Email Templates

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Keywords: Email Templates, Scheduled Emails, Forgot Password, Sendgrid

Document ID: https://platform-support.certain.com/hc/en-us/articles/30534697724823-Email-Templates#split1

Email Templates

You can create reusable Email Templates which can be used across your events.

Email templates are applicable for Registration Email Templates.

Types of Email Templates

Using email templates

You can select an email template when you send a mass email to a number of registrants or to a single registrant.

Best practice: always create an email template before mass-emailing a number of registrants.

Email Templates can also be used for the confirmation sent at the end of the online registration process: see .

An email can be scheduled to be sent at a future date and time. An email can also be scheduled even a specified period before or after the event starts or ends. See below. This scheduling is explained in detail in the PDF quick guide to .

You select Email Templates for particular purposes on various pages in Certain. These email templates need to be set up here first. For example:

Add, edit, delete, preview, and copy email templates

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List of Email Templates

All existing email templates are listed. The details listed for each email template appear below.

The lists of templates may be a list.

Click an Action icon. Then click the Add New button to create a new email template.

Note: copying a scheduled email includes its Schedule. Copy a scheduled email and edit the copy's schedule to achieve the effect of recurrent emails. This approach sends essentially the same email every 7, 14, and 21 days before the event.

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Email Template Name

Name

Name is required.

The system tracks each template by its name.

Caution: If you elect to make the template available to all events in the account (see Visible to below), make sure the template name is unique across all events. The template would overwrite existing templates in other events if the templates had the same name.

Visible to

Visible to includes these options:

Note: If you make the template available to all events in the account, the scheduling option described below will not be available. A scheduled email must be linked to one event.

Note: If you select Use as the Template for Forgot Password, the all events... option will not be available. The template must be visible to the current event only.

Note: If you select all events in (the current) account, ensure that any assets (such as images) used are account-level assets instead of event-level assets. This setup ensures that assets are available to all events in the account.

Optionally, you can restrict the template to the current user only by selecting the check box.

Note: This restriction is not available if you select Use as the Template for Forgot Password.

Email Template Details

In order to set up the email template, complete the following fields.

From

From is required.

From is the email address from which Certain will send the email.

The default From address is the address set in . The default values include:

NOTE 1: When you send email to registrants, the From and Reply To fields saved on the email template take precedence over those in and the Event Contact.

Reply To

Reply To is required.

Reply To is the email address to which replies will be sent when a recipient clicks Reply.

The default Reply To address is as described for the From address.

NOTE 2: When you copy an event, including its email templates, the From and Reply To fields in and the Event Contact are used for the new event. Any different addresses on the email templates are ignored for the copy.

> CAUTION: > If you configure From and Reply To addresses for different domains (such as From: john.smith@certain.com, Reply To: john.smith@example.com), the configuration increases the risk of that email message being interpreted as SPAM by some mail servers. This risk occurs because the From and Reply To address domains do not match.

Certain leverages Sendgrid, which is a cloud-based email infrastructure for transactional email delivery.

If you are sending email from an address other than the default event-information@certain.com address, work with your IT department. The work includes ensuring that Sendgrid's mail servers have been added to your domain's SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records.

Please refer to this Sendgrid page for more information: .

Schedule Settings

This section is only displayed if the Scheduled Emails module is enabled for the event under Functional Areas Needed by This Event in .

Schedule Settings enables you to schedule the emails to be sent to a filtered set of registrants. The schedule timing is based on a selected number of months/days/hours before or after the event's Start Date or End Date. The schedule timing can also be a specified date and time.

Note: If you are editing an existing scheduled email, it will already be in the schedule queue. If you change the schedule settings, the existing job is altered.

Note: If you are editing an existing scheduled email that has already been sent and has a status of Complete, the Schedule this Email? check box described next will be cleared.

FYI: If you delete an event, its scheduled emails are set to "On Hold".

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If you select one of the first four options, three extra fields are displayed. Use these fields to specify the number of Months, Days, and Hours to be added to or subtracted from the event start date or end date.

If you select the fifth option, At a specified time and date, two extra fields are displayed. Use these fields to specify the date and time.

Note: The specified time and date must be in the Time Zone set for the event. The Time Zone setting appears on .

The Event Start Date and Event End Date are displayed on the right.

Below them is the Scheduled Date. The Scheduled Date is the calculated date and time the event email will be sent. The calculation uses the Schedule and the values entered for it.

For example:

The Schedule Date is in the Time Zone set for the event. The Time Zone setting appears on .

FILTERS

Here you define the filter to be applied. The filter determines the registrations to which the scheduled email will be sent.

Select a value in each of the three fields to build a simple filter.

The default is "Complete = Yes". This default sends the email to all complete registrations.

Optionally, add one or more extra conditions to build a more complex filter.

Append

Append controls dynamic information in the Subject and Message body.

The Subject and Message body can each include dynamic information about the registration, event, or location.

Example personalization includes using the attendee's first and last name. Example dynamic insertion includes inserting the name and phone number of the event's location.

To insert a dynamic value:

Note: The dynamic fields you can insert include customized Content Blocks. These Content Blocks are set up at the event level or an administrator can set up at the account level.

Note: One of the dynamic fields you can insert is "Add to Calendar". The email includes a link for the recipient to add the event to their Outlook calendar.

The text of the link and the body of the appointment are defined under Show link to add to Outlook in the of the event's .

Note: When appending a Custom Registration Property, choose whether the email should display Yes/No. Choose whether the email should display the property's label if the value is Yes.

Subject

Subject is required.

Subject is the subject line for the email.

Message

Message is the body text of the email.

The usual editing features are available unless the Enable Editor? check box is cleared.

Note: If the event is to be used as a template, ensure that any assets (such as images) used in the email are account-level assets instead of event-level assets. This ensures that assets are available to all events in the account.

Enable Editor?

Enable Editor? controls message editing.

If Enable Editor? is selected (as it is by default), the Message body can be edited using standard controls for formatting.

See additional instructions about using the Editor.

You can clear the check box to edit the Message body in a simple text box. This simple text box can still include HTML code if Send as HTML? is selected.

Send Test Email

Send Test Email sends a test email.

Send Test Email sends to up to five email addresses. This approach shows what the email looks like when received by registrants.

A pop-up window opens. Specify the email addresses. Then search for a registrant whose details will be used in the test email.

Note: That registrant will not receive a copy of the test email.

Display: Send as HTML?

If selected (as it is by default), the message is sent as HTML instead of as plain text.

Display: Include event's display shell?

If selected, the HTML display shell (defined in Plan > Configure > Display > Advanced) is included in the email.

Note: Available only if Send as HTML is selected.

Options

Include registration confirmation:

Caution: Do not select if Use as the template for Forgot Password is selected below.

Forgot Password

Use as the template for Forgot Password:

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NOTE 1: Only one template may have this option selected. If a second template has this option selected, the selection clears on the original. You are warned when this happens.

NOTE 2: If this option is selected, you must make the template Visible to: current event only. See Visible to option above.

And you should not make the template 'Visible to: current user only'.

NOTE 3: If this option is selected, the email is always sent as HTML. This occurs even if the Send as HTML check box is cleared. The setup makes the link in the email clickable.

NOTE 4: If this option is selected and saved, the following features are no longer applicable to the template:

Text to display as link to reset password:

(Available only when Use as the template for Forgot Password is selected.)

Default: "Click here to reset your password."

Attachment

Attachment:

You may upload the following file types:

Attach Itinerary PDF

Attach Itinerary PDF:

If you select Attach Itinerary PDF, additional check boxes appear. These check boxes depend on the modules enabled for the event.

Use the check boxes to select whether the itinerary should include Appointments, Agenda Items, and/or Travel Flights.

Note: Those selections override the default selections on the Itinerary Settings page (Promote > Communication > Itinerary).

Attach Invoice PDF

Attach Invoice PDF:

Note: Available only if at least one invoice template has been configured. At event-level: . Or Account-level: .

Caution: Do not select if Use as the template for Forgot Password is selected above.

Attach Badge PDF

Attach Badge PDF:

Note: Available only if at least one badge layout has been configured on .

Caution: Do not select if Use as the template for Forgot Password is selected above.

Schedule this Email?

Schedule this Email?:

Code

Code is required.

Code must be unique within the event.

Schedule

Schedule is required.

Schedule selects one of the five options:

Columns

Columns selects the column (field) to be evaluated.

The list includes standard and custom profile fields and registration fields, event fields, and others.

Operator

Operator selects the operator to apply to that column.

Value

Value is entered to be compared.

Some columns include a magnifying icon labeled Q. You can click the icon to display a Pick List from which to select a possible value.

For example, if the Column is "Complete", the list of values is "No", "Yes", and "Null".

Logical conjunction

Optionally, you can select a logical conjunction to continue to add conditions to the filter.

The options available are:

The first condition is preceded by "( "so that you can use the " )and(" and " )or(" conjunctions in whatever combinations you require.

Save Email Template

After completing the details above, click Save to save the template.