This page covers features gated by Admin-tier permissions — typically Settings access. Admins have these by default; your administrator can adjust who has them in Settings > Team.
Template variables
Email subjects, email bodies, and SMS messages can include variables like{{customer.name}} that resolve when the automation runs.
The automation builder shows the available variables under each message field — click one to insert it at the cursor. Use that panel rather than typing a variable from memory. The set it offers is the one that will actually resolve for the automation you’re building: order automations get order tokens, event automations get event tokens, both get the customer set, and an action looping over event contacts gets a {{contact.*}} set as well.
Sending to each contact in turn
When an event automation action has an Event contacts loop on it, the{{contact.*}} variables resolve to the current recipient’s details, so each fan-out message is addressed to that specific person.
Use {{customer.first_name}} when you mean the event’s primary customer — the same across every iteration — and {{contact.first_name}} when you mean the person the current message is going to. Most fan-out messages want {{contact.*}} for the greeting and {{customer.*}} when referring to who booked the event.
The panel only offers the {{contact.*}} set when the action is set to loop over event contacts.
If a customer or contact doesn’t have a value for the variable you’ve used — no phone number, for example — it comes through as a blank space. Send yourself a test before you rely on a new message.
%name%, %quantity% and so on) and only work inside a looping action — see Loops below.
Send an email
The most common action. When the automation fires, an email goes out to the customer on the order or event, wrapped in your standard notification layout and branding.Setting it up
1
Write the subject
Type the subject line. Insert variables from the picker so each email is personalised — see Template variables for the full list.
2
Write the message
Compose the email body. Variables work here too. You don’t need to recreate headers, footers, or styling — the message is dropped into your branded notification layout.
%name% filled in for each one. See Loops for the full variable list per loop type.
Send a text message (SMS)
Sends a text message to the customer’s phone number when the automation fires. Useful for time-sensitive notifications like delivery updates.Setting it up
Enter the SMS content. The same variables work in SMS as in email — see Template variables. Keep the message short: standard SMS messages are 160 characters, and longer ones are split into multiple parts and use multiple credits, so insert variables sparingly. The SMS sends to the phone number on the customer record by default. If the action has an Event contacts loop on it, the SMS sends to each contact’s phone instead, once per contact. If a phone number is missing, the automation logs that the SMS was skipped and moves on. Your order or event isn’t blocked.Create a task
Automatically creates a task when the automation fires. This is great for making sure preparation steps, follow-ups, or checks don’t get forgotten.Setting it up
1
Enter the task title
Give the task a clear name, like “Prepare arrangement” or “Follow up with client”.
2
Add a description (optional)
Include any extra detail the team needs.
3
Add a checklist (optional)
You can generate a checklist from a loop — for example, one checklist item per product in the order, or one per recipe in an event quotation. See Loops below.
Scheduling the due date
By default a created task is due straight away. To prep ahead, set a due date relative to the order or event using one of these fields.- Days Before — the task is due that many days before the order’s fulfilment date or the event date (like a prep task 7 days before).
- Days After — the task is due that many days after (like a follow-up 14 days after).
Scheduling when an action runs
Put a Days Before or Days After figure on an action and it doesn’t run the moment the trigger fires. It waits and runs on the day it falls due, so a thank-you set to go out 10 days after a wedding goes out on that tenth day. A message still waiting sits on the Scheduled messages card in Settings > Automations until then, and you can cancel it there.Loops
Loops let you repeat part of an action for each item in a list. Tick Enable Looping on an action and pick what to loop over.Loop variables
Inside a loop, the message body is rendered once per item with the%variable% values filled in for that item. Each loop has its own variable set:
Outside a loop, use the
{{ }} variables from Template variables instead. The two syntaxes are intentional: {{ }} refers to the order or event the automation fired on, %% refers to the current item inside the loop.
How loops work with emails
The email is sent once per loop item with the loop variables filled in. Three of the loops (Order items, Event quotation recipes, Event quotation ingredients) all send to the customer recorded on the order or event, with a different message each time. The Event contacts loop is different — see below.Event contacts loop — sends to each contact in turn
The Event contacts loop is the only loop that changes who the email or SMS is sent to. For each contact on the event:- The email goes to that contact’s email address (not the event customer’s)
- The SMS goes to that contact’s phone number (not the event customer’s)
- The
{{contact.*}}variables from Sending to each contact in turn resolve to the current recipient’s details, so the greeting reads “Hi Sarah” for the bride and “Hi Tom” for the groom on the same automation - A contact with no email address won’t get the email, and a contact with no phone number won’t get the text — the automation carries on to the other contacts either way. Check every contact on the event has the details you need before you rely on the fan-out
How loops work with tasks
When you use a loop with a create task action, Digital Florists generates a checklist on the task with one item per loop entry. For example, if an order has three products and you use the Order items loop, the task gets a three-item checklist — one for each product, with%name% x %quantity% filled in per line.
Common questions
Can one automation perform multiple actions?
Can one automation perform multiple actions?
Yes. Click Add Action to chain as many actions as you need onto a single automation. Each action runs in turn when the trigger fires and the conditions match.
Can I test an automation before enabling it?
Can I test an automation before enabling it?
There’s no dry-run mode. Create a test order or event and let the automation fire on it, then check the Logs to confirm it worked.
Why does my email look styled even though I only typed plain text?
Why does my email look styled even though I only typed plain text?
The subject and message you write are wrapped in your branded notification layout — header, footer, colours, signature — before being sent. You write the content; Digital Florists handles the styling. Adjust the layout itself in Notification Templates.
Do loop variables work in SMS messages?
Do loop variables work in SMS messages?
Yes —
%name%, %quantity%, %price%, %note%, and the contact-specific ones (%first_name%, %email%, %phone%, %label%) all resolve in SMS the same way they do in email. The Event contacts loop also re-routes the SMS to each contact’s phone in turn. Just keep the message short, since each loop iteration is a separate SMS and counts against your credits.What happens to a scheduled task's due date if the order date changes?
What happens to a scheduled task's due date if the order date changes?
The task keeps its original due date. The due date is worked out when the automation fires and doesn’t recalculate if the order or event date shifts afterwards.
What’s next?
Triggers & Conditions
Control when your automations fire.
Logs & Troubleshooting
Check what your automations have done and fix issues.
Notifications
Manage the email templates your automations use.
Tasks
View and manage tasks created by automations.