💡 Important to know:
To customise your guest e-mails, go to: Direct booking > Configuration > Guest communications.
Benefits
Reinforce your brand
Highlight what makes your property special, use your unique voice, and add a logo or photos.Customise the layout and format
The e-mail formatting and layout is quite flexible. Even the code can be edited with some basic coding experience.Encourage return guests
Maybe send a promo code with a discount for future stays, or ask for feedback on their stay.
Edit an e-mail template
Part 1: How to edit
Go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest communications.
There are five different e-mail templates that can be edited:
Reservation confirmation: this is sent once a guest completes the booking process.
Reservation modification: this is sent if a guest modifies their reservation.
Reservation cancellation: this is sent after a guest cancels their reservation.
Pre-arrival message: this is sent a few days before arrival as a reminder.
Post-departure message: this is sent a few days after checkout as a follow up.
Select the template to edit, turn the toggle on, and click on the edit icon.
You can now edit the fields, and preview your changes by clicking on Show preview (bottom of page).
Once you have saved, click on the Save button (top of page).
⚠️ Once you have saved, the changes will apply to all new e-mails sent to guests using that template. We recommend testing your e-mail templates first.
Part 2: Description of e-mail fields
Subject: this is what a guest sees in their inbox before opening the e-mail.
Header text: this text box is for your e-mail heading and body content.
Footer text: the text at the bottom of the e-mail just above the footer image. A good place to add your business details and any legal disclaimers.
Header image: this image appears at the top of your e-mail and is a good place for a logo.
Footer image: this image appears at the bottom of your e-mail. The ideal place to showcase awards, testimonials, or even a promo code.
Code editing: turning this toggle on lets you edit the template’s code to make complex changes to its formatting and content. You need to be comfortable editing HTML and Liquid templating code to use this feature.
Some fields only appear in specific templates:
The number of days it will be sent before the check-in date : this only appears in the Pre-arrival message template. It determines the number of days an e-mail is sent before arrival.
The number of days it will be sent after the check-out date : this only appears in the Post-departure message template. It determines the number of days an e-mail is sent after departure.
💡 You can add promo codes to your post-departure e-mails to entice your guests to book a return stay.
Change an image
There are two ways to change the header and footer images of your e-mail templates. You can use either the Assign from Media library button or the Header image URL field.
Method 1: Media library
This method is easier and less prone to human error. The Media library is also useful for storing and organising images, so you can reuse them across your property platform.
Click on the edit icon of an image you want to change and the Media library will appear.
Browse through the Media library to find an image that is already uploaded.
Or upload new images to the Media library:
Drag and drop an image file from your computer.
Use the Upload images button to select an image from your computer.
Now select an image to use and click on Assign , and the Media library will close.
Then click on Save (top right corner).
⚠️ Note:
Images added to the Media library must be in .jpg, .gif, or .png formats.
The recommended dimensions for header and footer images are 600px width and 210px height.
Method 2: Header image URL
This method is recommended for advanced users.
Paste an image URL into the Header image URL field of the image you would like to change.
Click on Save (top right corner).
⚠️ Note:
Check that the URL is complete.
Ensure the image URL being used is hosted in such a way that it will not break in the future. If you are unsure, please use Method 1 above.
Test your template
The Show preview feature is a useful guide but it cannot show every e-mail variation that could occur due to how e-mail clients (Gmail, Outlook, etc.), or network firewalls display e-mails received.
It is therefore very important to test out your e-mail template before sending it to guests!
In most cases, they will only see a slight variation of font or spacing. However, in some bad cases, the formatting may even be completely broken.
⚠️ These formatting issues are caused by the way that e-mails work and not by the platform.
How to test your templates
Make dummy reservations using your own e-mail address.
Test your e-mail template in various ways:
E-mail clients: e.g. Gmail vs. Outlook
Devices: e.g. desktop vs. mobile app
Web browsers: e.g. Chrome vs Firefox
Operating systems: e.g. Windows vs. macOS
Perhaps ask friends or family to make a fake reservation using their e-mail address.
Edit the Google Maps URL
The Map URL in Direct booking > Configuration > Guest communications is the URL for the " Show on Map " hyperlink in your reservation confirmation e-mails, and also for the address hyperlink on your Contact page in your booking engine.
💡 The embedded map on your booking engine’s Contact us page is related to your address in Property settings. If the map points to an incorrect location, please update your address details in Property settings > Property details > Property.
If the Map URL field is blank, the address on the Contact us page will not be hyperlinked. If you wish to configure the Map URL (so that your address will be clickable in order to direct your customers to open up your location in Google maps), follow these steps:
Open Google Maps from your browser.
Search for your property using the search bar in the top left.
Once a red marker is pointing at your property, a menu will appear on the left.
Click the option Share.
Click on Copy Link in the window that appears (make sure that you are in the tab Send a link). Please note: do not use the code or the link in "Embed map".
Paste this link in the Map URL field in Direct booking > Configuration > Guest communications.
Save by clicking Publish changes.