When a submission lands in a reviewer’s bucket and round, Rhythm can email that reviewer. The same notification applies when the submission arrives there for the first time or moves there later. This article explains when Rhythm sends the email, which settings control it, and what happens when one reviewer’s email cannot be delivered.
When Reviewers Are Emailed
Rhythm emails a submission’s expected reviewers only when both of these are true:
- The submission is submitted, or is an alternate, and
- Its bucket or round has just changed.
If either condition is not true, Rhythm does not send an email for that change. That means:
- Removing a submission, or changing it without changing its bucket or round, never triggers an email.
- If a submission moves to a bucket or round while it is still in draft, and later becomes submitted without moving again, Rhythm does not send an email. The submission did not meet both conditions during the same change, so Rhythm does not send the notification later.
- An alternate submission’s move meets the conditions above, but Rhythm does not find any recipients for it, so nobody receives an email even though the check passes.
Reviewers who already submitted a review or declined are still included. If the submission moves again afterward, Rhythm emails them again with everyone else expected for the new bucket and round.
This is the only automatic reviewer email Rhythm sends. Rhythm does not send a separate reminder asking reviewers to log in and complete a review they have not started. Submissions & Reviews also does not include a configurable email for a submission’s own status changes, such as approved or declined; those are separate from this reviewer notification.
A new submission usually lands in the space’s default bucket before any placement rule moves it. If reviewers seem to be notified for the wrong team, check that default bucket. When the default bucket points to the wrong team’s bucket, Rhythm notifies that team instead of the one you expected for new submissions.
Which Notification Setting Applies
Reviewer notifications send only when they are turned on and have a template. Rhythm uses the setting on the round where the submission lands if that round has its own override. Otherwise, Rhythm uses the space’s review settings. Rhythm always checks the destination round after the move, not the round the submission left, so a round-level override only matters on the round where the submission lands.
If notifications are not going out for a space, check the space’s review settings first. Then check whether the specific round where the submissions land has its own notification override that differs from the space’s setting.
You can turn reviewer notification emails off directly from the notification settings page, independent of any round-level setting, and save that change by itself. If you need to add a recipient to the email’s CC line, you can turn the email on temporarily, make that change, and then turn it off again without changing any round settings.
What the Email Contains
The email includes the submission, the space it belongs to, the reviewer, and the other party involved, such as the submitter. A reviewer must have an email address on their contact record to receive the message. If they do not, only that reviewer’s email fails.
There is no built-in merge field that sends a reviewer directly into the review process. The template starts blank, and you add the content and merge fields you want. If a link in one of these emails is broken, the issue is in the template as written, not in a link Rhythm generates for you.
Warning
An invalid merge field in a notification email template, reviewer or otherwise, can show the recipient a template compilation error instead of the intended message. If a recipient reports that error, check the template for a merge field that does not match what the record provides.
One Failed Email Doesn't Stop the Rest
If several reviewers are expected on a submission that just moved, one failed email affects only that reviewer. The rest of the emails still go out. For example, if a placement expects five reviewers and one email cannot be delivered, the other four reviewers still receive their emails. If a reviewer says they were never notified, check that person’s contact record for a missing or incorrect email address instead of assuming the whole notification failed.
You configure notification settings, round overrides, and templates on the space’s review settings and on individual review rounds.