Email Definitions refer to the templates of any automated emails that are sent via TutorCruncher to your users. Whenever a specific action is performed on your platform, such as an Invoice being raised, a Tutor applying to a Job, or a new Client joining your platform, a specific Email Definition will be triggered.
You can view a categorised list of all possible Email Definitions and their triggers via System > Settings > Communication Settings > Email Definitions - here you can also view and edit the contents of the Email Definitions respective emails, and see which Emails are enabled or disabled. Note that, while most Email Definitions are triggered automatically, it is also possible to trigger them manually in some instances.
An example of an Email Definitions page showing the 'People' category.
How do I edit the contents of an Email Definition?
Navigate to System > Settings > Communication Settings > Email Definitions before clicking ‘View’ on the row of the Email Definition you would like to edit. This will open the Email Definition’s page, which includes a visual preview of how the email will appear to the recipient user, alongside the Email Definition’s email subject, whether or not it is sending, and the Email Definition’s assigned Email Style.
Previewing the ‘Interview Invitation to Tutor’ Email Definition.
Click the Edit button to make changes to the content of the Email Definition. Here you can change the Email Definition’s email subject and body, alongside specifying an Email Style to be used for the Email Definition, and whether or not the Email Definition is sending or not.
Editing the ‘Interview Invitation to Tutor’ Email Definition.
When editing an Email Definition, you will see words enclosed in curly brackets (also known as Mustache templates), for example ###{{ recipient_first_name }}. These allow the system to retrieve information from the system to be placed in the email - the example here is for the name of the person receiving the email. Therefore, you will want to avoid changing or editing anything within these brackets, but you can move them around.
Email definitions are written in Markdown. To apply formatting to plain text you can either use the tools provided on top of the text field or write the text with Markdown straight away. To preview how the text will be rendered click on the eye symbol.
Note: If the variable you are trying to call is not listed under the ‘Available Variables’ list, you won’t be able to use it in the Email Definition’s body.
How do I customize Tutor application rejection emails?
In TutorCruncher, you can set up an automated response for tutors who apply for a job but are not selected. To do this, navigate to System > Settings > Communication Settings > Email Definitions and enable the 'Application Rejected' email definition for Tutors under the 'Activity' section. This will take you to the Email Definition page, where you can preview how the email will look to the recipient. At the top of the page, you'll find a button labeled 'Edit Content Choices'.
Tutor application rejected email definition page.
Clicking on that button will take you to a page where you can add a response to be sent to tutors when their application is rejected.
Editing the content choices.
You can name the response, draft the message you'd like to send, and then click 'Save'. You can add multiple responses by clicking the 'Add Another' button.
After you've added all your responses, go to the Tutor application. When you click 'Reject', these options will appear in the dialog box, allowing you to select the appropriate message to send to the Tutor.
Adding the default message in the Tutor rejection email.
Can I specify whether or not itemized PDFs are attached to payment request emails?
By default, the ‘Payment Request’ Email Definition has a PDF attached that contains the Invoice/Credit Request broken down into itemized charges. You can change this setting so that all of your Clients do/don’t receive this attached PDF via the ‘Attach Invoice and Credit Request PDFs to Payment request emails’ checkbox found in System > Settings > Accounting Settings > General.
If you would like to change this setting for an individual Client, you can do so by navigating to their profile, selecting Actions > Edit Profile before expanding the ‘Accounting & Client Manager’ tab - here you will find the ‘Attach Invoice and Credit Request PDFs to Payment request emails’ dropdown menu, from which you can override the settings you chose in your general accounting settings.
Markdown Guide
TutorCruncher allows text formatting using the markup language Markdown in multiple areas of the system. You can format plain text efficiently with very simple code in job descriptions, email, broadcasts, reports, etc.
To apply formatting to plain text you can either use the tools provided on top of the text field or write the text with Markdown straight away. To preview how the text will be rendered click on the eye symbol.
Markdown editor in TutorCruncher
Headers
Header | Code | Result |
Heading 1 |
| H1 |
Heading 2 |
| H2 |
Heading 3 |
| H3 |
Heading 4 |
| H4 |
Heading 5 |
| H5 |
Heading 6 |
| H6 |
Emphasis
Effect | Code | Result |
Italic |
| Italic |
Bold |
| Bold |
Bold and Italic |
| Bold and Italic |
Lists
1. For ordered lists 1. give the list item 1. A number 1. Sublists use 1. indents of four spaces.
For ordered lists
give the list item
A number
1. Sublists use
2. indents of four spaces.
* Unordered lists * use asterisks * and spaces. * Sublists use * indents of four spaces.
Unordered lists
use asterisks
and spaces.
* Sublists use
* indents of four spaces.
Links
Links can easily be created like this [TutorCruncher](https://tutorcruncher.com) and will render like this: TutorCruncher.
You can add a link title that displays when you hover over the link like this:
[Check out our website.](https://tutorcruncher.com "TutorCruncher")
Images
Images can be inserted like this
You can put an alt text that displays when you hover over the image in the brackets like this ![alt text], or leave them blank ![].
Images as a link
It's simply a combination of the above two options:
[](https://tutorcruncher.com)
Tables
Tables can also be created in Markdown and used in text boxes in TutorCruncher.
| This is | a table | in Markdown |
|--------------|:--------------:|--------------:|
| columns | can be aligned | with colons |
| left aligned | centered | right aligned |
| **Markdown** | *also renders* | in tables |
This is | a table | in Markdown |
columns | can be aligned | with colons |
left aligned | centered | right aligned |
Markdown | also renders | in tables |
Colons can be used in the second row of the table to align the columns. It is not necessary to line up the raw Markdown for it to render properly as long as there are at least three dashes separating each header cell.
not | aligned | still | works
--- | --- | --- | ---
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
not | aligned | still | works |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Moustache templates guide
Example | Function | Description |
| Insert variable | This is how we insert variables into template. For instance, `` will pull in the first name of the person you are sending the email to. |
| IF statement | This adds logic to the template. If the variable exists or is true, then the text in the middle of it will be inserted into the template. If the variable doesn't exist or is not true, then the text will not be included. |
| IF NOT statement | This does the opposite of the line above. If the variable doesn't exist or is not true, then the text will be included, and vice versa. |
Why aren't my variables working?
Even if you have entered the right variable for a particular field, it may be the case that these aren't being reflected on the emails themselves. The reason for this may be that you have yet to frame these variables. Framing your variables is sometimes necessary in order to tell the system what it should be looking for. For example; if you were attempting to write a Job Confirmation Email to your Tutors, you may wish to let tutors know what the student's details are (name, address, their associated client, phone number, etc.). However, when taken alone, entering the variable ###{{ client_name }} will not return any results, because the system requires context within which to search for that information.
The way to provide this much-needed context is through "nesting" your variables, here's a quick run-through, using the example above as our guide.
In this example, we would want to nest our variable ###{{ client_name }} within a variable which tells the system that you are looking for the details of that particular student (a.k.a. Service Recipient).
How would we tell the system this? Simply by adding another variable before, in this case, that would be: ###{{ #student_recipient_details }}
Now that we have told the system to look for these ###{{ #student_recipient_details }}, it will come to the variable for ###{{ client_name }} and know exactly what it needs to look for, but what happens after that?
If left like this, the system will continue to look for the student's details for every other variable on the page, which is not what we want, so in order to structure our email properly, we will need to tell it to stop looking for the student's details at some point as well.
The way we do this is by writing another new variable, below ###{{ client_name }} which tells it to stop, this is written as ###{{ /student_recipient_details }}
Now the system knows where to start looking for the correct information: ###{{ #student_recipient_details }}
Where to look specifically for the information: ###{{ client_name }}
And when to stop looking for the correct information: ###{{ /student_recipient_details }}
This is how you nest your variables in order to keep them functioning properly.
What nested variables can I use?
As described above, nesting variables in the way to tell TutorCruncher what type of variables which it should be looking for in a given Email Definition. This initial, or Primary Variable, sets the context for the rest of the variables, we can call them Secondary Variables, which are "nested" inside the opening and closing parts of our Primary Variable. So, if a Primary Variable establishes the context, and the Secondary Variables come within that Primary variable, how do you know which is which?
You can identify these different kinds of variables on TutorCruncher by going to your Email Definitions, editing a given email and scrolling down to the list of Available Variables. Secondary Variables will be listed below their corresponding primary variable, indented to the right and filtered grey.
This is an example of the Nested Variables which correspond to the primary variable ###{{ #student_recipient details }} - As per the example given above.
Please note:
The logical parts of the template, the IF and IF NOT statements, must be opened and closed for the template to work. For instance, you cannot simply do
###{{#variable_to_check}} ..., you also include###{{\variable_to_check}}.If you have inserted the first part of an IF or IF NOT statement, the opening part, then you must include the second part, the closing part, before you close another. For instance, the following will not work:
###{{#first_variable_to_check}} < Opening first IF statement...###{{#second_variable_to_check}} < Opening second IF statement...###{{/first_variable_to_check}} < Closing first IF statement...###{{/second_variable_to_check}} < Closing second IF statementWhereas this would:
###{{#first_variable_to_check}} < Opening first IF statement...###{{#second_variable_to_check}} < Opening second IF statement...###{{/second_variable_to_check}} < Closing second IF statement...###{{/first_variable_to_check}} < Closing first IF statement
How do I add or attach documents/PDFs/pictures/images to a broadcast/email?
You can upload files such as images, PDFs, etc. that can be linked to or used in emails. You do this by uploading a publicly viewable file, meaning that anybody with the link will be able to access the file.
List of publicly available files.
Navigate to Communications > Public Files, choose your file from your computer, and click 'Upload'. The file will appear in the list on the page.
Click on the 'Copy to clipboard' icon, next to the file name, to copy the files link to your clipboard ready to be pasted.
Add this link address with the Markdown editor (email body) for email definitions and broadcasts or the HTML editor for templates.
How do I include images in my email?
With Markdown, including images is easy.
