Email templates

Overview

Email templates in Found let you create standardised, reusable email content for three separate purposes: billing communications, automation workflows, and personal correspondence sent manually to enquiries.

Templates support personalisation through placeholders that automatically populate with real data when an email is sent — details like a contact's name, an invoice total, or a location's address. The placeholders available depend on which type of template you're working on.

Where to find it

Navigate to Settings → Email templates. You'll see a tab for each category you have access to:

• Billing - templates offered when sending invoice emails

• Automation - templates used by an automation's send email step

• Personal - templates applied manually to an enquiry

If Billing isn't available to you, the page opens on the Automation tab by default.

Types of email templates

Billing templates

Used when sending invoice communications:

• Offered as a choice when sending a single invoice email

• Offered as a choice when sending invoice emails in bulk

Automation templates

Used by Found's automation system:

• Attached to an automation's send email step

• Chosen individually for each automation, from a list of your organisation's automation templates

• If none exist yet, you're taken straight to the Automation tab to create one

Personal templates

Used for manual email sending against an enquiry:

• Applied from within an enquiry, for example its email composer

• Automatically fill in their placeholders using that enquiry's contact, service user, location and sender details

• Give you a ready-to-edit subject and body before you send

How to create email templates

Creating a new template

1. Select the appropriate tab (Billing, Automation, or Personal)

2. Click the "Add template" button

3. Enter a descriptive name for the template — this is for your own reference and isn't shown to the recipient

4. Write the email subject line

5. Compose the email body content using the rich text editor

6. Insert placeholders from the reference panel, or type them in directly

7. Preview the template as you go

8. Save the template

Using placeholders

Templates support dynamic content through placeholders, written as a word (or joined words) inside curly brackets, for example {contactName}. The template editor shows a reference panel of the placeholders available, grouped by subject:

If there's no value to fill in for a placeholder (for example, no contact recorded), it's left blank rather than showing an error. If you type something in curly brackets that isn't a recognised placeholder for that template type, the editor warns you, but doesn't stop you saving — it will appear in the sent email exactly as typed, unreplaced.

Template content best practices

• Use clear, professional language appropriate for your audience

• Only use the placeholders listed in the reference panel for that template type

• Preview the template with example data before activating it

• Remember the subject line is plain text — formatting only applies to the body

Managing email templates

Template overview

The email templates list shows your created templates with details including:

There's no status column (such as active, draft or archived) and no usage count — a template simply exists, or has been deleted.

Editing templates

1. Find the template in the appropriate category

2. Click "Edit template" on its row

3. Make your changes to the name, subject, body or placeholders

4. Preview the updated template

5. Save the changes

Editing only affects emails sent from that point onwards — it has no effect on emails already sent.

Template testing

• Use the preview panel to see how the template renders with example data — it updates automatically as you type

• There's currently no option to send a test email to yourself or a colleague, so checking is preview-only

Template integration

Automation integration

• Automation templates are available for selection in an automation's send email step

• You choose which template each automation uses — Found doesn't auto-match a template to a trigger

• The same template can be reused across more than one automation

Billing integration

• Billing templates are offered as a choice whenever an invoice email is sent, individually or in bulk

Personal integration

• Personal templates are applied against a specific enquiry

• That enquiry supplies the contact, service user, location and sender data used to fill in the placeholders

Rules and restrictions

• Template names don't need to be unique — Found won't stop you creating two templates with the same name

• A template's category (Billing, Automation or Personal) is set when it's created and can't be changed afterwards

• Attaching the location's brochure is available as an option on Automation and Personal templates only — it isn't available on Billing templates

• A template can't be deleted while an active automation is using it — you'll see a message naming the automation, and the delete option won't be shown for that template

• Template changes affect future emails but not previously sent messages

• There's no way to restore a template once it's been deleted

Permissions

Billing templates require the billing module. Automation and Personal templates require Found Pro.

Within those, your role decides what you can do: Admins can view, create, edit and delete templates. Managers can view templates only. Staff have no access to email templates.