Scheduling
Teak is very adaptable, whatever your workflow. The more comfortable you get with the toolset, the faster you will settle into a routine. This guide is designed to prepare you for the final step: scheduling your message.
Scheduling is where you’ll bring together the Audience, Message, and how it gets distributed.
Schedule Creation
To Schedule a message, select "Notifications" from the left rail, and in the Schedules tab click the "New Schedule" Button.
Naming
Name your Scheduled deployment with a convention in mind. This will help you and all users in your organization.
Attaching a Message
"What message would you like to send?"
Scroll, type, or create a new Message just as you did with the Audience selection.
After you have selected your Message you will get another chance to review the content and can make edits before sending it out.
| You will need to set up messaging A/B testing within the message itself; this is not an option at the time of Scheduling. |
Targeting By Platform, OS, and Version
Some players can be reached on multiple channels, others are only opted into one channel. Many players have multiple devices, each with different versions of the game. The Delivery Priority dropdown lets you fine tune which platform and device to send to for each user.
By default, Teak sends to the channel or device most recently clicked on. This prioritizes the channel that we know the user interacts with. This way, you can set up a Push and an Email in one schedule, and Teak will figure out the best option to send per user.
In some circumstances, however, you may want to override the default, such as sending a game update notice sent to only devices with old versions of the game. Use the Specific OS and Game Versions option for this use case.
Delivery Priority Options
Per user, what device or platform you would like to deliver to.
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Most Recent Click (Default)
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This is the default behavior. Teak will send the message to whichever channel or device the player has most recently interacted with.
If the schedule has messages for both Push and Email, Teak will send to Emails to players that have most recently clicked on an email, and push messages to players who have most recently tapped a push notification.
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Most Recent Play
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Send the message to the device the player has most recently played on.
If the schedule has messages for both Push and Email, Teak will send to the iOS or Android device most recently played on. Emails will only be sent to players who have opted out of push notifications.
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All Devices and Channels
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Send messages to all devices and channels a player has opted into.
Teak will send messages to every platform with content set up. A single player could get messages on each of their iOS and Android devices, as well as an Email.
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Custom Priority
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This allows you to set a ranked list of channels. Messages will be sent to the highest ranked channel for each player.
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Specific OS and Game Versions
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Send to specific devices or game versions. Useful for update and upgrade messages.
For Game and OS versions you can filter minimum (greater than [or equal to]), maximum (less than [or equal to]), specific (equal to) or a range (between).
Teak uses the version metadata specified in the game’s Info.plist on iOS and AndroidManifest.xml on Android to determine the game’s version. You may need to consult with your dev team to determine how these versions correspond to "marketing" versions.
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Sending
You have several custom ways to send messages within Teak. You can set up messages triggered based on player behaviors, messages sent at specific times repeated, or ad-hoc messaging that goes out one time. Messages that act as Local Notifications, to be sent after a timed event in the game, will need to be set up by your dev team.
Later
You can set a time in the future by selecting a date and time. You may change between your time zone and player specific time zones.
The option to send to players all at once or over a period of time is useful for ensuring servers are not inundated with large amounts of traffic or used to spread out Email deliveries to preserve reputation.
If you’re sending a message that is intended to be repeated, you can select to do that daily, weekly, bimonthly, or monthly and set an end date.
Triggered
Messages that are Scheduled as Triggered can be sent when a player enters or leaves the Audience you selected. If this is a temporary trigger, you may also set an end date.
Local
A Local Schedule is a Schedule set to "Local" which will be sent based on calls made to Teak by your dev team (See Teak.Notification.Schedule(string,long,Dictionary<string, object>,Reply)). Local Schedules are typically used for extremely personalized or frequent in game events, for example a player’s hourly bonus being available or a tournament ending.
You will need to set up the Message and Schedule before your dev team can send the notification. Your dev team will need the Name of the Schedule in order to make the appropriate calls on their end, and because the Name will be referenced by code in your game client or server you should avoid changing it after creating a Local Schedule.
You can use the same Message features, like images, formatting, and rewards, with a Local Schedule. Additionally, a Message associated with a Local Schedule can template in custom per send tags provided by the game when it makes the appropriate call to send the notification (See Local Notification Tags). You will need to coordinate with your dev team to determine what additional data is available.