Send automatic Course Date/Time Change emails to Trainers
Steps to send an automated email to my Trainers when the date or time is changed on a Course
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Learn how to send an automated email to your Trainer when the date or time of a Course is changed
Keep your trainers up to date by sending automated email updates whenever a Course date or time changes. This ensures that your Trainers are always informed of schedule adjustments, helping them stay prepared and organised. By automating these updates, you eliminate the risk of miscommunication, save valuable time, and prevent any confusion. It’s a simple yet impactful way to support your Trainers and ensure every course runs seamlessly.
Follow this page to learn the steps for sending an automated reminder to a Trainer when a date or time changes
Create your Email Template
The first step is to create an Email Template, using merge fields and HTML branding Email Templates allow you to create consistent communications to send via the Platform
Top Tip!
accessplanit platforms come with many pre-built Email Templates to save you time! These pre-built templates include a ‘Trainer - Course Date Has Changed’ Email Template which you can use or copy from.
Navigate to Profile and then Administration in the top right corner of your Platform
From the Administration Menu, navigate to Email Templates (the menu is in alphabetical order)
This will take you to the Email Templates DataGrid
Click the ‘Add Email Template’ button
This will open the Email Template Form
Give your Email Template a ‘Name’
We recommend labelling your Email Template with the name of the anticipated recipient followed by a description of the email, such as “Trainer - Course Date Has Changed”Select which Module your Email Template relates to, as this email will contain information about your Courses, you should select ‘Delegate’
Leave the ‘Email Type’ selected as ‘Normal’ as this is a transactional email, not a marketing email
Leave the ‘Creation Mode’ as ‘Free Text’ as you will be defining the content of your Email directly in the Email Template rather than first building Text Templates
Add in a ‘Subject’ for your email
We recommend including the name of the Course within the subject to catch the recipient’s attention in their inbox, you can do this by adding the merge field @@CourseName into the Subject text boxAdd in the ‘Body’ of your email
If you copied the content from an existing Email Template, you can paste this content into here!
If you need to apply branding to your email, please see our dedicated guide: Add company branding to Email TemplateUse the ‘Field' drop-down option in the text editor to include merge fields such as the Course Name and Start Date within your Email Template
Learn more about merge fieldsMerge Fields may vary depending on which module is selected.
Example Merge Fields that may be useful in your Email Template:
@@TrainerName
@@CourseNameOrAlias
@@StartDate{ddd dd MMM yyyy}
@@CourseDateEndDate{ddd dd MMM yyyy}To test your Email Template, click the ‘Preview & Test’ button at the bottom of the window
Select a Preview Object by clicking the ‘Select’ button
This will open a pop up window where you can select which Trainer you would like to test your Email Template with
Select your Preview object and press the ‘OK’ button
You will now see an a preview of your Email Template, populated with the information of your selected Trainer
If an area is blank where a Merge Field is placed, this could mean that there is no information stored for this Course under the Field the Merge Field is related to
To check that the Email displays correctly when it is sent, send a sample of the Email to yourself by providing your email address and clicking the ‘Send Email’ button
Once you are happy with your Email Template content, press the 'Save & Close' button
Create your Workflow
Workflows are used to automate communications, this is the step where you will define the circumstances needed for your Course Date Change email to send, when it will be sent, and who it will be sent to!
Create your Workflow
This step will teach you how to add a new Workflow into your platform and set up a Workflow Action to send your 'Trainer - Course Date has Changed' out automatically!
Top Tip!
accessplanit platforms come with many pre-built Workflows to save you time! These pre-built templates include a 'Trainer - Course Date Has Changed’ Workflow which you can update or clone.
Navigate to Profile and then Administration in the top right corner of your Platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
This will open the Workflows DataGrid
Click the ‘Add Workflows’ button
This will open the Workflow Details page
From the new Workflow form, enter a ‘Title’ for your Workflows
We recommend labelling your Workflow with the name of the anticipated recipient followed by a description of the email, such as “Trainer - Course Date Has Changed”Select the same Module that you used for your Email Template (for this Workflow you need the ‘Delegate’ module)
Leave the Trigger Event set as ‘Saved’. This workflow should be generated when a Course is first ‘saved', not when it is ‘deleted’
Provide a useful Description so that your team know what this Workflow is for
Leave your Workflow inactive for now
It will be set to active once you have finished setting everything up!Click the ‘Save’ button in the top right
After you have saved your Workflow with those details, you will be able to access the management menu on the left to add further information
From the Workflow Management menu, click to open the ‘Settings’ page for this Workflow
This will open the Workflow Settings page
Optional - The ‘Required Role’ option is where you can set that only Training Administrators or only Super Administrators are able to view and edit this Workflow, if this option is left blank, it means both Super Admins and Training Admins can both view and edit this Workflow
Add Rules to your Workflow to decide which Courses will have this email triggered
Here are some common rules used for automated reminder Emails, you can include any combination of these, as required:Only send Users who are in the Type of 'Trainer'
Only send when a Course Date Has Changed, this is the trigger point of the status changing from one status to another
Only send when a Course Date was not empty, this means that there was an original date for the course
Only send to trainers when their Course has the status of Fully Booked, In Progress or Available
If you think that you may require Advanced Rules for your Workflow, please see our dedicated section within our Workflows Overview page
Leave the ‘Matching Rules’ checkbox checked
It is very unlikely that you will need to make any changes to any of the other settings available in the Settings page, to read more about these options please see our guide Workflows Overview
Once you have added all of your rules, click the 'Save' button at the top right of the page
From the Workflow Management menu, select the ‘Actions’ option
Select the ‘Add Workflow Action’ button
This will open the ‘Details’ section for your Workflow Action
Enter an ‘Action Label’ for your Email Action
We recommend labelling your Workflow Email Actions with the details of the email and when it will send, such as 'Trainer - Email to Trainer”Select the ActionName ‘Send an Email'
Press the ‘Save’ button in the top right to access the additional settings
Once you have saved, the parameter options for your automated email will become available
The first setting is ‘Action Date’ this is where you define when the email will send
For this Workflow action, it is recommended to set this action date to be 5 minutes after current date time,Please see our dedicated section within our Workflow with Email Actions page for more information on Action dates
Check the ‘Send on Action Date Only’ if you do not want an email to be sent for Trainers where the date or time has changed after the email should have sent
For example, if your email is set to be sent 14 days before the start date and a Delegate is booked 10 days before the Course, they have missed the Workflow Action DateIf ‘Send on Action Date Only’ is checked, the email for this Delegate will not send
If ‘Send on Action Date Only’ is not checked, the email for this Delegate will be sent soon after the Delegate is created providing they meet the Workflow rules
Use the ‘From Address’ options to enter the sender email address for this email
This reduces the risk of your emails being mistaken for spam or phishing attempts, plus, it simplifies you communication – as the recipient of your email will know who to reach out to and where their replies to your emails should go.
Please Note!
Please make sure that you use a real email address as your ‘From Address’, otherwise the emails will likely end up being caught by spam filters.
Use the ‘To Address’ options to select who you would like to receive this email
Select the Email Template that you created earlier from the 'Email Template’ drop-down box
If you would like to include any attachments to this email, click the ‘Add File’ button on the Attachment options, and select your file
Click the 'Save' button to save your Workflow Email Action
Once you have added your Workflow Action, your Workflow is ready to be tested!
Test and enable your Workflow
Once you have created your Email Template and Workflows it is time to test, testing is a good way to ensure the email sends when you expect and the content of the email displays correctly in your email inbox.
Test your Workflow Content - Single Email Test
This testing approach is best used for Workflows where you want to view/test the content of the email only, if you would like to test that your rules are set up correctly (and that your Workflow will send when expected), please jump ahead to the “Test your Course Reminder Workflow - Become the Recipient” below.
Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the 'Workflows' menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows by applying filters and/or searching the Workflows DataGrid
Right-click on the Workflow and select ‘Actions’ from the context menu
This will open the Workflow Actions DataGrid
Right-click on your Workflow Email Action and select the ‘Edit’ option from the context menu
Click on the ‘Preview & Test’ button at the top right of the Workflow Email Action edit page
Select a Course from the ‘Preview Object’
This will show you a preview of the email and how it will display in the ‘Content’ section
Enter your Email Address into the 'Send sample to' option
Click the ‘Send Email’ to send a copy of this Email Template for this Course to your Email Address, once received in your inbox, you can check that the Sign-In Sheet is working correctly
If you notice any changes are needed to your Email Template, open the ‘Email Templates’ DataGrid from the ‘Administration’ menu option, edit your Email Template and save. You can then run through these testing steps again.
Once you are happy with the content of your Email Template and Workflow you can set your Workflow to Active!
If you would prefer to test your Workflow rules before enabling your Workflow, please move directly onto Test your Workflow Rules - Become the Recipient.
Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows, right-click on it to view the context menu options and select the 'Edit' option
Scroll down to the ‘Active’ checkbox and check this box
Click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the page to save your Workflow as active!
Test your Workflow Rules - Become the Recipient
This testing approach is best used for Workflows where you are not 100% confident with the rules of your Workflow, and you would like to ensure that you will not send out your Trainer emails at the wrong time, about the wrong Courses. With this approach you will start using your Workflow, but all of the Emails will be sent to your email address temporarily.
Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows' menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows by applying filters and/or searching the Workflows DataGrid
Right-click on the Workflow and select ‘Actions’ from the context menu
From the Workflow Actions DataGrid, right-click on your Workflow Email Action and select the ‘Edit’ option
Scroll to the ‘To Address’ option and change the setting from ‘Field’ to ‘Constant’
If there are any existing recipients listed in the ‘To Address’ bar remove these, and type in the email address(es) that you would like to receive your emails to, press enter after you have typed in each email address
Click the ‘Save’ button at the top of your page to save these changes
Repeat steps 4-6 if you have any additional Workflow Email Actions for this Workflow
Once you have set all of your Workflow Actions to send to an Administrator’s Email Address you can set your Workflow to Active!
Open the ‘Administration’ menu option at the top right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflows’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflows, right-click on it to view the context menu options and select the 'Edit' option
Scroll down to the ‘Active’ checkbox and check this box
Click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the page to save your Workflow as active!
After a period of time, when you are confident that your Trainer emails are sending for the right Courses at the right time, you can then update the Workflow Actions 'To Address' to the correct recipient(s) and Save.
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