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 or Registration supplies the connected booking and course information.
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
Order or Registration?
An Order is the booking. Use it to email the person who made or owns the booking and to use booking information such as spaces or payment.
A Registration is one person's place. Use it when the email must use that person's exact course and, for a scheduled booking, date information.
Order: Person, provider, booking and a relevant course are available. If one order covers several courses, a tag does not create a list of every course.
Registration or Registrant: Person, provider and exact course are available. A scheduled Registration also supplies its selected date, and booking information is available when the Registration is connected to an Order. This is the safest source for participant-specific course and date emails.
Contact: Person and provider information are available. Course, date, order, payment and registration values are not available because the Contact is not tied to one of those records.
Course Orders or Registrants: Cademy uses the selected Order or Registration together with the course you opened.
Course or date Waitlist: Person and the relevant course are available. Preview date-specific values before sending because the available date context depends on the waitlist entry.
Course invitation: Person, provider and the course being shared are available. There is no completed Order or Registration yet.
Automatic course email: Cademy uses the Order or Registration connected to the automatic confirmation, reminder or follow-up.
Inbox message: Mail Merge is not supported. A tag can remain visible as raw text, even if a Mail Merge control appears in the editor.
Email and Message are different actions on a Contact. A supported Email action can personalize person and provider tags. Message opens Cademy Inbox, where Mail Merge tags are not processed.
Add a Mail Merge tag to the Email Body
Open a saved template, or start a supported manual Email action.
Place the cursor where the personalized information should appear in Email Body.
Select Mail Merge in the editor toolbar.
Select the value you want to insert.
Keep the inserted tag exactly as Cademy creates it.
Preview the email using a suitable Order or Registration before sending.
Use the Mail Merge menu instead of typing a tag from memory. It supplies the current syntax and includes custom fields available to your provider account.
You can combine tags with ordinary text. For example: Hello {{student.first_name}}, your course {{course.name}} starts on {{course.times.start.zoned_datetime|timezone_date}}.
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.
Preview the email from a suitable record.
Use this method for simple values such as First Name, Course name, Start date & time or a short custom text field. Do not put buttons or formatted link blocks into a subject.
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
Course, date and booking details
Course name, Course location, Delivery method and Description
Start date & time and End date & time
Occurrence Name and Occurrence Description
Spaces booked and Total paid
Zoom / Video Call join link
Provider details
Educator account name, Educator location, Educator bio and Educator terms of service
Website, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest
Links and buttons
Receipt / Invoice link
Certificate Link
Add to Calendar Link
Course Page Link
Course Forum Link and Course Forum Button
Review Capture Link
Course access link and Course access button
Links need the right record and data. An invoice needs an Order, a calendar link needs a dated booking, and a certificate link needs an issued certificate for that recipient. Preview and test recipient-specific links before using them in bulk.
Use custom fields in emails
Custom Contact, Course and Occurrence fields can appear in the Mail Merge menu using the field's display name.
Contact fields: Use the value stored for the email recipient.
Course fields: Use the value stored on the connected course.
Occurrence fields: Use the value stored for the connected scheduled date or occurrence.
Create and name the custom field in the relevant Settings > Fields area.
Enter a value on the Contact, Course or Occurrence.
Open the email editor and select Mail Merge.
Select the custom field by its display name.
Preview it using a record that contains a value for that field.
See Contact Fields and Custom Fields for Courses and Occurrences to create and populate these fields.
Use simple stored values for email text. Text, dates, numbers and single values are the safest choices.
Address, File Upload and some multiple-answer custom fields can produce an unreadable value when inserted as one tag. Preview the result first. If it is not readable, write the needed text directly or use a simpler custom text field.
A Contact custom-field tag is for the current recipient. It does not create a list of every guest or every guest's form answers from an Order.
Choose the correct value for common questions
Course venue: Choose Course location. 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. Cademy inserts the course description as plain email text.
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.
A participant's own custom answer: Choose the relevant Contact custom field and email from a record connected to that participant.
Preview and test personalized 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 personalized preview
Open a suitable test Order or Registration for the course and date you need.
Select it and select Email.
Choose the custom template, or write the email.
Select Preview.
Check the subject, person, course, date, custom values and links.
Close the preview without selecting Send if you are only checking it.
For a final test, send to yourself. Use a test Contact, Order or Registration with your email address. This is the best way to check the final inbox appearance and recipient-specific links.
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. Otherwise, remove the tag and insert it again using Mail Merge.
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 or date-specific course list instead of a broad Contact or multi-course Order.
The address is wrong: Use Course location for the venue and a person Address choice for the recipient's address.
End date or time is blank: Remove an old copied tag and insert the current End date & time choice again.
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: An incomplete or altered tag may have invalid syntax. Remove it and insert it again using Mail Merge.
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 personalized 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 personalizes supported email actions only.
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.
Why does a tag show with a # before it?
The current syntax does not use a #. Remove the old tag and insert it again using Mail Merge.
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 the supported Email action for person and provider values. Course, date, order and payment values will be blank because a Contact is not connected to one specific record. 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.
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 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.