Configuring a rule's triggers & conditions

Pick a trigger from the catalog for an automation rule and add conditions so the rule only fires in the cases that match.

An automation rule is built from two parts that you set in the rule editor: the Trigger that kicks the rule off, and optional Conditions that narrow down when the rule's actions actually run. That way a rule only fires when the right case occurs.

Configuring a rule's triggers & conditions

Open the rule editor

Automations isn't linked in the sidebar yet. You reach the page through your browser's address bar: append /automations to your workspace address — .../home/your-workspace/ becomes .../home/your-workspace/automations. The Automations page shows the description "Define rules that automatically react to events in your workspace." at the top. Below it you'll find your existing rules or, while none have been created yet, the ready-made templates to install.

  1. Open /automations in the address bar as described above.
  2. Click New Rule at the top right. The canvas opens with an empty rule.
  3. In the Rule name field, give it a meaningful name, for example "Confirm inquiry". This is how you'll recognize the rule later in the list.

A template is quicker: while the area is empty it sits directly on the page, otherwise behind the Templates button. An installed template comes with its trigger, conditions, and actions ready-made and starts switched off — you adjust it and switch it on afterwards.

The name has no effect on the rule's behavior; it's only there to help you identify it. Choose one so colleagues can immediately understand what the rule does too.

Choose a trigger from the catalog

The trigger determines which event in your workspace kicks the rule off in the first place. Right below the rule name you'll find the Trigger field.

  1. Click the select field with the placeholder Choose a trigger ….
  2. The catalog of available triggers opens. Univents provides a fixed set built around typical events: those involving inquiries and events, as well as those involving invoices and payments.
  3. Click the matching trigger to apply it.

You choose exactly one trigger per rule. Each trigger is tied to a specific area, such as an inquiry, an event, or an invoice. Which data you can then check in the conditions depends on this chosen area.

Univents offers you these thirteen triggers:

TriggerFires when …
Event confirmedan event switches to the "Confirmed" status.
Quote accepteda customer accepts your quote for an inquiry.
New inquirya new inquiry comes in to your workspace.
Webshop order paida payment comes in for an order placed through your booking page (webshop). Internal invoices are not affected — use Invoice paid for those.
Invoice overduean invoice passes its due date without being paid.
Days before event startthe number of days you've set before an event's start is reached. Right below the trigger field, a dedicated Days before event start field appears — enter the number you want there so the rule fires exactly that many days before the start.
Days after event endthe number of days you've set after an event's end is reached — handy for a thank-you note, a request for feedback, or follow-up work. Right below the trigger field, a dedicated Days after event end field appears. Enter the number you want there; 0 is a valid value and means "on the day it ends." If the event has no end date set, its start counts instead.
Email receivedan email arrives in one of your connected inboxes.
Invoice paidone of your invoices is marked as paid — whether via a Stripe payment link, a bank statement reconciliation, or manually.
Quote sentyou send a quote to your customer.
Quote expireda sent quote passes its validity date without the customer responding.
Event cancelledan event is marked as cancelled.
Contract signeda contract is fully signed by all parties.

Add conditions

Conditions are optional. Without a condition, the rule runs on every matching event. With conditions, it only runs when all checked values apply.

  1. In the Conditions section, click Add condition.
  2. A row appears with three inputs: a field, an operator, and a value.
  3. On the left, in the field with the placeholder Field name, enter which data field should be checked.
  4. In the middle, choose the Operator. The options are equals, not equals, greater than, greater or equal, less than, less or equal, contains, and contains any of — the last one only for Tags and Venue fields (see below).
  5. On the right, enter the Value to compare against.

Use Add condition to add more rows. All conditions must apply together for the rule to fire. You remove a single row using the trash icon at the end of the row.

Which fields you can check per trigger

The Field name dropdown only shows the fields that match the chosen trigger — depending on whether the rule is about an event, an inquiry, an order, a finance document, or an email. If you change the trigger afterwards, Univents automatically removes any already-entered conditions that no longer exist on the new trigger, and tells you how many conditions were reset.

The tables below show, per trigger group, which fields are available, what type they are, and — for selection fields — which values you can enter.

Event confirmed, Days before event start & Days after event end

FieldTypePossible values
Event nameText
Guest countNumber
BudgetNumber
Start dateDate
Date confirmedYes/No
Event statusSelectionRequested, Draft, Live, Publicly live, Archived, Declined, Confirmed, Option, Cancelled, Invoiced, Completed
LanguageSelectionGerman, English
TagsTags— (operator: contains any of only)
VenueVenue— (operator: contains any of only)
CustomerCustomer

Under the Days before event start and Days after event end triggers, you enter the number in their own dedicated field above the conditions section (see above), not as a condition. Event cancelled also uses these same event fields.

New inquiry & Quote accepted

FieldTypePossible values
Guest countNumber
Estimated valueNumber
Event dateDate
Event typeText
Date flexibleYes/No
Inquiry statusSelectionOpen, In progress, Accepted, Rejected
TagsTags— (operator: contains any of only)
VenueVenue— (operator: contains any of only)
CustomerCustomer

Webshop order paid

FieldTypePossible values
Gross totalNumber
CurrencyText
Payment methodText
Order statusSelectionDraft, Basket, Reserved, Open, Paid, Repaid, Cancelled, Expired
CustomerCustomer

Invoice overdue

FieldTypePossible values
Gross totalNumber
Net totalNumber
Deposit amountNumber
Due dateDate
Document typeSelectionQuote, Invoice, Delivery note, Credit note
Invoice statusSelectionDraft, Issued, Sent, Paid, Cancelled, Overdue
TagsTags— (operator: contains any of only)
CustomerCustomer

Invoice paid, Quote sent & Quote expired

These three triggers all revolve around a finance document and offer the same fields:

FieldTypePossible values
Gross totalNumber
Net totalNumber
Deposit amountNumber
Due dateDate
Expiry dateDate
Issue dateDate
Sent onDate
TagsTags— (operator: contains any of only)
CustomerCustomer

You don't need to check the document type or status separately here — each of the three triggers only ever fires for exactly the matching combination (invoice/paid, quote/sent, quote/expired).

Contract signed

FieldTypePossible values
TitleText
Contract typeSelectionUploaded file, Created in editor
Sent atDate
Expiry dateDate
Signed PDF availableYes/No
CustomerCustomer

Email received

FieldTypePossible values
Sender emailText
SubjectText
Has attachmentsYes/No
From a known contactYes/No

For text and selection fields, you can use contains in addition to equals and not equals to check several possible values at once. For number and date fields you also get greater than, greater or equal, less than, and less or equal. For Yes/No fields, only equals and not equals are available. For Tags and Venue, you pick one or more options from a search field listing your workspace's own values, and the only operator offered is contains any of — the condition matches as soon as at least one of your selected values is present on the record. For Customer, you search for the contact via its search field and check with equals or not equals.

Would this rule fire?

Once you've chosen a trigger and entered at least one condition, Univents shows you right in the editor what the conditions currently match — without you having to save or run the rule for that.

  1. Click Would this match anything? below the conditions.
  2. Univents looks up the most recently created matching records in your workspace and lists one or two of them by name under Fires for example on:.
  3. If nothing currently matches, it shows Nothing would fire right now. — that's not an error, it just means there's no matching record (yet).
  4. For the Email received trigger there's no preview, since inbound emails aren't searchable existing records — instead you'll see a note that there are no examples for this trigger.

The preview only checks the conditions, not the actions — to see what a rule would actually do on a match, use the Test rule button instead (see Branching, Testing a Rule & AI Rule Draft).

Save and check

Once the trigger and conditions are set, you save the rule.

  1. At least one action is required. Create it in the Actions section before you save.
  2. Click Save at the bottom. While the operation runs, the button shows Saving ….
  3. After saving, the rule appears in the list, set to Active by default.

If a required entry is missing, such as the trigger or an action, the rule won't be saved and you'll be pointed to the missing value. Using the toggle in the rule list, you can switch a saved rule to Inactive at any time without deleting it.

Frequently asked questions

I can't find Automations in the menu — where's the page? Automations isn't linked in the sidebar right now. Open it directly through the address bar by appending /automations to your workspace address. See Automations: Basics & your first rule for more.

Do I have to set conditions? No. Conditions are optional. Without a condition, the rule reacts to every event that matches the chosen trigger. With conditions, you narrow it down specifically.

Can a rule have multiple triggers? No. There's exactly one trigger per rule. If you need multiple events, you create multiple rules.

What does the contains operator mean? With contains, you check whether the value appears in a list, rather than testing for exact equality. For an exact comparison, use equals.

What's the difference between contains and contains any of? Contains compares a single value against a list you enter (for example Event status contains Confirmed, Option). Contains any of is meant for fields that can themselves hold several values, such as Tags or Venue — the condition matches as soon as one of the values on the record matches one of your selected values. That's why Tags and Venue fields only ever offer contains any of.

Why can't a rule be changed? If a rule carries the Locked marking, it's a system default and can be neither toggled nor deleted.

Univents newsletter

Product news and practical tips for event and catering businesses. Roughly once a month, no more.