EasyNotifications

ESPEasy notifications

ESPEasy notifications are to be used in combination with rules.

For example, to send a message on system boot use a rule like this:

on System#Boot do 
   notify 1,system_is_started
endon

Note: Use v2.0.0-dev11 or higher. There was a bug in dev10 and older versions that lead to crashes.

Creating a paper-mail to email gateway

I used notifications in combination with Deep Sleep to create a system that notifies me when I have new paper mail in my actual mailbox:

Hardware

• Core: A bare esp-12-f. Not a development board, so it has no voltage regulator and no usb-to-serial interface that draws current while sleeping.
• Casing: Google for Waterproof Clear Cover Plastic Electronic Box Project
• Magnetic microswitch: Google for something like 10pcs/lot Wired Door Window Magnetic Sensor Switch
• Use a GOOD and high temperature hot-glu gun like the Dremel 940. This saves a lot of frustration and allows you to make everything nice and solid.

For power I used an old powerbank, those you use to charge your phone. Most power-banks use lithium cells that are a perfect 3.3 volts. And they are easy to charge as well. :)

Wiring

• You need to connect some extra pins to VCC or GND if you use a bare ESP-12-f, google for this. :)
• Connect D0 to vcc, to ensure the device goes into deep sleep. (connect to GND to disable deep sleep)
• Connect the magnetic switch:
  • Connect one side of the magnetic switch to GND.
  • Connect the other side of switch it to the - side of a capacitor (4u7), with a 1 meg. resistor in parallel.
  • Connect those the the RST pin.

This will wake up the ESPEasy from deep sleep when the magnetic switch is closed.

An awesome "schematic" of the switch-part:

[ GND ] --- [ magnetic switch ] -----+- [ 4u7 capicitor ] --+-- [ ESP8266 RST pin ] 
                                     |                      |
                                     ---[ 1M resistor   ] ---

The capacitor will make sure it doesn't stay in reset-mode if the switch closed for a longer time.

ESPEasy settings

• Enable deep sleep with a sleep time of 0 seconds. This will ensure that it only wakes from the switch closure.
• Enable Sleep on connection failure
• Set message delay to 0.
• Add an email notification.
• Enable rules.
• Create a rule that mails you on system boot, like this:

on WiFi#Connected do 
 notify 1
endon

• Consider compiling ESPEasy with FEATURE_ADC_VCC. (enable it in ESPEasy.ino) This way you can add a sysinfo task that sends the battery level to your homecontroller, every time it wakes up. You can also add the %vcc% macro to your email.

Email Notification

IMPORTANT: ESPEasy can’t send Emails using popular providers like Gmail.com or Yahoo.com. Why? Most Email service providers stopped support for non-secure SMTP (w/o SSL) around 2014. ESPEasy's Email-Notification does NOT support SSL due to limited resources. [1]

There are two common solutions, as follows: (1) Operate a mailserver inside your local network, or (2) Use an SMTP Email account from one of the rare providers still offering SMTP with no or optional SSL (e.g. SMTP2go.com, smart-mail.de).

Remember, you won’t be able to use the ESPEasy's Email Notification if your SMTP email server requires a secure connection (e.g. TLS / SSL).

NOTIFICATION SETTINGS

For this discussion we will be using a "non-secure" SMTP account from SMTP2go.com or smart-mail.de.

Using a web browser go to your ESPEasy device's "Notifications" tab. Consult each table row (see below) and configure ESPEasy with the following Notification Settings:

Contend	Example 1	Example 2	Description
Notification:	Email (SMTP)		Type of notification
Domain:	smtp2go.com	smart-mail.de	Web address of Email service provider
Server:	mail.smtp2go.com	smtp.smart-mail.de	Full server name to deliver Email via SMTP
Port:	2525	25	Enter SMTP port recommended by provider
Sender:	joe@anydomain.com	joe@anydomain.com	Sender's Email address to be shown on the email
Receiver:	JohnDoe@gmail.com		Recipient's email address. Note: Multiple allowed, use comma (,) between each address.
Subject:	Message from your ESPEasy		Topic in Email headline (fixed)
User:	ESP123	ESP123@smart-mail.de	Username to use to log in to the SMTP Server (Enter the Username required for Sender's Email account)
Pass:	2S€cr€t4you	2S€cr€t4me	Password to use to log in to the SMTP Server (Enter the Password for Sender's Email account)
Body:	Device is on duty since %uptime% minutes. Connect via WiFi %ssid% to http://%sysname%.fritz.box		Default text is send only if command "notify X" is called without optional text for the body
Enabled	<hook>		Needs to be active

Now you can use the command e.g. like:

Notify 1, Hello_world!

The general syntax is:

Notify <position>, [message_in_the_body]

Where <position> is the No. of notification 1...3 in the list of all Notifications and [message_in_the_body] the optional text to replace the default text from "Body:" in Notification Settings.

Might-be-useful rule example (NTC enabled):

On Time#Initialized do //connected to WiFi & TimeServer
  notify 1, "Connected after Reboot via %ssid%" //Send Email
endon

Some more hints:

• Put [optional] text of body message with space characters in quotation marks or use “_” instead and %CR% for a new line.
• The "Unit Name" from "Main Settings" (if defined) is used as Email Sender Name (usually displayed to Receiver with Email address).
• If you need to differ between subjects you could create (almost same) Notifications for each subject.
• If you don't receive any E-Mails then confirm that your Internet router is configured to enable the Port number entered in Notifications.
• If you still have problems then confirm you have checked the box labeled "Enabled" inside Notifications Settings.
• Cross your fingers and hope that the Email provider of your choice doesn’t stop providing SMTP w/o SSL.