Adding a new property, field, or value to a messaging form

Question

How do I add or modify a property for a messaging form?

Environment:

All versions of xMatters

Answer

You can set the different properties and fields for each messaging form in the Properties tab of its workflow, and on the form's Layout tab. To learn more about creating, adding, modifying, or removing workflow properties, see Define form properties.

When working with properties for messaging forms, keep the following in mind:

• Properties are workflow-specific: If you want to make a property available in subscriptions or drop-down lists in multiple workflows, you must add or update that property in each workflow where you need it. A value that appears in one workflow's drop-down will not automatically appear in another.

• Identify and verify the correct property: The same property name can exist in multiple workflows. Always confirm both the property name and its property ID, and verify which workflow it belongs to before making changes, to avoid modifying the wrong form or subscription behavior.

• Reusing branding or repeated components: To reduce duplication across forms, you can:

  • Host shared assets (such as CSS and images) externally and reference them in your message layouts so branding updates happen in one place.

  • Store reusable HTML snippets in form properties with default values, then insert those properties into messages. This centralizes content per workflow, but not across multiple workflows, and the property field may still appear on the send form for users.

• Using properties in scenarios and validations: You can define scenario-specific values (such as custom subject lines) by creating a property on the form or scenario and inserting it into the message subject. For list properties used in validations (for example, severity), make sure incoming event payload values match the allowed list values defined on the workflow's Properties tab.