Setting up your site autoresponders

Autoresponders allow you to send an email to users after they start a new issue (either via the web interface or through email). To set up autoresponders, go to Admin > Site Settings > Email Setup > Autoresponders.

From there you can create any number of autoresponders and attach them to a category. Each category can only have one autoresponder attached. After you attach this autoresponder, when users start a new discussion in a given category, they will receive the autoresponse via email.

Syntax

When you go to create a new autoresponder, the form will be prefilled with a default one:

Autoresponder form

You can easily preview it:

Autoresponder preview link

And it looks reasonably good:

Autoresponder preview

You can use a special syntax to use preset variables in autoresponder templates. Surround each variable with {{double_braces}} and use the following variables:

  • {{name}} - Name the user puts in, or a generated name based on their email
  • {{email}} - Email address of the user
  • {{title}} - Title of the discussion
  • {{category}} - Category of the discussion
  • {{url}} - URL of the discussion created by the user's support request
  • {{suggested_faqs}} - Collection of suggested faqs
  • {{comment}} - Body of the discussion comment
  • {{assets}} - Collection of assets attached to the comment
  • {{host}} - The Tender site URL

Autoresponders are parsed with Liquid, and follow the syntax described in the liquid wiki.

HTML vs plain-text

You need custom branding to use the HTML version of the autoresponder.

If you use the HTML version and modify it, be sure to keep the plain text version in sync. Most users will only see the HTML version, but some client will use the plain text version, so for best compatibility, it's best to have both look good and be accurate.