Types of Email Templates
- Registration
- Speakers
- Reviewer
- Session Reminder
Usage
A template can be used when sending a mass email to multiple registrants.
A template can also be used for a single registrant.
Best practice is to create an email template before mass-emailing registrants.
Email Templates can be used for the confirmation email sent at the end of the online registration process.
See Plan > Forms > Confirm for details.
An email can be scheduled to be sent at a future date and time.
The schedule can specify a period before or after the event starts or ends.
See Schedule Settings below.
Email Templates must be set up here before selecting them on other pages in Certain.
For example, on Forms > Entry you can select the email template used when an attendee forgets their password.
On Plan > Configure > Options you can select the template for a waitlisted attendee who is automatically accepted from the waitlist.
To add a new email template: Click Add New to any of the email template types mentioned above.
To edit an existing email template: Click Edit in the Actions column of the list, or click the row itself.
To delete an email template: First edit it, and then click the Delete button at the bottom of the page.
To preview an email template: Click the preview icon.
To copy an email template: Click the copy icon, and rename the email template on the Email Template Name.
Note: Copying a scheduled email includes its Schedule. This is an easy way to send essentially the same email at different times.
Video: Creating an Email Template (2 min.)
Email Template Name
- Name – (Required) The system tracks each template by its name.
Caution: If you elect to make the template available to all events in the account, make sure its name is unique across all events. It would overwrite existing templates in other events if they had the same name.
- Visible to – Choose whether the template is available:
- within the current event only, or
- in all events in the current account.
Note: If you make the template available to all events in the account, the scheduling option described below will not be available, because a scheduled email must be linked to one event.
Note: If you select Use as the Template for Forgot Password below, 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, so that they are available to all events in the account.
- Optional: You can choose (by selecting the check box) to restrict the template to the current user only.
- Note: Not available if you select Use as the Template for Forgot Password below.
Email Template Details
- From – (Required) The email address from which Certain will send the email.
Defaults to the address set in Account Settings > Implementation > Security: either "event-information@certain.com" or the event contact (set under 'Contact' on Plan > Event Setup > Detail).
- Reply To – (Required) The email address to which replies will be sent when a recipient clicks Reply.
Default: as described for From address.
Note 1: When you send email to registrants, the From and Reply To fields saved on the email template take precedence over those in Account Settings and the Event Contact.
Note 2: When you copy an event, including its email templates, the From and Reply To fields in Account Settings 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), it increases the risk of that email message being interpreted as SPAM by some mail servers, 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, we recommend that you work with your IT department to ensure 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: https://sendgrid.com/docs/Glossary/spf.html
- 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 Plan > Configure > Options.
It enables you to schedule the emails to be sent to a filtered set of registrants at a selected number of months/days/hours before or after the event's Start Date or End Date, or at a specified date and time.
Note: If you are editing an existing scheduled email, it will already be in the schedule queue. So if you change the schedule settings, that will alter the existing job.
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".
Video: Scheduled Emails (2.5 min.)
If you are using the first four options, three extra fields are displayed to specify Months, Days, and Hours to add to or subtract from the event start date or end date.
If you select the fifth option, At a specified time and date, two extra fields appear to specify that date and time.
Note: The specified time and date must be in the Time Zone set for the event (Plan > Event Setup > Details).
The Event Start Date and Event End Date are displayed on the right.
Below them is the Scheduled Date: the calculated date and time the event email will be sent, based on the Schedule and the values entered for it.
Example values are shown in the article.
FILTERS Here you define the filter to be applied to determine 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, so that the email would be sent to all complete registrations. Optionally, you can then add one or more extra conditions to build a more complex filter. Append – The Subject and Message body can each include dynamic information about the registration, event, or location. To insert a dynamic value, select a value from the Append list, and click the Subject or Message button. Note: The dynamic fields you can insert include customized Content Blocks, which you 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 text of the link, and the body of the appointment, are defined under Show link to add to Outlook in the Confirmation Section of the event's primary form. Note: When appending a Custom Registration Property, you choose whether the email should display Yes/No, or should display the property's label if the value is Yes.
- Subject – (Required) The subject line for the email.
- Message – 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, so that they are available to all events in the account.
- Enable Editor? – If this check box is selected (as it is by default), the Message body can be edited using standard controls for formatting, etc. (See additional instructions about using the Editor.) You can clear the check box to edit the Message body in a simple text box (which can still include HTML code if Send as HTML? is selected).
- Send Test Email – Click to send a test email to up to five email addresses, such as your own, to show what the email would look like when received by registrants. A pop-up window opens to specify addresses. The registrant will not receive a copy of the test email.
- Display: Send as HTML? – If selected, the message will be sent as HTML rather than plain text.
- Display: Include event's display shell? – If selected, the HTML display shell will be included in the email. Available only if Send as HTML is selected.
- Options
- Include registration confirmation? – If selected, the registrant's confirmation information is added to the bottom of the email. Do not select if Use as the template for Forgot Password is selected below.
- Forgot Password
- Use as the template for Forgot Password – If selected, the template is used for emails sent to registrants who click the Forgot Password link on a form. One template must have this option selected before the Enable Forgot Password option may be selected in any form in the event.
- Video: Forgot Password Email and Form Setup (2 min)
- Note 1: Only one template may have this option selected. If you select it in a second template, the selection on the original template would be cleared.
- Note 2: If this option is selected, you must make the template Visible to: current event only. Do not make the template Visible to: current user only.
- Note 3: If this option is selected, the email is always sent as HTML, even if the Send as HTML checkbox is cleared.
- Note 4: If this option is selected and saved, the following features are no longer applicable to the template: Attachment, Attach Itinerary PDF, Attach Invoice PDF, Attach Badge PDF, or Schedule this email.
- Text to display as link to reset password – The text of the hyperlink when you append the Forgot Password Link Text DDF to your Forgot Password email template.
- Attachment – If required, select a file to attach to the email. The file must already be uploaded to your event in Certain before you can attach it to an email.
- Attach Itinerary PDF – If selected, a PDF will be attached detailing the registrant's itinerary. The appearance and content of the itinerary are defined on Communication > Itinerary.
- If you do select Attach Itinerary PDF, additional check boxes appear to 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 – If selected, a PDF of the attendee's invoice will be attached to the email.
- Note: Available only if at least one invoice template has been configured (at event level: Promote > Communication > Invoices; or account level: Account Settings > Registration > Invoices).
- Attach Badge PDF – If selected, a PDF of the attendee's badge will be attached to the email.
- Note: Available only if at least one badge layout has been configured on Manage > Badges.
- Schedule this Email? – When adding a new template, this check box is the only field in this section.
- Code – (Required) Must be unique within the event.
- Schedule – (Required) One of the five options:
- Before Event Start Date
- After Event Start Date
- Before Event End Date
- After Event End Date
- At a specified time and date
- Columns – Select the column (field) to be evaluated. The list from which to choose is very long, including (standard and custom) profile fields and registration fields, event fields, etc.
- Operator – Select the operator to apply to that column.
- Value – Enter the value to be compared. A magnifying icon may appear to show a Pick List for possible values.
- Optional: You can select a logical conjunction to continue to add conditions to the filter. The options available are: and, or, )and(, )or(
- The first condition is preceded by "(" so that you can use and/or conjunctions in any required combinations.
- Save Email Template – After completing the details above, click Save to save the template.
Additional Notes
- Videos referenced: Creating an Email Template; Forgot Password Email and Form Setup; Scheduled Emails.
Final
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Related articles
- Entry Page (Attendee Form)
- Email a group of registrations
- Adding/Removing Full Credit Card Information Access for a User
- Creating a Registrant's Password
- Labels for Registration Assistance Link