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System Settings - Templates

Complete guide to Sharper templates: editing, creating, pasting ready-made HTML layouts, assigning templates in Template Settings, and testing before sending to customers.

Templates control every document Sharper prints or emails — invoices, receipts, reservation confirmations, statements, contracts, and marketing emails. Each one is a template you can edit yourself. This guide covers the full working process: editing an existing template, creating a new one (including pasting in a ready-made HTML layout), making sure Sharper actually uses it, and testing the result before it reaches customers.

Templates are found at System Settings → Templates.

Editing an Existing Template

  1. Using the navigation pane on the left, select System Settings, then click the Templates tile.

  2. Locate the template by name — use the Type filter or scroll to find it — and click Edit.

  3. Make your changes in the content area. Type directly, paste from a text editor, or use the toolbar controls.

  4. Click Save.

Edits apply immediately on save and affect all future sends of that template. There is no staging mode — test your changes by sending yourself a live copy (see Testing Your Template below).

Variables and Inputs

Two template-specific toolbars appear in the content editor:

  • Variables insert merge variables — placeholders like {{customer_display_name}} that Sharper replaces with real data (the customer's name, the invoice total, reservation dates) when the document is generated. Only variables valid for the selected template Type appear. Always insert them from the toolbar rather than typing them by hand.

    variables.png

  • Inputs insert interactive elements for contracts and e-sign documents — signature boxes, blank text lines, and checkboxes.

    inputs.png

The full list of every variable, what it shows, and where its data is edited is in System Settings - Template Merge Variables Reference.

Email-Specific Fields

When a template's Type is an email type, three additional fields appear above the content area:

Field

What It Does

Email Subject

The subject line recipients see. Merge variables work here too.

Email From

The sender shown on the email. If left blank, Sharper uses the system-level default sender.

Email BCC

Comma-separated internal addresses that receive a blind copy of every send — useful for audit trails or shared inboxes.

Creating a New Template

  1. Go to System Settings → Templates and click Add New.

  2. Enter a Name you'll recognize in the template list — for example, "Invoice - Standard" or "Spring Marketing Email".

  3. Set the Type to match what you're building — for example, Customer Marketing Email for a one-off or list-based send, or the specific email type you're replacing. The Type controls which fields and merge variables are available. See System Settings - Template Types and Hierarchy Reference for what each type does.

  4. For email types, fill in Email Subject and Email From.

  5. Build the content in the editor, or paste in a ready-made layout (next section).

  6. Click Save.

Video: Creating a Marketing Email

Pasting a Ready-Made HTML Template

Sharper's Template Library articles provide complete, professionally formatted email layouts you can copy and paste directly — see Template - Customer Portal Invite Email (Copy & Paste) and Template - AutoPay Enrollment Email Template (Copy & Paste).

  1. Create a new template as above and set the Type.

  2. In the content area, click Raw Editor to switch out of the visual editor.

  3. Paste the copied HTML in full, replacing anything already in the box.

  4. Click Save.

Note: Once you've built a template's content in the Raw Editor, keep editing it in the Raw Editor going forward. Switching to Content Editor afterward can silently strip or simplify parts of the HTML that the visual editor doesn't recognize. For which HTML elements render reliably in email, see System Settings - Templates - HTML Authoring Guide.

Making Sure Sharper Uses Your Template

Saving a template does not automatically put it into use. What happens next depends on the template's Type:

Marketing-style templates (Type: Customer Marketing Email) — There is nothing to assign. These templates are chosen manually every time you send:

  1. Navigate to CRM → Customers.

  2. Select Marketing Email near the top right.

  3. Select your template from the list.

  4. Select an individual customer or a Customer List Report as the recipients.

System-triggered templates (Type: Invoice, Payment Email, Reservation Email, Refund Email, Statement, and similar) — Sharper sends these automatically when the underlying event happens (an invoice is generated, a payment posts, a reservation is confirmed). It needs to know which saved template of that Type to use, set per outlet:

  1. Navigate to Company Settings → Template Settings.

  2. Find the field matching your template's Type — for example, Invoice Email Template or Reservation Email Template.

  3. Select your new template from the dropdown.

  4. Click Save.

Multiple templates of the same Type can exist side by side — for example, an old version and a new one. Only the template selected in Template Settings is actually used. Saving a new template does not replace the old one until you point Template Settings at it.

Testing Your Template

Sharper does not have a built-in "send test email" button. The Print Preview button on the template form shows layout only — it does not send an email, and it displays merge variables as literal placeholder text (e.g. {{customer_first_name}}) rather than real data. To see the template as a customer would receive it, send yourself a live copy:

  1. Confirm you exist as a customer record with your own email address — create yourself as a customer first if you don't already have one.

  2. For a Customer Marketing Email template: go to CRM → Customers → Marketing Email, select the template, and select yourself as the individual customer. This sends the real email to your inbox.

  3. For a system-triggered template: after assigning it in Template Settings, trigger the real event against your own test customer record — for example, generate an invoice or record a payment on your test account.

  4. Review the email in your inbox. Confirm every merge variable resolved to real data (nothing showing as literal {{...}} text), links point where they should, and the layout looks right in your email client.

Note: Because this is a real send, not a sandboxed preview, test with your own customer record rather than a live customer's — and remember to switch Template Settings back if you're testing a replacement for a template still in active use.

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