Message templates

A template is the copy a customer receives for a given message — a booking confirmation, a reminder, a cancellation, a payment link. JustBook ships sensible defaults, and you can edit any of them per channel. This page covers how to edit templates and which variables you can use.

Edit a template

1. Go to Settings → Notifications and stay on Customer messaging.
2. Pick the tab for the message you want: Reminders (before-appointment reminders and deposit reminders) or Transaction Notifications (new booking, update, cancel, payment links, and more).
3. Expand the message you want to edit, then click Edit on the channel row — Email, SMS, or WhatsApp. If a channel has no template yet, click + Add template.
4. In the editor:
   • For email, fill in the Subject.
   • Write your copy in Message. Use variables (below) to personalize it.
   • Leave Enabled checked so the template can send.
5. Click Save in the editor. Then click Save Changes at the bottom of the page to apply any channel or on/off changes you staged.

Each channel has its own copy, so you can write a short line for SMS and a fuller message for email.

Turn templates on or off

Every message row has an On / Off toggle per channel. A template only sends when it’s on, its channel is active, and customer messaging is enabled (see Notification channels).

If a channel is off — or shows as unavailable because it isn’t set up yet (for example, SMS before connecting a sender) — its template toggles are locked with a channel off / channel unavailable note. You can still create and edit the template’s content; turn it on once the channel is active. Templates that were already on when a channel became unavailable resume automatically when it recovers.

To switch on several at once, use Enable all Email, Enable all SMS, or Enable all WhatsApp at the top of the tab, or the Enable all button on an individual message.

Use variables

Variables are placeholders wrapped in double braces, like {{customer_name}}, that JustBook replaces with real values when the message sends. In the template editor, the Available Variables row shows every variable valid for that message — click one to insert it.

Common variables include:

• {{customer_name}} — the customer’s name
• {{service_name}} — the booked service
• {{stylist_name}} — the assigned stylist
• {{branch_name}} — the branch
• {{date}}, {{start_time}}, {{end_time}} — the appointment date and times
• {{business_name}} — your business name
• {{booking_page_url}} — a link back to your booking page

Payment and reminder messages add variables like {{payment_url}}, {{deposit_amount}}, and {{remaining_balance}}. Only the variables that make sense for a message are offered — a package purchase message, for example, offers {{package_name}} and {{price}} instead of appointment details.

For the full list of variables by message type, see the template variables reference.

Channel-appropriate copy

JustBook’s default templates are written to suit each channel:

• SMS and WhatsApp reminders use short copy with a single labelled link — no long calendar block — so they read cleanly on a phone.
• Email keeps the fuller layout with a clear action button.

When you write your own copy, keep SMS concise: the editor shows a character count and warns when a message runs past 160 characters, which may send as more than one SMS.

Related

• Notification channels — which channels can send, and what must be on.
• Reminders — set reminder timing.
• Template variables reference — every variable, by message type.