Email templates

Your marketplace sends emails on its own: a welcome email when someone signs up, a password reset link, a note when a listing goes live or is about to expire, a message from a buyer, a receipt. Each of these emails comes from a template that you can reword, switch off or translate.

This guide covers the wording. To choose the service that delivers your emails, the sender name and the addresses that receive copies, see Email settings.

Find the templates

1. In the admin panel, go to Email in the sidebar.
2. In the Email templates card, click Open templates.

The Email templates page lists every template in one language, with a search box. Switch language with the language menu at the top. Templates that are switched off show Off.

The list looks empty? Read Templates on a US English site below. Your emails are still being sent.

Edit a template

1. Click the template in the list.
2. Change the Subject and the Message.
3. Keep the placeholders you need (the words in square brackets, listed under Placeholders on the right).
4. Click Save changes.

Setting	What it does
Subject	The email’s subject line. It is also printed as the heading at the top of the email. Placeholders work here too.
Message	The body of the email, in plain text: line breaks are kept exactly as you type them.
Send this email	When off, this email is not sent at all, in this language.
Language	The language this version of the template is for.
From email	The address replies go to when a member answers the email. Empty means your Sender email from Email settings.
Key	The name the site uses to find the template, such as auth-register. It can’t be changed.

Every email is wrapped in the same simple layout: your logo (from your theme), the subject as a heading, your text, and a footer with your site name and an Unsubscribe link. On some plans the footer also says “Powered by Yclas”; see Remove the Yclas branding.

Buttons and links

Write [URL.QL|View your listing] to show a link as a button with your own label. It works with any link placeholder that the template receives, for example [URL.AD|See the listing] or [URL.CHECKOUT|Pay now]. If the link is missing when the email is sent, only the label is shown.

A link placeholder on its own, such as [URL.AD], becomes a plain link that shows your site’s domain.

Change the reply address on every template

Below the list, Sender address for every email sets the From email of all templates, in every language, in one go. Type the address and click Apply to all.

Placeholders

Placeholders are replaced with real values when the email goes out. Only use the ones a template already contains, or the ones listed for it below: a placeholder that template doesn’t receive is sent as it is, brackets and all.

These work in every template:

Placeholder	Becomes
[SITE.NAME]	Your site name from Settings › General.
[SITE.URL]	A link to your home page.
[USER.NAME]	The recipient’s name.
[USER.EMAIL]	The recipient’s email address (not in emails sent to many people at once).

[URL.QL] is a “quick login” link: it signs the member in and takes them to the right page, such as their listing or a conversation. Treat emails that contain it like a key, and don’t forward them.

Every automatic email

New sites get these templates in British English. Older sites may have different wording or a few templates fewer.

Accounts

Key	Sent to	When
auth-register	The new member	They create an account. Includes their login details: [USER.EMAIL], [USER.PWD].
auth-verify-email	The new member	They sign up while Verify email addresses is on. The [URL.QL] button confirms the address.
auth-remember	The member	They ask to reset their password.
password-changed	The member	An administrator changes their password. Includes the new one, [USER.PWD].
auth-magiclink	The member	They ask for an email sign-in link. [URL.MAGICLINK] signs them in.
trust-verification-approved	The seller	You approve their verification request.
trust-verification-rejected	The seller	You reject their verification request, with your reason in [REASON].

Listings

Key	Sent to	When
ads-confirm	The poster	Their listing needs confirming by email (moderation set to an email-confirmation mode).
ads-notify	The poster	Their listing was received and waits for your review.
ads-activated	The poster ([USER.OWNER])	You approve their listing and it goes live.
ads-user-check	The poster	Their listing goes live without moderation (straight away, or after they confirm it by email). It asks them to tell you, through [URL.CONTACT], if they didn’t post it.
ad-to-expire	The poster	Their listing expires soon.
ad-expired	The poster	Their listing has expired. [URL.EDITAD] opens the listing for editing.
ads-subscribers	Members with a matching alert	A new listing matches their listing alert.
ads-to-admin	Administrators and moderators	A new listing is posted, if New listing alerts is on in Email settings.
awaiting-moderation	Your Moderation email	A listing waits for your approval, if that address is filled in.
ad-review	The seller	Someone reviews their listing: [RATE], [DESCRIPTION]. See Reviews.
ad-price-drop	Members who saved the listing	The seller lowered the price of a listing they saved as a favourite (subject Price dropped on [AD.TITLE]), with Price drop emails on. [PRICE.WAS], [PRICE.NOW]. See Price drop emails. Older sites get the template the first time it’s needed.

Listing templates use [AD.NAME] or [AD.TITLE] for the title (both are the listing title; keep whichever the template already uses) and [URL.AD] for its address.

With Paid renewal on, ad-to-expire and ad-expired also receive [URL.RENEW] (the renewal link), [RENEW.DAYS] and [RENEW.PRICE]. The renewal offer is added at the end of these emails, unless the template already contains [URL.RENEW].

Messages and contact

Key	Sent to	When
contact-admin	You	Someone uses your contact page.
user-contact	The seller	A buyer uses the contact form on a listing (when messaging is off). Replies go straight to the buyer.
user-profile-contact	The member	Someone uses the contact form on their profile (when messaging is off).
messaging-ad-contact	The seller	A buyer starts a conversation about a listing. See Messaging.
messaging-user-contact	The member	Someone sends them a direct message.
messaging-reply	The other person in the conversation	A new reply.
new-forum-answer	Everyone in the topic, and you	Someone replies in a forum topic, or starts a topic.

The contact emails use [EMAIL.SENDER], [EMAIL.FROM] (the sender’s address), [EMAIL.SUBJECT] and [EMAIL.BODY] (their message). The messaging emails use [FROM.NAME], [TO.NAME] and [DESCRIPTION].

Reports

Key	Sent to	When
listing-report-new	Your Sender email	Visitors report listings, at most once an hour while new reports come in. [REPORTS.COUNT], [URL.REPORTS].
listing-report-decision	The seller	You remove or restrict their listing after a report: [DECISION], [REASON] (the report’s reason), [DECISION_NOTE] (your note).
conversation-report-new	Your Sender email	A member reports a conversation or opens a dispute from it, one email per report (at most 10 an hour). [REASON] is the member’s reason, [URL.CONVERSATION] opens that conversation, [FLAGS.COUNT] and [URL.CONVERSATIONS] are for all reported conversations.

Older sites get these templates the first time they’re needed. If your site already had conversation-report-new with its own wording, it keeps it: add [REASON] and [URL.CONVERSATION] to it to see the reason and a direct link.

Orders and payments

Key	Sent to	When
new-order	The member who ordered	Two days after an order about a listing was left unpaid, as a reminder. [URL.CHECKOUT] opens the payment page.
ads-purchased	The buyer	They bought an item. Includes [ORDER.ID], [ORDER.AMOUNT] and the seller’s [BUYER.INSTRUCTIONS], which also holds the Download link of a digital download.
ads-sold	The seller	Their item was sold.
out-of-stock	The seller	An item ran out of stock and is hidden.
order-shipped	The buyer	The seller marked the order as shipped: [ORDER.SHIPPING_PROVIDER_NAME], [ORDER.SHIPPING_TRACKING_CODE].
mark-as-received	The buyer	A reminder to confirm the order arrived.
order-cancelled	The buyer	An order was cancelled.
safe-payment-requested	The seller	A buyer wants to pay with safe payment and the seller must set up how they get paid.
plan-expired	The member	Their membership plan ended and needs paying again. [PLAN.NAME].

Auctions, bookings and saved searches

These come with the features themselves. See Auctions, Bookings, Paid bookings and Saved searches for when each one is sent.

Key	Sent to	When
auction-outbid	The previous highest bidder	Someone bids higher.
auction-won	The winner	They win an auction, with a link to pay.
auction-won-seller	The seller	Their auction ends with a winner.
auction-reserve-not-met	The highest bidder	The auction ends below the reserve price.
auction-ended-seller	The seller	Their auction ends below the reserve price.
booking-request	The seller	A buyer asks to book their listing.
booking-request-sent	The buyer	Confirms their booking request was sent.
booking-accepted	The buyer	The seller accepts the booking.
booking-declined	The buyer	The seller declines the booking.
booking-cancelled	The other side of the booking	The buyer or seller cancels a booking.
booking-update	The member who acted	Confirms they accepted, declined or cancelled a booking.
booking-paid-request	The seller	A paid booking request arrives, once the buyer’s card is held.
booking-paid-request-sent	The buyer	Confirms the request and that their card is held.
booking-paid-accepted	The buyer	The seller accepts a paid booking and the card is charged.
booking-expired	Buyer and seller	A paid request expired without an answer.
booking-refund	The buyer	Money refunded after a cancellation.
booking-reminder	Buyer and seller	About a day before a paid booking starts.
booking-payout	The seller	Their payout for a booking was sent.
saved-search-alert	Members with a saved search	A new listing matches their search (instant alerts).
saved-search-digest	Members with a saved search	Once a day, with all the new matches.
alert-confirm	Someone who signed up for alerts	They used the Subscribe widget without being signed in to that address. The [URL.CONFIRM] button opens the page where they confirm; [ALERT.EXPIRES] is how long the link works. If this template is missing or switched off, a built-in text is sent instead.

Business directory

Sent on a site run as a business directory.

Key	Sent to	When
directory-claim-code	The claimant, at the business address	With the code to confirm a claim.
directory-claim-received	The listing’s owner	Someone claimed their listing.
directory-claim-approved	The claimant	Their claim was approved.
directory-claim-plan	The claimant	Their claim is confirmed, but it takes a plan: a link to your plans. The listing moves to them once their plan starts. See Paid claims.
directory-claim-transferred	The previous owner	The listing changed hands.
directory-new-lead	The business	A quote request, with the visitor’s contact details (free, or once paid for).
directory-new-lead-paid	The business	A request it must pay for, with a link to pay.

Webhooks

Key	Sent to	When
webhook-disabled	Your Sender email	A webhook failed 50 times in a row and was paused.

Digest

Key	Sent to	When
digest	Members who chose a digest	The email digest of new listings. [ADS] is the list of listings.

Optional templates

These emails are sent with a built-in text until a template exists. checkout-reminder and promotion-refunded appear in the list once the first one has been sent; for ad-featured-ended and ad-boost, add the template yourself with + New template (see Add a template) to use your own wording.

Key	Sent to	When
ad-featured-ended	The seller	Their featured period has ended and the listing is still live. [AD.TITLE], [URL.FEATURE].
ad-boost	The seller	Five days after posting, with how many people saw their listing and a link to boost it.
checkout-reminder	The seller	They started paying for a promotion or posting fee and didn’t finish. See Unpaid checkout reminders.
promotion-refunded	The seller	A promotion they bought was refunded because the listing never went live. See Automatic refunds.

Emails with a fixed text

A few emails have no template, so their wording can’t be changed. They are sent with your site’s name as the sender:

Email	Sent to	When
New business account to approve	Your Sender email	A member chooses the business type, or one of your own types that needs approval, and waits for you, while you ask the account type at sign-up.
Business account approved, or not approved	The member	You approve or reject their account, in the same set-up. The email uses the name of their account type.
Plan renewal reminder	The member	A few days before their membership plan renews from their saved card, with Retry failed renewals on.
We couldn’t renew your plan	The member	Their card was declined at renewal and will be tried again, with Retry failed renewals on.
Dispute emails	The buyer, the seller and your administrators	A buyer reports a problem with an order, and when the dispute is decided or closed. See Disputes.
Return emails	The buyer or the seller	Each step of a return: asked for, accepted or refused, sent back and refunded.
Please add your tax details	A seller	You click Remind on the DAC7 seller report.
You earned a reward for inviting a friend	The inviting member	A friend they invited earned them a referral reward.
Your listing needs changes	The seller	You send a listing back with a reason.
A question about a listing, and its answer	The seller, then the member who asked	Someone asks a question on a listing, and the seller answers it.
New listings from stores you follow	Followers of a store	New listings from the stores they follow.
Abandoned cart reminders (first and second)	The buyer	Items were left in the shopping cart.
Store team invitation	The person invited	A seller invites them to their store team.
Security deposit claim and decision	The buyer, then the buyer and the seller	A seller claims from a security deposit, and you decide it.
A banner waiting for approval, and your banner	Your Sender email, then the advertiser	Someone buys a banner, and you approve, reject or stop it.

Let members choose their emails

Members who get too many emails unsubscribe from all of them, or mark them as spam. With email preferences, they can switch off only the kinds they don’t want.

1. Go to Settings › General.
2. In Notifications, switch on Email preferences for users.
3. Click Save changes.

Members then get an Email notifications page in their account (in the account menu of the Nova and default themes; in other themes it is at /oc-panel/emailprefs), where they tick the kinds they want:

Kind	Covers
Messages	Someone writes to them about a listing or their profile, or answers them.
Offers and quotes	Offers, counter-offers and quotes on listings, and being outbid.
Reviews	Reminders to review a purchase or booking, and reviews they get.
Saved searches	New listings matching their saved searches.
Listing reminders	Their listings are about to expire or have expired.
Stores you follow and questions	New listings from stores they follow, and questions and answers on listings.
Cart reminders	Things left in their cart.
Price drops	A listing they saved as a favourite got cheaper.
Tips and news from the site	Short emails with tips after they join or post, and news from your team.
Monthly performance report	Once a month, views, contacts and clicks on their listings. See Listing performance.

Every email of one of these kinds ends with a line saying why the member got it and a Choose which emails you get link.

Some emails always go, whatever the member chooses: orders, payments and bookings, security and account emails, and the contact form’s messages. Emails to your own team always go too. The newsletter and the email digest have their own unsubscribe.

Templates in each language

Every template exists once per language. When your site sends an email, it looks for the template in the language being used at that moment (usually the language the member is browsing in). If there is none, it uses the British English (en_UK) version.

• To translate a template, open the language in the list (see below) and edit its copy there.
• A template that exists in a language but is switched off is not sent in that language. It does not fall back to British English.
• You can delete a template in any language except British English. Emails in that language then use the British English version again.

Templates on a US English site

Templates are stored in British English (en_UK). On a site set to US English (en_US), or any other language, the Email templates list opens in your site’s language and looks empty. Your emails are still sent, using the British English templates.

To edit them in your site’s language, click Copy templates from en_UK on the empty list (or Copy templates to en_US in the Email templates card on the Email page). This copies every template you don’t have yet in that language. From then on, edit the copies: they are the ones your site uses.

Add a template

+ New template is for adding a template the list doesn’t have, for example a translation in a new language or a template an older site is missing. The Key must match exactly the key of the email it is for, such as auth-register. A template with a key the site doesn’t use is never sent.

Tips

• Send yourself the emails: sign up with a second address, post a listing, reset your password. Read them on your phone.
• Keep the sentence that tells people why they got the email, and keep the button.
• If members say they don’t get emails, the wording is rarely the cause. See Emails aren’t arriving and Make sure your emails arrive.

Related guides

• Email settings — sending service, sender name and notification addresses.
• Newsletters — one-off emails to your members.
• Email digest — a regular email with new listings.
• Emails aren’t arriving — what to check when emails go missing.