Order timeline and messages
How it works
The timeline appears on the Order Details page of the My Account, for customers and sales agents. It covers:
- Standard B2B orders
- Orders placed by sales agents, including their draft orders
- Quotes
Customers and sales agents post messages on the order. When a new message arrives, SparkLayer emails the other side. Sales agents can also save internal notes that customers never see. Order events, such as edits and status changes, are added automatically, so the timeline is a complete audit trail of the order.
Customer posts a message
Your team is emailed
Sales agent replies
Customer is emailed
You can try it on our B2B demo store (opens in a new tab).
Turn on the timeline
- Go to Settings,Configurations,Quotes and invoices (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab).
- Turn on Timeline and communications ("Customers and sales agents can send messages on quotes and orders.").
- Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.
Post a message or internal note
Customers and sales agents post from the order itself. Open an order in My Account and use the message box at the top of the Timeline.
| Who | Option | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Message box | Sends a message to your sales team. |
| Sales agent | Notify customer | Sends the message to the customer by email when you click Send Email. |
| Sales agent | Save as internal note | Saves a note only sales agents can see. Internal notes are highlighted in yellow and never shown to the customer. |
What the timeline shows
The timeline records these entries. Each one shows who made it (for example "Customer" or "Sales Team") and when.
| Entry | What it records |
|---|---|
| Order actions | The order being created, updated, approved or changing status. |
| Customer messages | Messages the customer sends from the order. |
| Sales agent messages | Messages from the assigned sales agent or your team. |
| Internal notes | Notes saved by sales agents, hidden from the customer. |
| Order edits | An audit record of changes such as quantities, prices or items. |
| Payments | Payments made against the order. See Payment methods. |
Choose who's notified about new messages
When a customer posts a message on an order that has no sales agent assigned, SparkLayer emails the addresses you choose here.
- Go to Settings,Configurations,Quotes and invoices (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab).
- Next to Purchase notifications, click Edit. Until you add someone, it says "No one is emailed when quotes and orders update."
- Under Email addresses, enter the addresses to notify. Separate addresses with commas.
- Click Save.
Purchase notifications decides "Who gets an email when a quote or order updates and nobody is assigned to it." Quotes use the same setting: see Quote notifications.
Emails the timeline sends
Only new messages send emails. Other order activity and internal notes don't.
| Sent to | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer message | The assigned sales agent if there is one, any notification addresses you've added, or a fallback store inbox (your store's email under Store details, see Settings) | The customer posts a message on an order. |
| Sales Agent message | The customer | A sales agent posts a message on an order. |
The email shows the message and a Reply to message button that opens the order. You can also send customers and agents straight to an order's details with a link: see My Account.
To change what the emails say, go to Settings,Templates (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab). See Templates.
Replies by email
When someone replies to a notification email, the reply is added to the order's timeline as a message. It shows the sender's name and email address, and both the customer and your sales team can see it. If the email thread has several replies, only the most recent is added. Images and attachments are removed.
Send emails from your own domain
By default, emails are sent from no-reply@mail.sparklayer.io. On the Pro and Enterprise plans, you can send them from your own address, such as store@mail.yourstore.com. They then match your brand and are more likely to be delivered.
- Go to Settings,Configurations,Store (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab) and click Edit next to Custom email domain.
- Tick Use my own domain for SparkLayer emails ("Emails to and from customers use your domain. Our team helps you verify it.").
- Enter the Email user (the part before the @) and your Domain, then click Save. Our team then helps you verify the domain.
This only changes emails sent by SparkLayer, not emails from your eCommerce platform or other systems.
FAQs
All SparkLayer plans. Sending emails from your own domain needs the Pro or Enterprise plan.
No. You can turn on the timeline without the Quoting Engine.
No. Once it's turned on, the timeline appears on all supported order types for all customers.
No. Only new messages send emails.
No. Internal notes are only visible to sales agents, and they don't send an email.
Shopify only
No. Shopify order notes don't change. The timeline adds a record inside SparkLayer.
Feedback
Tell us what you think of Timeline and communications at product@sparklayer.io.
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