Configuring and Editing Communications Templates

This article will walk you through the creation and editing of Communications templates, a feature available to system admins.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Permissions and Access
• Creating a new Template
• Editing Existing Templates
• Cloning Templates
  

Permissions and Access

In order to edit Communication templates, you'll need the relevant permissions. A user with the appropriate permissions can grant you these following the below steps:

1. Click Settings
2. Click Users
3. Edit the user requiring the permission
4. Grant the "Manage Correspondence" permission
5. Save changes
   
   

With the above steps completed, that user will now be able to create and edit templates and manage the folder structure for any modules they have access to.

Creating a new Template

Once you have the correct permissions, you will be able to edit and create new templates. The example we show in this article is for the creation of new email templates, but the process is the same for letters and SMS. 

Note: SMS templates are available only to partners with the SMS bolt-on. If you'd like to discuss SMS, please email enquiries@locata.org.uk 

Follow the below steps to create your new template:

1. Click Settings
2. Click Communications
3. Select the area of communications you'd like to edit
4. Select "Create a new email template"

Once you've created the template, it's time to configure some initial settings and add content.

1. Click "Save"
2. Give your template a name, choose the destination folder, give it a subject and save
   
   

Did you know: You could add notes to give a basic summary of what the template is for. Help Text can also be added for more detailed guidance. For email templates, the new template will default to sending to the client's email - but you can change this.

1. Begin adding the content of your template
2. Utilise "Fields" to pre-populate your letters with client specific information
   
   

You now have created your first template, well done! The GIF above gives an example of us utilising "Fields" - a feature of templates which will pre-populate your templates with any data against the fields you add to them. You might be interested in some more advanced features of editing templates. including more details on Fields, available in the below linked article:

Advanced Communications Features

Editing Existing Templates

After a template is created, you can come back and edit its content at any time. Follow the below steps to do so:

1. Click Settings
2. Click Communications
3. Select the area of communications you'd like to edit
4. Select "Open an existing template"
5. Find the template you'd like to edit in the folder structure of your site
6. Click Open

With the template open you can edit any content you'd like to. You might be interested in some more advanced features of editing templates, available in the below linked article:

Advanced Communications Features

Copying / Cloning Templates

It's sometimes easier to utilise the structure and content of existing templates to create new ones - saving you some time in the process. You can easily clone existing templates by following the below steps:

1. Click Settings
2. Click Communications
3. Select the area of communications you'd like to edit
4. Select "Open an existing template"
5. Find the template you'd like to clone in the folder structure of your site
6. Click Copy (This will create a duplicate template in the same folder)
7. Enter the duplicate template and amend as appropriate