OutcomeTools sends notifications when a survey is assigned and when it needs a reminder. The subject and body of those messages come from templates you can edit here — with placeholders for dynamic content. SMS templates are coming soon and are currently disabled in the editor.
Where do I edit notification templates?
Templates are managed on the Settings page, on the Notification Templates card. Templates are grouped by type; each type lists the templates you've created for it, or "Using system default" if you haven't overridden the built-in text.
Notification template types and routes
There are two template types:
- Survey Assignment — the first notification a respondent gets when a survey is assigned to them.
- Survey Reminder — the reminder that goes out before the expire date if the respondent hasn't completed.
Each template has a route — currently Email. SMS (coming soon) appears in the route selector but is disabled; you cannot save an SMS template at this time.
What placeholders can I use?
Placeholders are dropped into the subject and body, wrapped in double braces. The system replaces them with live data when the message goes out. The available placeholders:
| Placeholder | Resolves to |
|---|---|
{{account_name}} | Your facility name. |
{{account_contact}} | Your facility contact name. |
{{account_email}} | Your facility email address. |
{{account_phone}} | Your facility phone number. |
{{survey_count}} | Number of surveys in the recipient's list. |
{{survey_list}} | The list of surveys (rendered). |
{{portal_button}} | A styled "Complete Surveys" button linking to the portal. |
{{portal_link}} | The raw portal URL (use in SMS where buttons can't render). |
Unknown placeholders are blocked on save — you'll see an error listing any that aren't recognized.
How do I create or edit a notification template?
- On the Notification Templates card, click the + button to create, or click an existing row to edit.
- Pick the Type and Route (these are fixed once saved).
- Optionally set Set as default so this template is used for new recipients when no per-instrument override is configured.
- Give the template a Name (max 100 characters).
- Optionally scope it to a specific Instrument so it only applies when that instrument is in the notification.
- Edit the Subject (max 255 characters) and Body (a rich-text editor with basic formatting; max 10,000 characters). Insert placeholders from the Insert placeholder picker.
- Flip the Active switch in the footer as needed, then Save.
Keep it short. Notifications have higher completion rates when the message is brief. Lead with what's being asked and end with the portal button/link.
How is a template chosen for an automated notification?
For automated survey notifications, OutcomeTools follows these rules when picking which template to send:
- One notification per recipient per day. The daily automation run batches every survey that becomes due that day for a given recipient into a single notification — they never get a separate email for each survey.
- Multiple surveys due → default template. When more than one survey is included in the batch, the recipient gets the default template for the matching type and route. Per-instrument templates do not apply, because a single message is covering several instruments.
- Single survey due → instrument filters apply. When only one survey is in the batch, OutcomeTools first looks for an active template scoped to that specific instrument; if none matches, it falls back to the default template for the type and route.
- Multiple matching templates → first match wins. If you've created more than one active template that fits the same type, route, and instrument, the first matching template is used. Avoid creating duplicates — delete or deactivate the ones you don't want.
Are SMS templates available?
SMS notifications are not yet available. The Route selector shows SMS (coming soon), but the option is disabled and saving an SMS template will be rejected. When SMS support ships, this section will be updated with formatting guidance.