Email Templates¶

Create reusable email templates with variable substitution for campaign communications. Templates are used by advocacy campaigns, shift confirmations, volunteer re-engagement emails, and other automated communications.

Email Templates

Template Categories¶

Each template belongs to a category that determines where it can be used:

INFLUENCE -- advocacy campaign emails sent to representatives
MAP -- shift confirmation, volunteer thank-you, and canvassing-related emails
SYSTEM -- account verification, password reset, and platform notifications
PAYMENT -- donation receipts, subscription confirmations, and purchase orders

Variable System¶

Templates use Handlebars-style {{VARIABLE_NAME}} placeholders that are replaced at send time. Variables must use uppercase letters and underscores (e.g., {{RECIPIENT_NAME}}, {{CAMPAIGN_TITLE}}).

Text variables -- simple string substitution for names, dates, URLs, and other text
Video variables -- embed a media library video by referencing its ID
Conditional blocks -- show or hide content with {{#if VARIABLE}}...{{/if}} syntax
Required vs optional -- each variable can be marked as required, with sample values for test emails

The template validator automatically extracts all variables from the HTML, text, and subject line content and checks for unmatched conditional blocks.

Version History¶

Every change to a template's subject line, HTML content, or text content creates a new version. The full version history is preserved, and any previous version can be restored:

Version browsing -- view the subject, HTML, and text content of any past version
Rollback -- restore a previous version (creates a new version entry, preserving the audit trail)
Change notes -- each version includes a description of what changed
Author tracking -- versions record which admin made each change

Test Emails¶

Before activating a template, send a test email to verify rendering:

Variable substitution -- provide test data for each variable to preview the final output
Recipient selection -- send the test to any email address
Test log -- all test sends are logged with success/failure status and message IDs
Rate limited -- 10 test emails per 15 minutes per user to prevent abuse

Template Caching¶

Rendered templates are cached in memory for performance. The cache is automatically cleared when a template is created, updated, or deleted. Admins can also manually clear the cache from the admin interface.

Admin Routes¶

/app/email-templates -- create and manage email templates with a visual editor