How to Manage Reusable Message Templates

Intro

Standardised messaging saves time and ensures consistency across your club. BallersBook lets you create reusable message templates for common communications like practice reminders, game day announcements, or payment follow-ups. Once created, you can select a template when sending messages to groups or individuals, then personalise it before sending.

This guide walks you through creating, editing, and deleting message templates so your club’s communication stays professional and efficient.

Prerequisites

• An active BallersBook account with admin or manager role (the manage_communications permission, or equivalent).
• At least one group or season registered in your club (templates are linked to your club).
• Familiarity with the Communications section of the app.

Step-by-step

Create a new message template

1. Log in to BallersBook and navigate to Communications → Message Templates.
2. Click the New Template button (or Create Template).
3. In the Template Name field, enter a descriptive label (e.g. “Practice Reminder - U12”).
4. In the Subject field, type a default subject line (e.g. “Reminder: Practice Today at 4pm”).
5. In the Body field, write the message content. You can use placeholders like {player_name}, {group_name}, {date}, {time} - they will be replaced when you send the message.
6. Click Save. The template is now available in the message composer.

💡 Tip: Use placeholders to personalise messages without editing each one manually. Check your club’s player and group fields for available variables.

Edit an existing template

1. Go to Communications → Message Templates.
2. Find the template you want to change and click the Edit icon (pencil icon) or the template’s name.
3. Update the Name, Subject, or Body as needed.
4. Click Save Changes to update the template. All future messages using this template will use the revised content.

⚠️ Warning: Editing a template does not affect messages already sent. It only changes the saved template for future use.

Delete a message template

1. From Message Templates, locate the template you no longer need.
2. Click the Delete icon (trash can) next to it, or select Delete from a dropdown menu.
3. Confirm the deletion in the pop-up dialog. The template is permanently removed.

⚠️ Warning: Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone. If you delete a template currently referenced in a scheduled message, that message will fail to send. Check your upcoming communications before deleting.

Tips & Pitfalls

• Reuse across groups: Create one template per message type (e.g. “Rain Delay”, “Game Results”) rather than per group. You can select the target group at send time.
• Test before using: Send a test message to yourself first to verify placeholders resolve correctly.
• Keep subjects concise: Many email clients and SMS gateways truncate long subjects. Aim for under 60 characters.
• Limit placeholder variety: Using too many different placeholders can make templates hard to maintain. Stick to the most common ones.
• Naming conventions: Prefix template names with the category (e.g. “Reminder - Practice”, “Notice - Payment”) so they sort logically in the list.

Summary

You now know how to create, edit, and delete reusable message templates in BallersBook. By maintaining a library of templates, your club can send consistent, professional communications in seconds. Next, try sending your first message using a template - open the Communications Log, choose New Message, select a template, and personalise it before dispatch.