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I have a due date field set, I want to send an email reminder 3 days before the due date to complete the form if the completed button radio button is set "No"...any guidance is highly appreciated.

I have access to Sharepoint 2007, 2013 and our Sharepoint 2013 is in the Cloud...

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  • i need help to send email reminder with 90 day. i have a column that calculate 90 days requirement and i am trying to set a Workflow to send an email once the 90 day reminder day is reached but at the moment it is sending an email even if the date is greater than the 90 days ![enter image description here](i.sstatic.net/JJU1Y.jpg)
    – abdulaziz
    Commented Oct 17, 2018 at 9:04
  • Thanks Daniela, but i think i am doing that check my print screen...but i am not getting the result. it is still sending the email with the date being greater than 90 days(90 day reminder date) any idead would be appreciated.
    – abdulaziz
    Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 9:57

7 Answers 7

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You don't need to use a calculated column, just a standard workflow using the Add Time to Date actions.

enter image description here

I've been told that in 2013, if the Due Date is changed, the workflow will detect the change, so just run the workflow on create.

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    Ahh, I didnt know about the Add Time to Date function. Looks like this would work saving you a lot of time.
    – James Michael Lucas
    Commented Apr 19, 2016 at 7:38
  • Thanks Erin for this helpful info but should the statement be inside the IF statement not above?
    – normsp
    Commented Apr 19, 2016 at 15:51
  • It depends what you want. If you put it inside, it will check the value of Completed when the item is created, and from then on it won't matter whether someone marks it completed at a later time. So if that's your intended behavior, then go for it. However, if someone can create the item, but mark it complete in between then and the email date, then you want to leave it as I wrote it.
    – Erin L
    Commented Apr 19, 2016 at 16:05
  • If the user check a radiobutton "not completed" then maybe forgot about the form, I want the email reminder, 3 days before due date, to send reminding user to complete the form.
    – normsp
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 19:52
  • Then keep it the way I have it.
    – Erin L
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 20:48
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I have seen many issues with long running workflows with pause until... My recommendation, if it works for your scenario would be to use a the "Information Management Policy" to trigger a workflow on the Due Date -3. The workflow would consist of only sending the email to the assigned person(s). The IMP uses a timer job that "watches" for a date to fall within range and therefore is less resource intensive.

Example: https://blog.splibrarian.com/2013/03/27/setting-up-automated-reminder-emails/

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  • Great info. I will check the article and try it out as well after testing Erin's suggestion.
    – normsp
    Commented Apr 19, 2016 at 15:52
  • I've only had issues if there are a large number running for over a week, or if the workflows have a lot of stages and steps. But this answer is still probably the best practice approach.
    – Erin L
    Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 16:14
  • Looks good, but how frequent does Retention Policy check the item? I try to play with minutes but nothing works. Does it check once per Day?..
    – Gennady G
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 14:18
  • It is controlled by 2 timer jobs, Expiration Timer Job and Information management Policy Timer Job. I wouldn't recommend less than every 5 minutes. More reading available here blog.ithinksharepoint.com/tag/information-management-policy
    – Jammin4CO
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 20:50
  • Hi, information management policy only allows Due Date + 3 and will not allow negative values there. How did you solve this issue? Did you have to create another column to store =[Due Date] - 3 value?
    – Unnie
    Commented Nov 5, 2018 at 13:54
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My solution using a calculated column and a WF works as follows:

  1. Create a calculated column named "ReminderDueDate" with the following calculation with its result as a date:

=[Due Date]-3

  1. Create a WF that runs on the creation of the item (if the due date is already there) or with the modification (if the Due Date is added later) and pause it until the "ReminderDueDate" column arrives (Pause until date action).

And it works pretty well for me.

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I am actually using a completely different approach. In stead of creating a workflow (which I have no experience in), I simply created a view with some conditions:

Status = Requested AND Due date >= [Today] AND Due date <= [Today]+3

This view will show all items that have status Requested and are due within the next 3 days. Then simply add an alarm to the view, for any changes in the view, and you will receive an alarm about it.

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  • I don't think this will work, unless the items are frequently modified. The calculated column will not recalculate daily. Alerts will not trigger 3 days before the due date. For a view to work, you would need to train the workforce to check the list view daily.
    – Jammin4CO
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 20:48
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Not sure something like this would fit perfectly but may be a start. enter image description here

EDIT:

Where 'created' is equal to due date.

enter image description here

In the end if you set up a List Workflow in SharePoint Designer, using the appropriate library.

Use the buttons to select the correct values you will end up with a workflow like this whcih should sent it at the correct date.

enter image description here

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  • This is a good start. Now if they change the list item, will the workflow run another instance in addition to the pause workflow?
    – normsp
    Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 22:52
  • If I am getting this correctly then: when the item is updated in the list the workflow will trigger and look at all the values again. So if you change the due date it will pick up and change when to unpause and send the emails.
    – James Michael Lucas
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 7:27
  • The name of the field is Due Date but when I enter in the box Due Date -3, it is not retaining it.
    – normsp
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 22:03
  • This was written more as pesudo code so it may not be the correct format. A simple way around would be to create a hidden calculated column which takes the date in due date and takes 3 off (Its hidden so the user would not see this). Then use pause until on that value. I have added image to my answer showing the column to create.
    – James Michael Lucas
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 12:20
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In 2013 you can create a workflow that functions just like a Timer Job. Just use a loop and a pause actions. Loop through the List items and check if Due Date - 3 = Today, if so send out an email. Out side of the loop pause for 24 hours and go back to the stage that checks for the due date.

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Here is an example of workflow that send email 3 days before the due date.

Dummy Workflow

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