Introduction to Email Templates
Table of Contents
- What's an Email Template?
- Why use an Email template?
- What's the Difference Between Enhanced & HTML Templates?
- What are Merge Tags? Do I Need to Use Them for Templates?
- Accessing the Email Template Editor
- What the Email Template Editor Looks Like
- What a Sent Email Looks Like
- Related Articles
What's an Email Template?
Think about an email you've recently sent to someone. Now imagine you have to send that same email to ten other people. Creating a template simply allows you and your team to write the email once and use it over and over again. You can even use Merge Tags to personalize your templates so they automatically include information like the patient's name in the salutation. Your template can also include your practice logo, an image, and clickable link buttons. To learn what you can add into your template, see the What the Email Template Editor Looks Like section below.
YAPI comes pre-loaded with quite a few email templates at install, but you are always free to create your own, edit the ones you have, or download and import pre-made ones for free from our Template Library.
Why Use an Email Template?
Email templates provide a way to consistently communicate with your patients. They allow you to:
- Stay on brand
- Use the same tone and language for everyone
- Avoid human errors and typos
- Work more efficiently by not needing to recreate each email
Taking the time to create and use these templates means email communications represent your practice and brand in the best possible way. You won't have one patient that receives a great email while another laughs about all the typos that they found. (And yes, they did tell their friends about the typos.)
What's the Difference Between Enhanced & HTML Templates?
When you create an email template in YAPI, you'll see an option to create either an enhanced email template or an HTML one. Enhanced email templates are the standard way to manage email communications in YAPI and the option you should always choose. HTML templates are the older version of YAPI templates and shouldn't be used anymore. They aren't as robust as enhanced templates and some of their functionality when sending is no longer supported.
What are Merge Tags? Do I Need to Use Them for Templates?
A merge tag is a placeholder where individualized information is inserted into each recipient's final email. They always have two square brackets, with the specific field or variable inside the bracket.
For example, if you want to address each patient by their first name, you can use the merge tag [[FIRST]] and each recipient will see their name in the email.
Merge tags are pre-defined in YAPI since they integrate with patient records. This means you can't make up your own tags.
When creating or editing email templates used in automated emails and Mail Blasts, we highly recommend using merge tags so your patients have a personalized experience. To learn more about the merge tags you can use and how to use them, see Personalizing Email Templates with Merge Tags and Merge Tags for Email Templates.
Note: Merge tags aren't supported when sending emails to one patient at a time, so keep this in mind when creating your templates.
Accessing the Email Template Editor
In YAPI, you'll use the Email Template Editor to create and edit your email templates. You can access the editor by opening an existing email template or creating a new one:
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From the YAPI Dashboard, click Setup and Manage
and select Manage Documents and Templates. -
When prompted, enter your YAPI password and click OK.
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In the Manage Documents and Templates window (which shows the Email Templates tab by default):
- Click New to create a new template, OR
- Select a template from the list and click Edit to edit an existing one.
Tip: To learn more about accessing the editor and making your own templates, see Creating an Email Template in the Dashboard or Editing an Existing Email Template.
What the Email Template Editor Looks Like
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Name |  |
HTML Editor |  |
Communication Icons |
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Subject |  |
Unsubscribe Link |  |
Share |
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Logo |  |
Advertising | |
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Theme |  |
Image |  |
Google Reviews |
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Body Text & Body Text 2 |  |
Action Button | |
Note: When working on a template, the Name, Subject, Tag, and Theme fields are required. All other fields shown (labelled in orange above) are optional.
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Name |
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This is the office-facing name of your template that patients won't see. When you send an email, this is the template name you'll look for, so it should be distinct and something your office team can recognize. |
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Subject |
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This is the subject line for the email that patients will see in their inbox. |
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Type |
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This field is used to group and organize your email templates into the following categories:
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Theme |
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YAPI's pre-defined email template themes have set colors and margins, so you don't have to do any of that yourself. Themes impact the visual appearance of an email but don't change the message itself or any of the other fields shown in the Email Template Editor. The YM_T2 & YM_T_LILAC templates have a purple background and the rest of the templates have a white background. Each template offers slightly different margin sizes for the body of your email so we suggest playing around with each or using the Show button to see an example and determine which you prefer.
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Body Text & Body Text 2 |
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This is where you'll set what you want the body of the email to say. In most cases, you'll use only the top Body Text space for your message but if you choose to use Action buttons, you can enter text in the Body Text 2 section as well, which will display below the buttons.
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HTML Editor |
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The built in HTML editor helps you create the perfectly formatted email every time without having to know any HTML. Clicking the HTML Editor button opens a separate window where you can draft your email and format the text, change its color, size, or weight. YAPI then creates the HTML code for you, which you can then paste into the Body Text boxes in the Email Template Editor. For details about how the HTML Editor works, see Creating an Email Template in the Dashboard. |
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Unsubscribe Link |
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By law, every automated email must provide an opt-out or unsubscribe mechanism. You can customize the content of this area, but legally you must add an unsubscribe link to any templates used in Mail Blasts or in YAPI's automated email systems. Luckily, YAPI includes this link in all its pre-installed templates and enables it automatically for you in every new template! |
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Logo |
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If you've imported your practice logo into YAPI, this field displays it at the top of each new email template by default. The Position field allows you to set where (and if) the logo displays: at the top of the email, at the bottom, or not at all (Hidden).
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Image |
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This field is used to add a web-hosted image to your template. To learn more about hosting an image and adding it to your template, see Adding Images to an Email Template (Hosting Images Online).
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Action Buttons |
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Action Buttons are buttons that link patients to a specific website when clicked. The Email Template Editor allows up to three buttons per email and each button has three attributes:
You can use these buttons to link patients to marketing content, your website, or their online forms. Warning! Some appointment reminder templates that come pre-installed with YAPI include a [[URICONFIRM]] merge tag in place of a link on the first Action Button. This allows patients to confirm their appointment and shouldn't be altered or removed from these templates. |
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Communication Icons |
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This section allows you to add icons linking to your practice's email address, website, and Facebook page.
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Share |
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Advertising |
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This section allows you to add a web-hosted image at the bottom of the email that leads to a link when clicked. You can use this for linking your patients to sites like your Yelp page or a page on your website that highlights special offers. You can also use it to link to videos you've hosted on YouTube or Vimeo, using the image as a clickable thumbnail. We even have some pre-made patient-facing videos and thumbnails you can use for free! |
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Google Reviews |
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This adds a link at the bottom of your email so that patients can easily review you on Google:
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Google Map |
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What a Sent Email Looks Like
The image below is an example of how items in the Email Template Editor appear in the final email that your patients see. Each email may look slightly different depending the options selected in the Email Template Builder.
Related Articles
- Creating an Email Template in the Dashboard
- Editing an Existing Email Template
- Adding Images to an Email Template (Hosting Images Online)
- Patient Facing Videos Library