A message template is a reusable email or SMS message that TripWorks personalizes and sends to guests. You write it once — with variables that fill in each guest's real details at send time — and it powers both the messages TripWorks sends automatically (a booking confirmation, an event reminder) and the ones you send by hand. One template serves every guest it goes to.
In this article
Templates live in your library at Setup → Sell online → Message Templates. From there you open any template in the full-screen Message Templates Studio to build and edit it.
Where to find your templates
Go to Setup → Sell online → Message Templates (/setup/crm/templates). The library lists every template on your account with these columns:
- Name — the internal name you give the template. Guests never see it.
- Subject — the email subject line.
- Category — the message type, which controls whether and where the template can auto-send.
- Channels — whether the template has an Email version, an SMS version, or both.
- Status — Active (in use) or Archived (retired from use).
Select any row to open it in the Studio.
Email and SMS in one template
Each template can carry two versions of the same message: an Email version and an SMS version. In the Studio you toggle between them, so the confirmation a guest gets by email and the short text they get by SMS both live in one template.
Email is always on. SMS is off until you turn it on for a template (in the Studio's Settings drawer) and add SMS content. If SMS stays off, the message goes out by email only.
What you can build into a template
The Studio gives every template the same building blocks:
- Variables — insert a guest's real details (first name, confirmation number, pickup time, a custom field answer) with the + Variable button. TripWorks fills in each recipient's own value at send time.
- Blocks — drop in pre-built sections like the Order Detail Block, Payment Ledger Block, or Contact & Map Block instead of building them by hand.
- Conditional blocks — show or hide a section based on the guest's state, so a paid guest doesn't see a balance-due nudge. See show or hide email content with conditional blocks.
- Live preview and test sends — preview the template as a real booking and send yourself a test before it goes live.
For the full walkthrough, see create, edit & manage message templates.
How templates get sent
A template reaches guests two ways, and its Category decides which:
- Automatically — a template in a sending category (Confirmation, Event Reminder, Event Follow-up, and others) can fire on its own when the matching event happens. See automated messaging templates.
- Manually — you pick a template and send it to a booking whenever you choose. See how to send manual emails.
The category is chosen when you create a template and is fixed afterward, because it determines what a template is allowed to do.
Frequently asked questions
What is a message template?
A message template is a reusable email or SMS you build once in TripWorks. It holds variables that fill in each guest's real details when it sends, so one template personalizes every message it goes out on — automated or manual.
Where do I find my message templates?
Go to Setup → Sell online → Message Templates (/setup/crm/templates). The library lists every template with its Name, Subject, Category, Channels, and Status. Select one to open it in the Message Templates Studio.
Can one template send both an email and a text?
Yes. Each template holds a separate Email version and SMS version. Email is always on; turn SMS on in the template's Settings drawer and add SMS content. With SMS off, the message sends by email only.
What's the difference between automated and manual messages?
Automated messages send on their own when an event happens (a booking, an upcoming activity) — driven by the template's category. Manual messages are ones you pick and send to a booking yourself. Any template can be sent manually; only templates in a sending category can auto-send.
Related
- Create, edit & manage message templates
- Show or hide email content with conditional blocks
- Add custom field answers to your emails
- Automated messaging templates
- How to send manual emails
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