Email templates and placeholders
After reading this you'll know how to edit your email templates, which placeholders each template supports, how the placeholder syntax works, how to set up a separate text variant per event tag, and what a switched-off template means when you send.
Email templates control the text your customers and your team automatically receive from you — for example when a quote is sent, a payment reminder goes out, or a shift is assigned. You can adapt every template to your tone and wording. Placeholders let Univents insert the right data automatically when the email is sent (customer name, invoice number, event date …).
The video shows how to customize automatic emails such as the acknowledgment, insert placeholders, create variants by tag and build your own templates.
You’ll find the individual steps written out below as well.
Open your email templates
- Go to Settings in the left-hand navigation.
- Open the Email templates section.
- Pick a template from the list — grouped by module (Inquiries, Finance, Contracts, Events, Staff, Tasks).
- Edit the subject and content, then save. Use Test email to send yourself the template with sample data.
How placeholders work
A placeholder is written in double curly braces, lowercase with underscores, and without spaces:
{{customer_name}}
When the email is sent, Univents replaces the placeholder with the real value. So
Hello
{{customer_name}}, your quote for{{event_name}}is ready.
becomes, for example,
Hello Ms. Müller, your quote for Summer Party 2026 is ready.
Good to know:
- Placeholders work in the subject and in the content — and the same goes for the label text and destination link of an inserted button.
- The fastest way to add them is the placeholder inserter in the editor — that guarantees the correct spelling.
- A placeholder that doesn't exist in that template (e.g. a typo) can no longer be saved as of 2026-08-04: Univents flags it with an error message when you save, whether the typo sits in the body text or in a button. The message names the concrete cause — the unknown placeholder or an empty required area — instead of only “Error while saving”. Templates already saved before that aren't affected and can still be edited and saved unchanged.
- Only use the placeholders listed for the specific template. Each template knows only its own placeholders.
Insert button (CTA)
Next to the placeholder inserter, the editor has an Insert button button. It opens the Insert CTA button dialog with two fields:
- Button text — the button's label, e.g. "View now".
- Link — the destination URL, either a fixed address or a placeholder like
{{event_link}}, which is automatically replaced with the real link when the email is sent.
Click Insert button to confirm, and the fully formatted button appears at the cursor position in the content.
Tip: if you enter the destination without https:// (for example www.my-company.com/quote), Univents adds the scheme when you save — otherwise the button would lead nowhere in the recipient's mail program.
Placeholders available almost everywhere
Univents fills a few placeholders automatically from your workspace — you don't have to maintain them:
| Placeholder | Meaning |
|---|---|
{{company_name}} | Your company name |
{{account_name}} | Your workspace name |
{{sender_name}} | Name of the person signing the email — for quotes, invoices, reminders, cancellations and order confirmations the person responsible for the document (see below) |
{{sender_email}} | Email address of the person sending the email — for document mails sent from a handler's mailbox, that of its owner; with no known person, your workspace's email address |
{{sender_phone}} | Phone number to go with it — with no number of their own, your workspace's phone number |
{{customer_name}} | Customer name (in customer-facing templates) |
{{employee_name}} | Team member name (in staff templates) |
{{event_name}} | Event name |
{{event_date}} | Event date |
{{event_weekday}} | Weekday of the event, spelled out ("Tuesday") |
{{portal_url}} | Link to the customer portal / EventHub |
Personal salutation: “Dear Mr …” / “Dear Ms …”
For a formal salutation, the customer emails about quotes, invoices and events offer three dedicated placeholders:
| Placeholder | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
{{customer_salutation}} | The complete salutation — without a comma | Dear Dr. Miller |
{{customer_first_name}} | First name of the person addressed | Klaus |
{{customer_last_name}} | Last name of the person addressed | Miller |
This is how you write the salutation into your template:
{{customer_salutation}},please find attached our quote for
{{event_name}}.
Depending on the contact, this becomes e.g. “Dear Mr. Smith,”, “Dear Ms. Smith,” or — if no name is known — “Dear Sir or Madam,”. You add the comma yourself.
How the salutation is built:
- Salutation and title come from the contact (fields Salutation and Title). “Mr” gives “Dear Mr. …”, “Ms” gives “Dear Ms. …”; an academic title such as “Dr.” replaces Mr/Ms (“Dear Dr. Miller”).
- If the email goes to a company, Univents addresses the main contact person you set on the company contact. Without one, Univents uses the person if exactly one is linked to the company. Otherwise the salutation is “Dear Sir or Madam” — the company name never appears after “Dear”.
- The language follows the template: a German template gets “Sehr geehrter Herr …”, “Sehr geehrte Frau …” or “Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren”.
- It is the same salutation that the document PDF prints via
{Customer_Greeting}.
The three placeholders are available in: Quote sent, Quote follow-up, Quote follow-up (expired), Order confirmation, Invoice sent, Payment reminder, Invoice cancelled, Inquiry accepted, Deposit received, Pre-event reminder, Thank you for the event, Post-event feedback, New message to customer and Tickets purchased. You can use them in your tag variants as well — and they are filled in the same way when an automation sends one of these templates with the Send email action (without a contact on the trigger, it reads “Dear Sir or Madam”).
Who signs? {{sender_name}}
With “Best regards, {{sender_name}}” the responsible person signs — even when the email is sent in the background:
- For quotes, follow-ups, invoices, payment reminders, cancellations and order confirmations this is the person entered as Account manager on the document (for an order confirmation: the one on the quote) — the same person shown in the PDF. If nobody is entered there, it is the person who created the document.
- If the quote email goes out from the responsible person's own mailbox, that person signs.
- If no person is known, your company name is used.
The same person also provides {{sender_email}} and {{sender_phone}} — the email address and phone number your customer can use to reply or call. If no person is known, or no number of theirs is stored, your workspace's email address and phone number apply. Both placeholders work in every template in which {{sender_name}} works, for example in a signature line:
Best regards,
{{sender_name}}·{{sender_email}}·{{sender_phone}}
Placeholder reference by template
Legend: 🔒 = transactional template, always active (can't be disabled).
Templates to your customers
Inquiries
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Auto acknowledgement | Automatic reply after a booking inquiry | {{customer_name}} {{page_name}} {{account_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{guest_count}} {{message_excerpt}} {{booking_link}} {{sender_name}} |
| Inquiry accepted | Confirmation that the inquiry was accepted | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{booking_link}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Inquiry rejected | Message about the rejected inquiry | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
The auto acknowledgement no longer only confirms receipt: the default template now names the requested date ({{event_date}}, plus the written-out weekday via {{event_weekday}}) and the guest count ({{guest_count}}) and contains a button that lets the customer follow the inquiry online ({{booking_link}}). Your own templates are unchanged — you can use the new placeholders there in exactly the same way.
Finance
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Quote sent | Email when a quote is sent | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{quote_total}} {{quote_link}} {{doc_number}} {{valid_until}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Quote signed 🔒 | Confirmation after the quote is signed | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{doc_number}} {{signed_at}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Invoice sent 🔒 | Email when an invoice is sent | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{invoice_number}} {{invoice_total}} {{due_date}} {{invoice_link}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Payment reminder 🔒 | Stage 1: friendly reminder about an overdue invoice | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{invoice_number}} {{invoice_total}} {{open_amount}} {{due_date}} {{new_due_date}} {{total_claim}} {{additional_amount}} {{dunning_fee}} {{interest_amount}} {{flat_fee}} {{dunning_number}} {{bank_details}} {{invoice_link}} {{days_overdue}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| First reminder 🔒 | Stage 2: reminder with the total claim and a new payment deadline | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{invoice_number}} {{invoice_total}} {{open_amount}} {{due_date}} {{new_due_date}} {{total_claim}} {{additional_amount}} {{dunning_fee}} {{interest_amount}} {{flat_fee}} {{dunning_number}} {{bank_details}} {{invoice_link}} {{days_overdue}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Final reminder 🔒 | Stage 3: last reminder before further steps | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{invoice_number}} {{invoice_total}} {{open_amount}} {{due_date}} {{new_due_date}} {{total_claim}} {{additional_amount}} {{dunning_fee}} {{interest_amount}} {{flat_fee}} {{dunning_number}} {{bank_details}} {{invoice_link}} {{days_overdue}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Invoice overdue | Notice for a seriously overdue invoice | {{customer_name}} {{invoice_number}} {{invoice_total}} {{due_date}} {{invoice_link}} {{days_overdue}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Invoice cancelled 🔒 | Confirmation after an invoice is cancelled | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{invoice_number}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
The {{days_overdue}} placeholder is a number (days overdue).
The three reminder templates (Payment reminder, First reminder, Final reminder) belong to dunning and share the same placeholders. Here {{invoice_total}} stands for the open amount (remainder after payments and partial credit notes), not the invoice total. New are: {{open_amount}} (open amount), {{total_claim}} (total claim), {{additional_amount}} (fees, interest and flat fee together), {{dunning_fee}}, {{interest_amount}}, {{flat_fee}}, {{new_due_date}} (new payment deadline), {{dunning_number}} (reminder reference, e.g. RE-1001-M2) and {{bank_details}} (your bank details). The reminder itself is attached as a PDF. More in the article “Dunning”.
When you manually send a quote, invoice, or delivery note from the document itself, the matching notification email always goes out to the customer. The "Attach PDF" setting on the document only controls whether the PDF file is attached — it no longer controls whether the email gets sent at all.
Invoices that are already paid: If your customer paid in advance (online on the booking page or when buying tickets), the Invoice sent email shows “Paid on” and, for example, “The invoice amount of €250.00 was already paid on 2026-10-19.” instead of “Due on” and a transfer request – without bank details, and the button says “View invoice”. If you customised the template, Univents replaces a line such as Due by: {{due_date}} with “Paid on: …” and a sentence asking for a transfer with the paid sentence for that invoice; your saved template stays unchanged. If the due date sits in the middle of a sentence, or the template otherwise contains a payment request or bank details, Univents sends the standard text for that one invoice. The safest choice is {{due_date}} on its own line, such as Due by: {{due_date}}.
Contracts
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Signature request 🔒 | Ask the customer to sign | {{customer_name}} {{contract_title}} {{event_name}} {{signature_link}} {{expires_at}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Contract fully signed | Confirmation after all parties have signed | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{contract_title}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
Events & EventHub
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Event confirmed | Confirmation of the booked event | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{event_location}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| EventHub invitation | Invitation to the customer EventHub portal | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{eventhub_link}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Change request accepted | Confirmation of an accepted change | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{items_summary}} {{portal_url}} {{new_quote_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Change request rejected | Message about the rejected change | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{portal_url}} {{reason}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Product booking confirmed | Confirmation of a product booking | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{product_name}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Payment received | Confirmation of a payment / deposit received | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{deposit_amount}} {{doc_number}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Pre-event reminder | Reminder to the customer a few days before the event | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{portal_url}} {{event_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Thank you for your event | Thank-you email after the event | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Post-event feedback | Feedback / review request after the event | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{portal_url}} {{event_url}} {{gallery_url}} {{company_name}} |
| New message to customer | Mirror of a message from the message thread | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{company_name}} {{message_excerpt}} {{messages_url}} |
| Tickets purchased 🔒 | Ticket email with ticket PDF and invoice (without an invoice: receipt) for the buyer | {{customer_name}} {{customer_salutation}} {{customer_first_name}} {{customer_last_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{event_location}} {{order_summary}} {{total}} {{company_name}} |
| Ticket invoice (sent later) 🔒 | Invoice for a ticket order that did not travel with the ticket email — sent once as soon as it is issued and its PDF is ready (fixed text, not editable) | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{doc_number}} {{total}} {{company_name}} |
Reminder, thank-you and feedback are the automatic customer emails around the event. Whether they go out at all, and how many days before the event starts or after it ends, is set under Settings → Status columns → Automatic emails around the event. The Edit template link next to each of these emails jumps straight to the matching template on this page. If the customer has rejected the quote and there's neither an invoice nor another open or accepted quote, these three emails don't go out.
Tasks
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Task assigned (customer) | Task assigned to a customer | {{customer_name}} {{task_name}} {{event_name}} {{due_date}} {{assigned_by}} {{task_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
Templates to your team
Internal notifications
These templates don't go to customers or contributors — they notify you or your team internally, for example when a new inquiry or message comes in.
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Internal inquiry notification | Internal notification on new booking request | {{customer_name}} {{customer_email}} {{page_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{message}} {{sender_name}} |
| New inquiry (owner) | Notification to the workspace owner about a new booking request | {{event_name}} {{contact_name}} {{app_url}} {{product_summary}} {{guest_count}} |
| New message (internal) | Internal notification of a new customer message | {{customer_name}} {{event_name}} {{message_excerpt}} {{admin_link}} |
| New message to partner | Notifies contributors of a new message | {{partner_name}} {{company_name}} {{message_excerpt}} {{messages_url}} |
| Partner response (internal) | Internal notification when a partner accepts or declines | {{partner_name}} {{event_name}} {{status_text}} {{admin_link}} |
The {{admin_link}} placeholder links directly to the internal area (e.g. the affected inquiry or event); {{guest_count}} is optional and only appears if the inquiry includes a guest count.
Events
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Contributor invitation | Invite a partner as a contributor | {{partner_name}} {{event_name}} {{event_date}} {{event_weekday}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
Staff
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Shift assigned | Notification when a shift is assigned | {{employee_name}} {{event_name}} {{shift_date}} {{shift_start}} {{shift_end}} {{shift_name}} {{event_location}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Shift confirmed | Confirmation of an assigned shift | {{employee_name}} {{event_name}} {{shift_date}} {{shift_start}} {{shift_end}} {{shift_name}} {{event_location}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Shift cancelled | Notification when a shift is cancelled | {{employee_name}} {{event_name}} {{shift_name}} {{shift_date}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Shift reminder | Reminder before an upcoming shift | {{employee_name}} {{event_name}} {{shift_name}} {{shift_date}} {{shift_start}} {{event_location}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Application accepted | Confirmation of an accepted shift application | {{employee_name}} {{event_name}} {{shift_name}} {{shift_date}} {{shift_start}} {{portal_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Application rejected | Message about the rejected shift application | {{employee_name}} {{event_name}} {{shift_name}} {{shift_date}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Vacation approved | Approval of a vacation request | {{employee_name}} {{vacation_start}} {{vacation_end}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Vacation declined | Rejection of a vacation request | {{employee_name}} {{vacation_start}} {{vacation_end}} {{reason}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
Tasks
| Template | Purpose | Placeholders |
|---|---|---|
| Task assigned | Notification for a new task | {{employee_name}} {{task_name}} {{event_name}} {{due_date}} {{assigned_by}} {{task_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
| Task reminder | Reminder before a task is due | {{employee_name}} {{task_name}} {{event_name}} {{due_date}} {{task_url}} {{company_name}} {{sender_name}} |
Multiple text variants by event tag
For selected templates, you're not stuck with a single text. Variants by tag let you add extra versions of the subject and content that take over from the standard text once the event carries certain tags — for example a dedicated inquiry confirmation for B2C + Wedding, and another one for B2B.
- Open one of the templates that support variants (currently Inquiry received, Auto-reply on inquiry, Inquiry accepted, Quote sent, and the two quote follow-up reminders).
- Under Variants by tag, click Add variant.
- Choose the tag combination this variant should apply to, then write the subject and text.
- Save the variant. The list shows all variants in the order Univents checks them when sending.
If an event carries all of a variant's tags, that variant applies. If several variants match, the one with the most tags wins; ties are broken by the order in the list, which you can rearrange with the arrows. If no variant matches, your standard text applies as usual. In the preview, you can pick tags for a hypothetical event and see immediately which variant would apply.
Variants for the acknowledgement of an enquiry. With Inquiry received and Auto-reply on inquiry the variant applies even though the guest has only just enquired: the event is created the moment the form is sent and carries the tags of the booking page — plus those of the customer contact, if it has any. The acknowledgement then goes out and the variant is matched on exactly those tags. If the enquiry carries no tags, or no event could be created at all, your standard text applies; the acknowledgement still goes out. Whether the enquiry is later accepted or declined makes no difference.
Where is my own text? For these templates, clicking the entry in the list doesn't open the editor right away — it shows the variants overview on the right. Your customised text is the standard text there, i.e. the text that always applies when no variant matches. Above the variants list you can see whether your own text is saved (with its subject), and the Edit your own text button opens it. If you haven't customised the template yet, the button reads Edit standard text. So nothing is lost when you see the variants overview.
Fixed attachments on your own templates: in one of your own templates you can upload files under Fixed attachments (PDF, PNG, JPG, Word, Excel, up to 10 MB each) — such as terms, a menu or a venue fact sheet. If you pick the template when sending a document via Send by email, they are attached automatically and can be deselected there. More: Send a document by email.
Activate or deactivate templates
The Active toggle next to a template controls whether the email is sent automatically. Transactional templates (marked with 🔒 in the reference) are always active and can't be switched off — they're part of the reliable quote, invoice, contract and ticket sales flow. That includes Tickets purchased: without this email, a paying buyer would have no ticket. You can adjust its text, but you can't switch it off.
Important: If you switch off a template that belongs to a send action — for example Quote sent — the customer no longer receives an email when you send. The document is still tracked as sent: number, status and history stay correct, so you can keep tracking a quote you sent outside the app. So you don't miss it, a notice appears in your notifications right after sending, naming the document and the reason no email went out.
Warned beforehand instead of noticed afterwards. If the Quote sent template is switched off, the notice no longer appears only in the bell afterwards: the confirmation in the document already tells you that the document will only be marked as sent and your customer will receive no email — with a link straight to this template. Sending still works; the note blocks nothing.
The bell arrives even for muted categories. The “no email to the customer” notice is one of the messages that bypass your notification category setting. So you can switch off the Finance Documents category without losing this warning — exactly the warning that matters should not be silent.
Frequently asked questions
How do I have to write placeholders? Always in double curly braces, lowercase and with underscores: {{customer_name}}. Best to use the placeholder inserter in the editor so nothing goes wrong.
What happens if I use a placeholder that doesn't exist? Univents won't let you save the template and shows an error message instead — whether the unknown placeholder sits in the body text, the button text, or the button link. That way you catch a typo right away instead of it going out to customers unnoticed. Only use the placeholders listed for the specific template.
Do I have to fill in {{company_name}} or {{sender_name}} myself? No. Univents pulls these values automatically from your workspace and from the responsible person — for documents, the document's account manager.
How do I write “Dear Mr …” into the quote email? Start with {{customer_salutation}},. Univents inserts the matching salutation from the contact's salutation, title and name — for a company the main contact person's, and “Dear Sir or Madam” if no person is known. Keep the contact's Salutation and Title fields up to date for this.
Can I use the same placeholder more than once in an email? Yes. Every placeholder is replaced everywhere it appears — in the subject and in the content.
I sent a quote and the customer received nothing — why? Usually because the Quote sent template is switched off here. A notice in your notifications names the reason after every send. Other possible causes: the contact unsubscribed from document emails, the contact has no email address on file, or the send failed at the mail provider.
How do I check what the finished email looks like? Use Test email to send yourself the template with sample data. That shows the result with the placeholders filled in. The preview and the test email speak the language the template is written in, so an English template also shows the English salutation.