User Guide

Automated Messaging

HotDoodle sites may send customized automated email messages when people register via configured login blocks. These type of messages can also be sent when registered users join a group.

Note: These messages can be edited to display different messages. For all email template editing, it is best set the Edit Mode to be in the advanced edit mode, or html edit mode. This is done by clicking the "edit mode" button three times.

To change the message new users get when they join:

Click the edit doodle icon relative to the login block.
The template for the email that will be sent is then displayed and can be edited.

To change the message existing users get when they join one of the groups

In the tool bar, select the "Site" button and click "Manage Group Accounts."
Click the edit dodole icon next to the desired group.
The template for the email that will be sent is then displayed and can be edited.

Personally Address Email

The substitutions available for email are essentially the same whether the email is sent from an inbox or from a posting to a bulletin board. Note that the message saved in the bulletin board or in the sender's inbox will not have the fields replaced, the substitution occurs when the email is prepared.

The basic syntax is [$var] except with curly brackets. (I cannot use a curly bracket and a dollar sign in this explanation without getting a substitution, so I will use square brackets for many of the examples.)

If the email is being sent from a form, the fields from the form are placed in a variable called $fields.So you might refer to values such as [$fields.firstname] and [$fields.email] provided that the form included fields called first name and email.

Note: If a variable is incorrectly implemented, you will see a red error message, requiring your message to be corrected. However, the error message and linenumber might not be helpful in telling you which reference was incorrect.

Items sent in email have a variable $user that has values that change for each email recipient. Review the table below explaining how to implement variable for personalized messages.

Field Explination Example (square brackets) Example (real syntax)
id Internal number uniquely identifying the user. Is not useful except possibly as an argument to a link. [$user.id] {$user.id}
username The user's login string, which is often their email address. [$user.username] {$user.username}
firstname The firstname entered during user registration [$user.firstname] {$user.firstname}
lastname The lastname entered during user registration [$user.lastname] {$user.lastname}
email Their email address [$user.email] {$user.email}
email_subscribe What happens when they personally subscribe to something. Value is numeric 0-3 and matches the values in the pulldown in my-account for "My subscriptions should". This field is not very useful in email customization. [$user.email_subscribe] {$user.email_subscribe}
email_recv What happens when they are in a group that is subscribed to something. Value is numeric 0-3 and matches the values in the pulldown in my-account for "My subscriptions should". This field is not very useful in email customization. [$user.email_recv] {$user.email_recv}
email_html Is 1 if the user gets email in HTML format, is 0 otherwise. This field is not very useful in email customization. [$user.email_html] {$user.email_html}
email_show Is 1 if the user allows others to see their email address. This field is not very useful in email customization. [$user.email_show] {$user.email_show}
pending Is 1 if the user is from an imported list and has not yet interacted with HotDoodle in a manner that confirms that they are OK with receiving the emails. [$user.pending] {$user.pending}