name and signature always remain the same because they do not require personalization, you can define them globally.
Automatic notification of documentation
You can also set documentation to be sent automatically. This means that for every documentation entry created, whether manually or automatically, an e-mail is sent to a stored e-mail address or to several e-mail addresses.
This setting for sending documentation notifications can be activated separately for each project. To do this, switch to a project and go to "Settings" -> "Documentation". Here you can activate the automatic documentation notification and enter several addresses in the Documentation e-mail addresses field.
Documentation in a report
If documentation is to be exported as proof for the customer or for the archive, this can be done in the form of a report. Reports can be created for the data of the last 3 months and documentation is a point. The documentation is exported to a PDF and can be sent to the customer by e-mail.