{% extends "content_template.html" %} {% from "components/service-link.html" import service_link %} {% block per_page_title %} Edit and format messages {% endblock %} {% block content_column_content %}

Edit and format messages

This page explains how to:

Format your content

You can see a list of formatting instructions on the edit template page:

  1. Go to the {{ service_link(current_service, 'main.choose_template', 'templates') }} page.
  2. Add a new template or choose an existing template and select Edit.

Email templates can include:

Letter templates can include headings and bullets.

Notify does not allow bold, italics, subheadings, underlined text or different fonts. This is because they can make it harder for users to read what you’ve written.

When composing an email or text message, write URLs in full and Notify will convert them into links for you.

You cannot convert text into a link. Research shows that people like to check a URL looks genuine before clicking the link in an email. This is hard to do if the URL is hidden behind clickable link text.

We do not recommend using a third-party link shortening service because:

Personalise your content

To personalise the content of your messages, add a placeholder to the template.

Placeholders are filled in with details, like a name or reference number, each time you send a message.

To add a placeholder to the template:

  1. Go to the {{ service_link(current_service, 'main.choose_template', 'templates') }} page.
  2. Add a new template or choose an existing template and select Edit.
  3. Add a placeholder using double brackets. For example: Hello ((first name)), your reference is ((ref number)).
  4. Select Save.

When you send a message you can either:

If you upload a list, the column names need to match the placeholders in your template.

Add optional content

To add optional content to your emails and text messages:

  1. Go to the {{ service_link(current_service, 'main.choose_template', 'templates') }} page.
  2. Add a new template or choose an existing template and select Edit.
  3. Use double brackets and ?? to define optional content. For example, if you only want to show something to people who are under 18: ((under18??Please get your application signed by a parent or guardian.))
  4. Select Save.

For each person you send this message to, specify ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to show or hide this content. You can either:

If you upload a list, the column names need to match the optional content in your template.

You cannot add optional content to a letter.

{% endblock %}