Email Templates
Email templates in Helm WMS hold the design and wording of the emails Helm sends, from order updates for your customers to purchase orders for your suppliers. This article shows how to create and edit one, add order details with variables, and test it before it goes out.
How Email Templates Work in Helm
An email template is the design of one email: its layout, wording, colours and images. Each template has a Type that decides where it can be used. Orders templates are the emails your customers receive as their orders move, and Purchase Orders templates are the emails your suppliers receive with a purchase order.
Templates use variables, such as {order_number} or {customer_name}, which Helm swaps for the real details each time the email goes out. One template can therefore serve every order.
A template on its own sends nothing. It is used when a customer notification or a purchase order picks it, so building the template and switching on the email are two separate steps.
Example: a store wants its despatch email to look like its website. The admin duplicates the Order Despatched template, adds the store's logo, changes the button colour to the brand colour, sends a test email to their own inbox, then chooses the new template in the store's despatch notification.
Before You Start
Where to find it: go to Settings > System Settings > Email Template Settings. The page is headed Email Templates.
Start from what is there: Helm comes with ready-made templates, such as Order Received, Order Despatched, Order on Hold, Order in Transit, Order Out For Delivery, Order Delivered and Purchase Order.
Have a mail account ready: emails are sent from a mail account. Mail Account Settings covers adding your own.
Note: making a template Active only makes it available to choose. To send it to customers, link it to a notification, as described in Setting Up Customer Order Notifications.
Reading the Email Templates Page
The page opens as a grid of previews. Use the list icon at the top right to switch to a table:
Use Filters to narrow the list by Format, Status, Tags or Type, or the search box to find a template by name.
How to Create an Email Template in Helm
Click Create Template.
Enter a Name and choose the Type: Orders or Purchase Orders. Click Continue.
Choose a starting point. Create New gives you a blank email; any other card copies that library template, so you only change what you need. Hover a card and click the eye icon to preview it first.
To use a design built outside Helm, click Import HTML instead.
Build your email in the editor, then click Save Template.
Tip: to make a variation of a template you already use, open Actions on it and choose Duplicate. The original keeps working while you edit the copy.
Editing an Email in the Editor
Click a template to open it in Modify Email Template. The email sits on the left and the Email Editor panel on the right has three tabs:
Along the bottom are the template's name, Variables, Test Email and Save Template. At the top, use undo and redo, or Preview to see the email in desktop and mobile widths.
Adding Order Details With Variables
A variable is a word in curly brackets. When Helm sends the email it swaps each one for that order's details, so "Hello {customer_name}" reaches your customer as "Hello Sarah".
Click Variables in the editor to see every variable with a description. Use the copy icon beside one, then paste it into a text block. Some of the most used:
Listing Each Item on the Order
To show every item, put the item details between {order_lines} and {/order_lines}. Everything between the two repeats once for each item, so a line with {item_name}, {item_code} and {item_quantity} becomes one line per product. The ready-made Order Received template shows this in use.
Note: Preview shows the layout with the variable names in place. Send a test email to check how it looks in a real inbox.
Testing & Managing Your Templates
Test: click Test Email in the editor, or open Actions on the template and choose Test Email.
Copy: Actions > Duplicate makes a copy to edit.
Organise: Actions > Add Tag labels a template, for example by store, so you can filter by it.
Remove: Actions > Delete.
Heads up: a template that a notification is using cannot be made inactive. Choose a different template in that notification first.
Best Practices & Notes
Keep the Ready-Made Templates as They Are
Duplicate a ready-made template and edit the copy. You always have a working original to go back to, and to compare against if something looks wrong.
Fill in the Preview Text
The Invisible header in the Settings tab is the line inboxes show beside the subject. A short line such as "Your parcel is on its way" gets more emails opened than the first words of the layout.
Check the Mobile View
Most customers read order emails on a phone. Switch Preview to the mobile view before you save, and keep buttons and tracking links easy to tap.
Name Templates by Store & Moment
A name such as "NineTees: Out for Delivery" tells your team straight away which template a notification is using.
FAQ
I made a template active. Why has nobody received it?
I made a template active. Why has nobody received it?
Active only makes it available. Choose it in step three of a notification, as described in Setting Up Customer Order Notifications.
Can I use HTML from another system?
Can I use HTML from another system?
Yes. Click Create Template, enter the name and type, then choose Import HTML. The template then shows HTML in the Format column.
Which variables can I use?
Which variables can I use?
Click Variables in the editor for the full list, with a description of each and a copy button.
Where does the purchase order email get used?
Where does the purchase order email get used?
When you send a purchase order to a supplier. Purchase Orders covers sending one.
If you are still stuck, contact Helm Support.
Was this helpful?
Still need help? Share an idea