Alerts on TRAC can be used to keep an eye on the little changes in your search, the big fluctuations, and everything in between!
This FAQ serves to help answer any questions you may have about alerts on Pulsar. If you're interested in learning about what alerts has to offer, check out our what's new article here:
Or, if you're looking for a quick video walkthrough of Alerts, try this video tutorial!
With that said, let's get into the questions!
Q: What does the status column on the alert list tell me?
A: The status column helps you identify whether the alert has been triggered, or there has been an error with the alert.
There are three possible status symbols to see. The first is a green check, indicating your alert is set up, but has not triggered
The second is a little inbox icon, indicating you should have received an email notification, as an alert has gone off for the most recent period.
The third icon, which you hopefully will not have to see, is an error icon, suggesting there was a problem delivering the alert. If you see this icon, please contact our team so we can help resolve the issue!
Q: How are percentages for sentiment calculated?
A: We look at whether or not there has been an increase or decrease in the average sentiment score. Sentiment score is a figure we provide in each dataset on Pulsar on a scale of -50 to +50, and it is based on the split between positive and negative sentiment.
Q: How are percentages for visibility calculated?
A: we get the average of the visibility score of the posts you have collected and we check if that average has increased by whatever threshold you have set.
Q: Can I get alerts for specific types of mentions?
A: Yes! By using filters on the alerts you can look for specific keywords to trigger your alert thresholds.
Q: Can I get alerts every time there's new content, not just by threshold?
A: While you cannot have an alert send out every time there's a piece of new content, you can specify a total change of 1 in the volume using alert settings, and then ask for alerts every hour, to get frequent updates on whether your content is increasing.
Q: Can I send alerts to multiple emails?
A: Yes! Use the recipient box to put in multiple emails and specify who your alerts go to.
Q: How much data are the "average" periods based off of?
A: We base every average time off of at least two weeks of data. That means if your search hasn't been running at least that long, you won't be able to select the average options available for any of the time periods.