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Templates

 
Templates were introduced in the Platform Spring 2020 Release. At that time, existing Message Templates were migrated to support a seamless transition in the New Message Tool.

Please Note: Widget Attributes that reference a Message_ID will continue to do so. We will evaluate and update these in the future as appropriate.
Basics
  • Templates offer a quick and reusable way to pre-fill formatting and content in the New Message Tool.
  • Similar to Messages, Templates support Contact Fields, Data Fields, and attachments. 
  • Templates can be used on any Page in MP where the New Message Tool is available. Or, they can be limited to a specific Page by specifying a value in the Pertains to Page field.
Template Record

Templates can be found by navigating to Communications > Templates.

  • Template Name: A friendly name that clearly identifies this Template. Templates that we create and deploy to you will include "[USED BY ...]".
  • Subject Text: The text value that will populate the Subject when this Template is selected. For text message templates, the Subject Text will be the message.
  • Body HTML: The Body of the Message if composed via HTML. 
  • Body Data: The Body of the Message if composed via JSON. If used, the Template Editor Tool populates this field. 
  • Pertains to Page: The Page ID this Template will be sent from; used by the New Message Tool for filtering and grouping Templates. 
    • This Page should correspond to any Data Merge Fields present in the Message. 
    • Templates without this value will be available on all Pages and should only contain Contact Merge Fields. 
    • Populating this field restricts Templates to that Page and groups them together under the Page Name header in the New Message Tool.
  • Template User: The User this Template is associated with. May or may not be part of the Template User Group. Only Users who are the Template User or in the Template User Group can use this Template in the New Message Tool and the Template Editor Tool. Note: All Users, whether a Template User or not, can still view the Template record on the Templates page.
  • Template User Group: The User Group this Template is associated with. Only Users who are in the Template User Group or the Template User can use this Template in the New Message Tool and the Template Editor Tool. Note: All Users, whether in the Template User Group or not, can still view the Template record on the Templates page.
  • Active: Indicates whether this Template is active and currently available in the New Message Tool. Note: Processes and notification routines do not care about this field. Notification and processes will still send with a template, even if Active is set to False.
  • From Contact: If a Template is used outside of the New Message Tool, the 'From' Contact might be sourced from this value (over time as features are updated to use the new Template record). Note: Varies feature by feature. Please check feature specific documentation. 
  • Reply to Contact: If a Template is used outside of the New Message Tool, the 'Reply to Contact' might be sourced from this value (over time as features are updated to use the new Template record). Note: Varies feature by feature. Please check feature specific documentation. 
Important! The person actually sending (for example, an administrative assistant sending an email for a Pastor) the template must be a delegate of the From and Reply to Contacts for the message to honor these values. If the sender is not a delegate, the email will be sent from (or the replies directed to) the actual sender.
Creating a Template
The recommended way to create a Template is to use the Template Editor Tool! This new, simple Tool will allow Users to create stunning Templates without coding knowledge.

Alternatively, Templates can be created one of two ways:

HTML Method

If your Template will be content only (no formatting) or you have a comfortable knowledge of HTML, a new Template can be created by simply navigating to Communications > Templates page and choosing "New". Content should be stored in the Body HTML field; do not populate the Body Data field (this will be used by the new Template Editor Tool). 

Messaging Method

Templates can also be created by composing a Message using the New Message Tool. After sending, navigate to Communications > Messages and locate the sent Message. Copy the Message Body (use source view to include all formatting). Then navigate to Communications > Templates, click "New" and paste into the Body HTML field of your Template. 

Inactivating a Template

If a Template should no longer be available in the New Message Tool, the Template can be inactivated. 

  1. Go to Communications > Templates. 
  2. Open desired Template. 
  3. Edit and toggle Active to False. 
  4. Save. 
Sending a Template

When sending a Template, the From/Reply To is the User sending the Message unless they have changed the From/Reply To. This is true regardless of which User initially created the Template.

  1. Launch the New Message Tool. 
  2. In the Template drop-down, choose the desired Template.
    • Templates with a defined Pertains to Page value are displayed first, grouped under the header "[Page Name] Templates". 
    • All other Templates appear under the header "Contact Fields Templates". 
  3. Make any desired edits. Any edits made to a Template in the New Message Tool apply only to that specific Message (these edits do not update the Template record).
  4. Once satisfied with the Message, click Send.
Updating a Template

Any edits made to a Template in the New Message Tool apply only to that specific Message. These edits do not update the Template record. Note: If you created a Template using the Template Editor, you should not edit the Template record directly, but instead use the Template Editor Tool.

To create lasting changes, the Template itself must be edited:
  1. Go to Communications > Templates.
  2. Open desired Template. 
  3. Edit and make changes. 
  4. Save.

Note: Templates that we created and deployed to you contain [Church_Name] and [Church_Url] tokens. These are not automatically populated by the system, so you'll want to manually update them. Want to know which templates contain these tokens? Create a View on the Templates page showing any records with [Church_Name] or [Church_Url] in the Body HTML field.