Eploy’s template editor will allow you to create your own templates, to help when sending mail merges and workflow related emails. This tool includes the use of merge fields, which will draw through information from the recipient record to help personalise the content of the email, as well as drawing through key information such as action & interview dates or company details & addresses.
This can be really beneficial to help save time and reduce admin when working through you recruitment campaigns. However, if the email template has not been configured correctly, then you may find that it is not available (Greyed Out) when trying to send the mail merge.
Note: For a full user guide on using the template editor, please see the Email, SMS and Mail Merge section of the Knowledge Base.
In this scenario, below are a couple of troubleshooting tips you can follow to help identify the issue with the email template:
Merge To
When setting up a new template, the first thing to configure is who the template will be merging to. This setting will control where and when the template is available and allows you to choose from the following options:
- Company/Contact – If the template will be used when contacting companies or their contacts.
- Candidate – Used when contacting candidates
- Correspondence – Available when sending from View – Correspondence
- Users – Set up for when contacting other standard users, client users or vendor users
- References – For when contacting the referees provided by the candidates
- Vendors – For when contacting vendors assigned to the vacancy
- Invoices – Templates can be set up when sending invoices via email
If the wrong option is selected here, then the template will not be available when trying to mail merge to your desired recipients.
Merge Fields
In the body of the email template, you can choose to insert merge fields which will draw through information from your recipient & related records. However, if you choose a merge field incorrectly, this can lead to a template not being available as the merge field does not relate to the right record.
For example, a common mistake is selecting the merge field for Contact First Name, rather than Candidate First Name. When this happens, you are unable to select the template when merging to contacts, as it needs to draw information from a candidate record.
Another example is when using vacancy or action type merge fields, for merging through to candidates. These fields are available, but only when working on a vacancy and within the workflow. Action fields require the candidate to be associated to the candidate, whilst vacancy information is only available when working on the vacancy.
Finally, where you are mail merging from within the system will also impact which templates are available. As above, using action or vacancy fields will require you to mail merge from within the workflow, but you can also mail merge directly to companies or contacts, as well as from Placements. Placements will actually give you access to merge fields from most record types in the system, as they will relate to candidates, companies, contacts and vacancies.
In order to avoid this confusion, ensure that the correct merge field is selected when using the Insert Merge Field option within the Template Editor.
Note: Using Insert Custom Fields works in the same way, but based upon where the custom information is recorded within Eploy.
Troubleshooting Summary
- Check the Merge To of the Template – is this set to the same record type as your recipient?
- Ensure the Merge Fields are entered in the template correctly – are you using the correct merge field for the recipient?
- Check where you are mail merging from – are the merge fields you have used available from where you are sending the mail shot? Do the fields relate to the record type correctly?
Following these steps should then make it clear as to why certain templates are available from different areas of the system.