Placeholders: which ones exist and where they apply
After reading this you will know the three places Univents uses placeholders, how each one is written, where the full list lives, and why you cannot invent your own.
A placeholder is a stand-in inside a text: you write it once into a template, and Univents replaces it with the real value on every document and every email. Instead of typing the customer name into each quote, the template says {Customer_Name} — the finished PDF shows the actual name.
There are three places where you use placeholders. They look similar but are separate lists: a placeholder from one place does not work in another.
The three places at a glance
| Where | Notation | Example | Full list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Templates for quotes, invoices, delivery notes, credit notes (Word file, rendered to PDF) | One curly brace | {Customer_Name} | How do I create layouts for finance documents? |
| Email templates under Settings → Email Templates | Two curly braces | {{customer_name}} | The placeholder button inside each template's editor |
| Automations (subject, template variables, notification texts) | Two curly braces | {{gross_total}} | The placeholder button next to each field |
The lists are deliberately separate because different data sits behind them: a document knows line items, totals and tax rates, an email knows its recipient and its occasion, and an automation only knows what its trigger brings along.
Document templates: one brace, fixed names
In the Word template of your layout, placeholders use single curly braces. The full table of every name and its meaning — document, customer, event, your company, totals, line-item tables, free-text fields — is in How do I create layouts for finance documents?.
Three things there that are easy to miss:
- The spelling has to match exactly — capitalisation included.
{Customer_Name}returns the customer name,{customer_name}does not. Copy every name exactly as it appears in the list. - A mistyped placeholder is not always visible. With a Word template it stays in the PDF — you read
{Custmer_Name}there and spot the mistake immediately. In the newer layouts without a Word template the spot is simply left empty instead. So do not rely on a typo drawing attention to itself. - An empty value becomes empty text. If a customer has no VAT ID on file,
{Customer_Tax_ID}vanishes without a trace. An empty spot therefore does not necessarily mean a data gap — without a Word template a typo looks exactly the same.
Email templates: two braces, different per template
Under Settings → Email Templates, open a template and you will find a button with curly braces next to subject and body. It lists exactly the variables that template knows — the invoice reminder knows {{days_overdue}}, the shift confirmation does not.
If you write a variable this template does not know, it cannot be saved: Univents reports “Unknown placeholders” and names them. That is what stops a raw {{foo}} from reaching a customer.
Automations: two braces, depending on the trigger
Inside an automation, subject, template variables (action “Send email”) as well as title and message (action “Notify user”) may contain placeholders. Which ones are available depends on the rule's trigger — a rule on a finance document knows {{document_number}}, a rule on an enquiry does not.
Two exceptions:
- The To (email) field accepts no placeholders; it has to be a fixed address.
- The Email received trigger offers no placeholders at all — email contents are not available, for data-protection reasons.
More in Automations: actions.
Creating your own placeholder — not possible, and the way around it
You cannot invent a placeholder: neither a new name for documents nor a new variable for an email template. Both lists are fixed.
For documents there are the free-text fields instead: ten freely usable text blocks per layout, {custom_text_0} to {custom_text_9}. You decide what goes in them — and you can rename the label so the document editor reads “Payment note” instead of “Free text 3”.
- Open Settings → Templates and go to PDF Layouts.
- Pick your layout and open its free-text fields.
- Give each field a label and a default text.
- On an individual document you override the text under Free-text fields without touching the default.
A free-text field may itself contain placeholders — that is how you build your own salutation from {Customer_First_Name} and {Customer_Last_Name}.
An eleventh field cannot be added, and the technical name (custom_text_3) stays the same even after you rename the label. The Word template therefore still says {custom_text_3}.
The quick way: ask the assistant
Instead of searching the tables, ask the in-app AI assistant: “Which placeholders exist for invoices?” or “Which variables does the invoice reminder template know?”. It reads the same list Univents uses when rendering, and answers with name and meaning.
Frequently asked questions
My PDF shows {Foo} instead of a value. What happened? Univents does not know that placeholder — almost always a typo or one brace too many. Whether you read the wrong name in the PDF or just see an empty spot depends on the layout: with a Word template it stays visible, without one the spot is left empty. Check right away: is the name spelled exactly as in the list, capitalisation included? Single braces (document) instead of double (email)? Is the placeholder inside a Word text box or shape? Placeholders are never replaced there.
Can I use a document placeholder inside an email template? No. The names already differ in notation ({Customer_Name} versus {{customer_name}}) and come from separate lists.
Can I rename a placeholder? Only the label of the ten free-text fields. Every other name is fixed, because it determines which value Univents inserts.
Why did a placeholder stay empty? Usually because the value is not filled in on the document, the contact or the event. Add it there — for example your tax number under Settings → Company for {workspace_tax_number}. If your layout has no Word template, also check the spelling: a mistyped name stays empty there as well.