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Lifecycle Email Templates

Lifecycle email templates are the automated emails that Pigeonhole sends to parents at key points in their journey, such as when an invoice is issued, a payment reminder is sent, or a payment is confirmed. You can customise the content of these emails to match your nursery’s tone and include the information most relevant to your families.
This page covers lifecycle templates - the automated emails triggered by events like invoicing and payments. If you are looking to send a custom email to parents, see Emailing Parents.

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Accessing Lifecycle Templates

  1. Go to Settings > Email Templates > Lifecycle tab.
  2. You will see a card for each available template.
  3. Templates marked Default are using the built-in content. Templates marked Custom have been edited by your setting.

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Available Templates

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Editing a Template

  1. Click on the template card you want to edit.
  2. The editor will open below the template cards with two fields: Subject and Body.
  3. Edit the Subject line to customise the email subject your parents will see in their inbox. You can use template variables in the subject (e.g. {{child_first_name}}). If left empty, a sensible default subject is used.
  4. Edit the Body using the email editor. The editor supports:
    • Bold, italic, strikethrough, and underline text
    • Headings (H1, H2, H3)
    • Bulleted and numbered lists
    • Links — select text, then click the link icon to add a URL
    • Block quotes
    • Horizontal dividers
  5. Use the Available Variables buttons to insert dynamic values — click a variable name to insert it into whichever field (subject or body) is currently active.
  6. Click Save Template to save your changes. The template card will change to Custom.

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Template Variables

Variables are placeholders that are automatically replaced with real data when the email is sent. Insert them by clicking the variable buttons, or type them directly into the editor.
Variable names are case-sensitive. Use exactly the format shown above, including the double curly braces.

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Sending a Test Email

You can send a test email at any time to verify how the template looks in an inbox — you don’t need to save your changes first:
  1. Enter a recipient email address in the Send Test Email field.
  2. Click Send Test. A test email is sent using sample data so you can see how the variables are filled in. The Send Test button is only unavailable while a test is already sending or when you haven’t entered a recipient address.
Test emails use placeholder data (e.g. “Test Parent”, “INV-TEST-001”, £250.00) rather than real invoice information.

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Resetting to the Default Template

If you want to revert to the built-in template at any time:
  1. Select the template.
  2. Click Reset to Default (only shown for Custom templates).
  3. The template will return to the Pigeonhole default and the card will change back to Default.

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Frequently Asked Questions

No. Template changes only affect emails sent after the change is saved. Previously sent invoices and reminders are not affected.
Yes. Go to Settings > Invoicing and enter an email address in the Invoice Reply Email field. When parents reply to an invoice email, their reply will go to that address instead of the default sender address.
The variable will simply not appear in the email. For example, removing {{reference}} means the invoice reference won’t be shown in the email body.
The editor supports rich text formatting including headings, lists, and links, but does not support images or tables. Your nursery logo is automatically included in the email header.