Adding Dynamic Information into Messages

You may add different pieces of information into a message to make it more personal. When typing them in they will all be in the format of [[something]]. We’ll separate these into 2 different groups.

Universal Fields 

These fields are the same across all lists for all customers. They are:

• [[firstname]]
• [[lastname]]
• [[fullname]]
• [[today]]
• [[tomorrow]]
• [[contactid]]
• [[groupname]]
• [[username]]

Custom Fields

These fields will change depending on what is put into them. In many cases we’ll have changed the labels to match the data being tracked. The [[field1]] … [[field7]] values appear on the right side of a record just below the Portal Login. Specifically,  [[field1]] is “Building,” etc. 

Ways of adding merge fields

Now that you know how to identify the merge fields, how do you add them into your message? There are 3 ways to do this.

1. Type them in by hand. If you want the first name in the message simply typing [[firstname]] into your text will insert that field.
2. Add them using the drop down.They are located here:
3. In a multi-part message there is an option in box 2 to add merge fields. Select Replacement/Merge field as the option and then pick the field you want to insert. Once selected click Add Message Part in order to insert it. This method is really only needed for inserting merge fields into a recorded voice message. Other message types can use the drop downs in the other pages instead.

Example

Below is an example of how you might use dynamic fields in a message

To the parent/guardian of [[firstname]],

Today, [[today]], [[firstname]] was absent during period(s) [[field5]]. If this is a legal absence please email or call the attendance office.

Thank you,
Fake High School