This guide is for course providers using the Cademy Admin dashboard. Mail Merge tags are placeholders that Cademy replaces with information from the person and record connected to an email.
A Mail Merge tag uses double curly brackets. For example, {{student.first_name}} becomes the recipient's first name.
Do not add a # before the tag. #{{student.first_name}} is not the correct current format.
The record you email controls the information available. A Contact has person details, but no specific booking, course or date. An Order supplies purchase information and a relevant course. A Registration supplies one participant’s course and date. When it was created from an Order, a sent email also takes Order values from that Order, but Preview from a Registration does not load the Order.
What each user role can do
System Admin: Can add Mail Merge tags to saved templates and use them in available manual email actions.
Course Owner: Can add Mail Merge tags to saved templates and use them in available manual email actions.
Facilitator: Cannot manage saved templates under Settings > Email Templates. They can use Mail Merge when an available manual email action lets them email records they manage.
Choose the right record before adding tags
An Order is a purchase record. It can contain several courses. A Registration is one person’s place on one course. Choose the sending record before choosing tags:
Order: person, provider and Order information, plus one relevant course/date. A course tag does not list every course in the Order. Spaces booked uses the spaces on one course entry chosen for the recipient; Total paid uses the whole Order’s total paid, not that participant’s payment.
Registration or Registrant: person, provider and the Registration’s course. A dated Registration supplies its linked date or block. When the Registration was created from an Order, a sent email takes Total paid and the Receipt / Invoice link from that whole Order, and Spaces booked from one course entry in that Order. Preview from a Registration does not load the Order, so check these values in a test email sent to yourself, or email from the Order. A Registration that was not created from an Order has no Order to take them from.
Contacts: person and provider information. A normal email from the Contacts list has no specific course, date, Order or Registration context.
Orders or Registrants inside a course: the selected record still determines the context. Opening a course does not turn a multi-course Order into a single-course record. Use the exact Registration for participant-specific details.
Waitlist: person, provider and the course recorded on the waitlist entry. Its date is included when the entry has a specific date. It is not an Order or a payment record.
Course invitation: person, provider and the course being shared. The invitation does not provide a completed Order or Registration.
Automatic course email: the triggering Order or Registration supplies the context. A scheduled reminder or follow-up can use a particular session within a booked block. A manual preview is not proof of every automatic email’s values.
Inbox message: Mail Merge is not processed, even if the editor offers the control. Tags in the message remain text.
Use a manual email for personalised emails: the list button is Email or Send Email, whichever your list shows. A Contact’s Message action opens Inbox and does not process these tags.
Add a Mail Merge tag to the Email Body
Use a manual email when you want to insert and check tags for a specific recipient. Use an Order for purchase information, or the exact Registration for a participant’s course/date information.
Open the email panel for one test record: follow steps 1 and 2 under Use a real test record for a personalised preview below.
Choose a saved custom template, or enter a Subject and Email body.
Place the cursor in the body where the value should appear. Select Mail Merge in the editor toolbar, then choose the built-in value you need.
Keep the inserted tag exactly as Cademy creates it. Add ordinary wording around it.
Preview the result and close without sending: follow steps 4 to 6 of the same section.
For example, a dated Registration can supply the values in: Hello {{student.first_name}}, your course {{course.name}} starts on {{course.times.start.zoned_datetime|timezone_date}}. Check the actual result in Preview.
To retain tags in a reusable template, a System Admin or Course Owner opens Settings > Email Templates and the saved custom template. Insert the tags in Email Body, open Save and choose Save from its menu. If a reply-to warning appears, check the address and confirm only if replies should go there. Wait for Template updated, then reopen the template and check the saved subject/body before selecting it in a manual email. Editing the manual email does not update the saved template. The linked template guide covers creating a custom copy of a system default.
The toolbar lists built-in choices. It does not include custom fields; see the custom-field limits below.
Add a Mail Merge tag to the Subject
The Mail Merge menu inserts into Email Body, not directly into the Subject field. To add a simple text or date value to the Subject:
Insert the required tag into Email Body using Mail Merge.
Copy the complete inserted tag.
Paste it into the Subject field.
Remove it from the body if it is not needed there.
If you are editing a saved custom template in Settings, open Save and choose Save from its menu. If a reply-to warning appears, check the address and confirm only if replies should go there. Wait for Template updated before leaving to preview it from a record.
Preview the email from a suitable record.
Use this method for simple values such as First Name, Course name, Start date & time. Keep buttons, formatted link blocks and recipient-specific access links out of the subject. Use simple text or date values only.
Built-in Mail Merge choices
The Mail Merge menu is the source of truth for the choices currently available in your editor. The built-in choices are grouped below.
Person details
First Name and Last Name
Email and Telephone
Address - Full
Address - Address Line 1, Address - Address Line 2, Address - City, Address - Region, Address - Postcode and Address - Country
Provider details
Review Capture Link appears before the other provider choices in the menu. Its limitations are explained under links below.
Educator account name, Educator location, Educator bio and Educator terms of service
Website, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest
Course, date and booking details
Course name, Course location, Delivery method and Description
Start date & time and End date & time
Spaces booked and Total paid
Zoom / Video Call join link
Course location inserts the venue address, not the saved location’s Name, Public note or Private / internal note. A manual email uses the directly linked date’s non-empty address, otherwise the course address. It does not separately look up a parent block’s location for a child date. Preview the exact Registration; do not assume every session inherits the same email values.
Description uses the course’s stored plain-text description. If that value is missing, the result can be blank even when the course page has a formatted description. Check Preview and use the required wording directly if it is missing.
Links and buttons
Receipt / Invoice link
Certificate Link
Add to Calendar Link
Course Page Link and Course Forum Link
Feedback Link and Feedback Button
Course Forum Button
Occurrence Name and Occurrence Description are date/session text values, not links.
Course access button and Course access link
Check each link’s requirements
Receipt / Invoice link: use an Order email. A sent email to a Registration created from an Order links that Order’s invoice, but Preview from the Registration shows a different address, so check the link in a test email sent to yourself. A Registration that was not created from an Order gets no invoice link.
Add to Calendar Link: use a Registration linked to a scheduled date or block. From an Order, the link asks for the date of the one course entry chosen for the recipient, so it does not cover every date in a multi-course Order. For a multi-course Order, use the exact dated Registration.
Certificate Link: requires the correct participant/course context and an existing certificate that has not been revoked. A URL appearing in Preview does not prove that a certificate has been issued.
Feedback Link and Feedback Button: emails prepared with that Registration’s feedback request can use its personal feedback link. A normal manual email with course context uses the course’s sign-in feedback page instead. Without the necessary request or course/provider details, the link is blank. Not every Feedback Link bypasses sign-in.
Course access link and Course access button: use the message body, with the intended recipient’s course/registration context. Preview can show a placeholder rather than a usable sign-in link. Do not copy one person’s rendered access link into another person’s email.
Course Page Link and forum links need the correct course/provider details. A link does not itself prove that the recipient has permission to view the destination.
Review Capture Link is the older course sign-in feedback-page link. It is not a personal feedback-request link. Use the current Feedback choices when preparing feedback-request content, then check the actual sending context.
Use custom fields in emails
Custom values can come from the email recipient’s Contact, the connected Course or the connected Occurrence (a course date or block). A custom-field tag needs the matching field and a stored value on that record.
Contact fields: use the current recipient’s value, not every guest’s answers.
Course fields: use the connected course’s stored value.
Occurrence fields: use values available from the date or block connected to the email. Do not assume a manual email to a child date also loads its parent block’s custom values.
The Mail Merge toolbar does not list custom fields. An email editor that has Mail Merge can offer them in a list when you type {{ in the message. Do not guess a tag from the field’s display name. If you need a custom-field tag and cannot add it this way, contact Cademy Support with the field name, whether it belongs to Contacts, Courses or Occurrences, and the email you want to personalise.
If an existing custom template already contains a custom-field tag, check it before reuse:
Confirm that the intended Contact, Course or Occurrence contains the value. The linked field guides explain where these fields are set up and populated.
Select that recipient’s relevant test record, select Email or Send Email, whichever your list shows, then choose the saved custom template.
Select Preview and compare the displayed value with the record. If it is missing or unreadable, do not rely on it in a bulk email. Use ordinary wording for this message or ask Support to check the field/tag combination.
Simple text and numbers are easier to check. A custom date does not automatically use the built-in course date format. Address, File Upload, object and multiple-answer fields can produce unreadable or joined values.
Registration, Organisation and User fields are not interchangeable with Contact fields. A custom tag does not build a list of every course, guest or form answer.
See Contact Fields and Custom Fields for Courses and Occurrences for field setup. Their setup controls are separate from email tag insertion.
Choose the correct value for common questions
Course venue: Choose Course location. For a manual email, this uses the directly linked date’s non-empty address, otherwise the course address. A child date does not separately load its parent block’s address. Address - Full is the person's address.
Course duration: There is no single duration or time-range choice. Add Start date & time and End date & time separately.
Course description: Choose Description. Check that the stored plain-text description appears in Preview. If it is missing, add the required wording directly.
Social links: Choose the relevant provider link, or add an ordinary hyperlink if the destination is fixed.
A fixed address, instruction or link: Type it as ordinary text or add a normal hyperlink. Mail Merge is only needed when the value should change with the recipient or record.
Parking, access or arrival instructions: A saved location's Public note and Private / internal note are not Mail Merge choices. Type instructions that are always the same as ordinary text. For different instructions on different dates, write the correct text in each date-specific message, or ask Support to check a custom-field template before using it. Neither approach automatically copies either saved location note.
A participant's own custom answer: Use a template with a checked Contact custom-field tag and preview from that participant’s record. Do not assume a Registration field is a Contact field.
Preview and test personalised values
The Settings preview is only a layout preview
Opening Preview... under Settings > Email Templates does not use a real Contact, Order, Registration, course or date. Raw tags can remain visible there. That does not show whether the tag will resolve for a real recipient.
Use a real test record for a personalised preview
Open the Orders or Registrations list as a System Admin. A Course Owner or Facilitator opens the assigned course’s Registrants list.
Select only the checkbox beside the authorised test record you need, then select Email or Send Email, whichever your list shows. Check the displayed selection count.
Choose the saved custom template, or enter the subject and message. If you edited a template in Settings, save and reopen it there first.
If you used Orders, leave Also email each order’s registrants unchecked for a test addressed only to you.
Select Preview. Check the displayed recipient, subject, person, course, date and custom values. An all-results selection shows a sample, not every recipient; an Order preview does not show every additional registrant. Preview from a Registration does not load its Order, so Total paid, Spaces booked and the Receipt / Invoice link are not final there.
Close the preview and email panel without selecting Send when you are only checking.
Preview does not send an email, confirm attachment arrival or test recipient access. For an actual delivery test, select only your authorised test record, confirm its email address belongs to you, and keep the Order’s extra-registrant option off. Check the received message and relevant links before a bulk send. Do not use a real customer as a test recipient.
If a tag is blank, wrong or still visible
The tag is visible exactly as typed: Check whether the email was created through Cademy Inbox. Inbox does not process Mail Merge. For a built-in tag, insert a fresh copy using Mail Merge and compare it with the original. For a custom-field tag, keep the existing tag and ask Support to check it.
The value is blank: The selected record may not contain that information. For example, a Contact-only email has no course date or payment.
The course or date is wrong: Use the exact Registration instead of a broad Contact or multi-course Order. Check whether it points to a whole block or an individual session.
The address is wrong: Use Course location for the venue and a person Address choice for the recipient's address. Preview from the exact Registration when a scheduled date may use a different location from the course default.
End date or time is blank: Check that the selected course/date has an end value, then insert the current End date & time choice. Reinserting a tag does not create missing date information.
A custom value is blank: Confirm the field has a value on the exact Contact, Course or Occurrence used for the preview.
A custom value says [object Object] or looks joined together: The field stores a complex or multiple value. Use a simpler custom text field or ordinary email text.
The template will not save: Check the error message and required template fields. If it reports a tag/parsing error, replace incomplete or altered built-in tags using Mail Merge. For a custom-field tag, keep the existing tag and ask Support to check the error. A save failure alone does not prove the tag caused it.
A certificate link is missing or fails: Confirm that a certificate has been issued for that recipient and test from the relevant Registration.
Important limits for bulk, multi-course and guest emails
Bulk sends are personalised one recipient at a time. Each selected record supplies its own available values.
A multi-course Order does not become a course summary. Cademy uses one relevant active course context for a recipient. Use Registrations when the exact course and date must be unambiguous.
A person tag does not list every guest. It represents the current email recipient.
A custom field tag does not aggregate every booking-form answer. Add the exact information as normal text, or send from individual Registrations when each participant needs their own value.
Mail Merge does not add a new bulk event action. It personalises supported email actions only.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Can I combine Mail Merge tags with normal text?
Yes. Add ordinary wording around the tags. Only the tag is replaced.
Can I use a tag in the Subject?
Yes. Insert a simple value in the Email Body using Mail Merge, copy the complete tag into the Subject, then preview it from a suitable record. Save changes first if you are editing the reusable template in Settings.
Why does a tag show with a # before it?
The current syntax does not use a #. For a built-in tag, replace the old tag using Mail Merge. For a custom-field tag, keep the existing tag and ask Support to check its format.
Do Mail Merge tags work in Cademy Inbox?
No. Inbox messages are not processed by the Mail Merge system. A raw tag can remain visible even if the editor shows a Mail Merge control.
Can I use Mail Merge from a Contact?
Use a manual email from the Contacts list for person and provider values. Course, date, Order and payment information is unavailable in a normal Contacts-list email. Tags can be blank, incomplete or leave an unusable link; a visible URL is not proof that the required record exists. The Contact's Message action opens Inbox, where Mail Merge is not supported.
Why is a course value blank when I email from Contacts?
A Contact has no single course or date context. Email from the relevant Order or Registration.
Can one tag list every course in an Order?
No. A multi-course Order does not produce a list of every course. Use Registrations when the exact course and date matter.
Can one tag list all guests and their answers?
No. Person and custom Contact tags apply to the current recipient. They do not build a guest list or combine every participant's form answers.
Can I insert a location's Public note or Private / internal note?
No. Those saved location fields are not available as Mail Merge values. Course location adds the venue address only. Type instructions that are always the same as ordinary text. For different dates, use the correct text in each date-specific message or ask Support to check a custom-field template. This does not automatically copy either saved location note.
Are email Mail Merge tags the same as certificate fields?
No. In an email, use Mail Merge in the email editor. In a certificate template, use the certificate editor's Add menu and its own field options. See Set Up and Issue Course Certificates.
Why does the Settings preview still show tags?
It has no real recipient or record. Use a manual Preview from a suitable test Order or Registration.
Is there a Course duration tag?
No. Add Start date & time and End date & time separately.
Can I add fixed contact details or a fixed link without Mail Merge?
Yes. Type fixed information as normal text or add a normal hyperlink. Use Mail Merge only when the value should change automatically.
Why does Certificate Link not work?
The recipient needs an issued certificate and the email needs the relevant Registration or booking context. Test it from that Registration before a bulk send.