Send automatic emails to Trainers when the Venue on their Course changes

Steps to send an automated email to my Trainers when a venue is changed on a Course they are leading

1 Create your Email Template
2 Create your Workflow
3 Test and enable your Workflow

Related Help Guide Pages

Additional Workflow Related Help Guides

Learn how to send an automated email to your Trainer’s when the Venue on a Course is changed

Do you need to let your Trainers know when the venue for their Course has changed? This guide will show you how to set up an automated email, so your Trainers stay informed, prepared, and never turn up at the wrong location.

Follow this page to learn the steps for sending an automated reminder to a Trainer to inform them of a Venue change.

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 - Venue Has Changed’ Email Template which you can use or copy from.

Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
From the Administration Menu, find & click on the Email Templates option
This will take you to the Email Templates DataGrid
If you plan to copy from an existing Email Template, search for that Email Template, right-click on it and select ‘Edit’, then copy the contents of the Body, return 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 - Venue Has Changed”
Select which Module your Email Template relates to
As this email is about Courses and will include details like the Venue, you should select ‘Class Delegate’.
This is the right choice because:
- Trainers and Delegates are managed within the ‘Delegates’ modules
- We're focusing on Classroom Courses, as only these have Venues
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 @@CourseOrAliasName into the Subject text box
Add in the ‘Body’ of your email
If you copied the content from an existing Email Template, you can paste this content here!
If you need to apply branding to your email, please see our dedicated guide: Add company branding to Email Template
Use 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 fields
Merge Fields may vary depending on which module is selected.

Example Merge Fields that may be useful in your Email Template:
@@CourseNameOrAlias
@@CourseDateStartDate{ddd dd MMM yyyy}
@@VenueLabel
@@VenueFullAddress
@@VenueMapUrl
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 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

Workflow Templates are used to automate communications, this is the step where you will define the circumstances needed for your Venue 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 to your platform and set up a Workflow Action to send your Trainer - Venue Has Changed Template out automatically!

Top Tip!

accessplanit platforms come with many pre-built Workflows to save you time! These pre-built templates include a 'Trainer - Venue Has Changed’ Workflow which you can update or clone.

Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
Click on the ‘Workflow Templates’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
This will open the Workflow Template DataGrid
Click the ‘Add Workflow’ button
This will open the Workflow Details page
From the new Workflow form, enter a ‘Title’ for your Workflow Template
We recommend labelling your Workflow with the name of the anticipated recipient followed by a description of the email, such as “Trainer - Venue Has Changed”
Select the same Module that you used for your Email Template (for this Workflow you need the ‘Class Delegate’ module)
Leave the Trigger Event set as ‘Saved’
This Workflow should be generated when a Delegate/Trainer is updated/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 Statistics email triggered
Here are some common rules used for automated reminder Emails, you can include any combination of these, as required:
1. Only send Delegates who are in the Type of 'Trainer': Type - Is In - Trainer
  This rule will stop this email sending to Delegates on the Course, it will only send to the Course Trainer(s)
2. Only send when a Venue ID Has Changed: Venue ID - Has Changed
  This rule will trigger the Workflow when the Venue on a Course is updated
3. Only send when a Venue ID was previously different: Venue ID - Was Not Empty
  This rule will trigger the Workflow only if the Course had previously had a different Venue assigned
4. Only send for Courses that are running: Course Status - Is In - Fully Booked, In Progress, Available
  This rule will stop the Workflow from being triggered for Trainers assigned to Courses that are cancelled, completed, provisional, and on hold.
  
  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 on 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
This will open the Workflow Actions DataGrid, this is where you define what will happen when your Workflow Rules are met! (e.g. an email will send)
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 be sent, such as 'Trainer - Email to Trainer”
Select the Action Name ‘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 the 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 to Trainers who are added to your Courses after the email has been 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 Date
1. If ‘Send on Action Date Only’ is checked, the email for this Delegate will not send
2. 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 your 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
1. Booking User Email Address: This is not applicable for this email as the Trainer is not added to the Course via a booking.
2. Company Email Address: This is not applicable for this email as the Trainer does not have a Delegate Company record.
3. Delegate Email Address: This is the email address of Trainer(s) assigned to the Course.
4. Direct Manager’s Email Address: This is the email address of the User assigned as the Trainer’s Direct Manager, you can find this option by editing the User and viewing the 'Direct Manager' option within the Employment section.
5. Employers Email Address: This is the email address for all the Accounts that the Trainer has an active employment record with.
6. Managers Email Address: This is the email address for all Users that manage this Trainer, this is set up in the ‘Management’ tab when editing a User.
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
If your Joining Instructions are a document, here would be the best place to attach them.
1. A File: A static document that has been uploaded to the Files area of your platform, commonly used for files such as 'terms & conditions'
2. Document Template: A dynamic document that has been uploaded to the Document Templates area of your platform, commonly used for files such as joining instructions letters, certificates, and sign-in sheets
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 Workflow Template 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 email 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 ‘Workflow Templates’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflow Template, 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 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 ‘Workflow Templates' 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 ‘Workflow Templates’ menu option to open the Workflows DataGrid
Search for your Workflow Template, 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.