Email Templates

TimelyChurch uses a template-based email system to send professional, consistently formatted notification emails. Email templates define the subject line, body content, and available data tokens for each type of system email. As an administrator, you can view, preview, test, and enable or disable templates.

Accessing Email Templates

1. Log in to the Admin panel.
2. Navigate to Settings > Email Templates in the sidebar.

The Email Templates page displays summary statistics and all templates organized by category.

Dashboard Statistics

At the top of the page, four cards provide a quick overview:

Template Categories

Templates are organized into the following categories. Each category can be expanded or collapsed:

Authentication

• Password Reset -- Sent when a user requests a password reset
• Email Verification -- Sent to verify a user's email address
• Welcome Email -- Sent to new users after registration

Scheduling

• Schedule Assignment -- Sent when a teacher is assigned to teach a class
• Schedule Reminder -- Reminder sent before a teaching date (Saturday evening or Sunday morning)

Substitute Requests

• Substitute Request -- Sent to teachers when someone needs a substitute
• Substitute Claimed -- Sent to the requester when someone claims their sub request
• Substitute Request Cancelled -- Sent when a substitute request is cancelled

Lessons

• Lesson Needed -- Sent when a schedule needs a lesson selected
• Lesson Proposed -- Sent to admins when a teacher proposes a lesson
• Lesson Approved -- Sent to a teacher when their lesson is approved
• Lesson Rejected -- Sent to a teacher when their lesson is not approved

Certifications

• Certification Uploaded -- Sent to admins when a teacher uploads a certification
• Certification Approved -- Sent to a teacher when their certification is approved
• Certification Rejected -- Sent when a certification is not approved
• Certification Expiring -- Sent when a certification is about to expire

Supply Requests

• Supply Request Submitted -- Sent to admins when a supply request is submitted
• Supply Request Approved -- Sent to a teacher when their request is approved
• Supply Request Denied -- Sent to a teacher when their request is denied

Communication

• Feedback Reply -- Sent when support replies to user feedback
• Platform Announcement -- Sent for platform-wide announcements
• Birthday Notification -- Sent to notify team members of birthdays

Invitations

• Team Invitation -- Sent when a church admin invites someone to join their team
• Invitation Accepted Notification -- Sent to admins when someone accepts an invitation
• Invitation Reminder -- Reminder sent for pending invitations

Family & Household

• Family Join Request -- Sent to family heads when someone requests to join their family
• Family Join Request Approved -- Sent when a join request is approved
• Family Join Request Declined -- Sent when a join request is declined
• New Family Member Added -- Sent to existing members when someone is added
• New Household Created -- Confirmation when a new household is created

Member Portal

• Magic Link Login -- Sent when a member requests a magic link to access the portal
• Portal Welcome -- Sent to welcome new members to the member portal

Groups & Teams

• Group Welcome -- Sent when a new member joins a group
• Group Invitation -- Sent when someone is invited to join a group
• Group Removal -- Sent when someone is removed from a group
• Leader Assignment -- Sent when someone is assigned as a group leader
• Group Announcement -- Sent for group-wide announcements from leaders

Equipment & Resources

• Resource Booking Request -- Sent to admins when someone requests to book a resource
• Resource Booking Approved -- Sent when a booking request is approved
• Resource Booking Declined -- Sent when a booking request is declined

System

• General Notification -- Default template for general notifications
• Church Deletion Warning -- Sent to church admins when account is scheduled for deletion
• Church Deletion Final Warning -- Final warning before account deletion

Previewing a Template

1. Click the Preview button next to any template in the list.
2. The template detail page opens, showing:

Template Details (Left Sidebar)

• Key -- The fixed identifier TimelyChurch uses to reference this template
• Category -- The category this template belongs to
• Status -- Whether the template is Active or Inactive

Important: The Key field is a fixed identifier TimelyChurch uses to look up the right template for each event. Changing a key will break this lookup and prevent the related emails from sending. You can safely customize the subject and body content; just leave the key alone.

Available Tokens

Each template has a list of dynamic tokens that get replaced with actual data when the email is sent. Tokens use the {{token_name}} format. For example:

• {{user.name}} -- Replaced with the recipient's name
• {{church_name}} -- Replaced with the church name
• {{action_url}} -- Replaced with a link to the relevant page

Templates also support conditional blocks:

• {{#if variable}}...{{/if}} -- Show content only when a variable has a value
• {{#if variable}}...{{else}}...{{/if}} -- Show one block when true, another when false

Email Preview (Right Column)

A fully rendered preview of the email as it would appear to a recipient, using sample data. The preview includes:

• The church name header with a branded gradient background
• The rendered email body with all tokens replaced by sample values
• An action button (if the template supports one)
• A footer with the church name and copyright

Raw Template

Click the expandable "Raw Template" section to view the unprocessed subject and body markup, including all token placeholders and conditional blocks.

Sending a Test Email

1. On any template's detail page, find the Send Test Email section in the left sidebar.
2. Enter an email address (your own address is pre-filled by default).
3. Click Send Test Email.

The test email will be sent using sample data so you can see exactly how the template looks in a real email client. Test emails include a prominent "TEST EMAIL" banner at the top to distinguish them from real notifications.

Tip: Sending a test email is a great way to verify that your email delivery is working correctly and that the template formatting looks good across different email clients.

Enabling and Disabling Templates

Each template can be individually enabled or disabled. When a template is disabled:

• The system will not send emails using that template
• The template appears with an "Inactive" badge in the listing

To toggle a template's status, use the toggle action available on the templates listing page.

Important: Disabling critical templates (such as Password Reset or Email Verification) will prevent those system functions from sending emails. Use caution when disabling templates.

Template Sync

When you visit the Email Templates page, the system automatically checks for any new templates that have been added in platform updates. If new templates are found, they are automatically created with their default content. A notification appears indicating how many templates were added.

How Templates Are Used

Email templates are used automatically by the system. When an event occurs (such as a schedule assignment, substitute request, or certification expiration), the system:

1. Looks up the corresponding template by its key
2. Checks if the template is active
3. Replaces all tokens with actual data from the event
4. Wraps the content in a branded email layout with the church name header and footer
5. Sends the email to the appropriate recipient(s)
6. Records the email in the email log

Related Articles

• Communication Overview
• Sending Emails
• Email Logs
• Notifications