Overview
The Workflow feature in AppicalNow is designed to help HR, managers, and other stakeholders support and guide new hires through their onboarding journey. A key part of this process is sending out timely, relevant, and personalised emails — and that’s where placeholders come in.
Placeholders are dynamic tags that automatically pull in specific information, such as the recipient’s name or the course title. This allows your communication to feel personal and targeted, without requiring manual updates for each new hire or team member.
Example
Let’s say HR wants to notify a manager that their new hire is starting soon. They can set up a workflow email like this:
Hi *|RECIPIENT-FNAME|*,
Your new team member *|HIRE-FNAME|* starts on Monday! Give them a warm welcome together with your team!
Warm regards,
HR Team
The placeholders will automatically be replaced with the correct names, so every email feels tailored — even though it's sent automatically.
📌 Important:
Placeholders must be typed exactly as listed (including asterisks and capital letters).
If a placeholder is typed incorrectly, it will appear as plain text in the email.
Always test your workflow to ensure placeholder values populate correctly.
If you use a custom email address as a recipient, names may not be available — use
*|RECIPIENT-EMAIL|*instead of first or last name.
Steps to Use Workflow Placeholders
→ Go to the Workflow Page in the Course Editor
Open the Course Editor and go to the Workflows tab.
Select the workflow template you want to edit. There are currently three types of workflows:
Add time-based trigger
Add progress-based trigger
Add notification to checklist item
📌 Only the time-based trigger allows you to customize the email text.
→ Open Time-Based Trigger and Edit It
Select "Add time-based trigger"
Choose the number of days before the new hire’s start date the email should be sent
Select the recipient (a specific email address or predefined option)
Customize the email subject, header, and body
→ Insert the Desired Placeholder
Place your cursor in the email body where you want to add personalized content. Then paste the relevant placeholder from the list below.
Example:
If you type:
"Welcome *|HIRE-FNAME|*!"
...and the new hire's name is Robin, the email will say:
"Welcome Robin!"
→ Available Workflow Placeholders
Recipient Information (person receiving the email)
*|RECIPIENT-FNAME|* — First name
*|RECIPIENT-LNAME|* — Last name
*|RECIPIENT-EMAIL|* — Email address
New Hire/User Information
*|HIRE-FNAME|* — New hire’s first name
*|HIRE-LNAME|* — New hire’s last name
*|HIRE-EMAIL|* — New hire’s email address
Organisation Information
*|COMPANY|* — Company name
*|COURSE|* — Onboarding course name
📌 Please note:
For custom email addresses, we recommend using *|RECIPIENT-EMAIL|*, as first and last name may not be available.
→ Save & Test the Template
Once you’ve added all the necessary placeholders and customized your email content:
Click Save to update the email template.
Run a test of your workflow to ensure all placeholders are populated correctly and the email appears as expected.
This step is essential to confirm everything works before real emails are sent out.
Don’t forget to save any other changes you’ve made to the workflow settings.
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