Messaging Guide

The OpenSRS Messaging Platform lets you design branded transactional emails for your customers and sub-resellers. This guide walks you through building letterheads and snippets, customizing message templates, controlling languages, and switching your account over to new messaging.

About the Messaging Platform

The Messaging Platform is the OpenSRS tool that sends branded transactional emails, including renewal notices, transfer confirmations, ACH alerts, registrant verification emails, and trust product notifications. You manage letterheads, snippets, message templates, languages, and smart charts from the Messaging area of the Reseller Control Panel.

This guide covers what changed when message templates were renamed or consolidated, how to set up the building blocks of a message (letterheads and snippets), how to customize and translate templates, how language selection works, how smart charts and variables work, and how to switch over to new messaging.

Before you begin

• You need access to the Reseller Control Panel and to the Messaging area.

• Plan your branding (logos, colors, support contact information) before creating a letterhead.

• Identify any translations you will need so you can prepare snippets and language-specific templates.

What changed: message mapping

The new platform renamed and consolidated a number of templates from the old messaging platform. Use the tables below to find the new name or replacement workflow for an old template.

Templates that were renamed

Templates that were consolidated or replaced

If you cannot find an old template, look it up in the left column below to see the replacement template or workflow.

Letterheads

A letterhead is the standard header and footer applied to every message sent in a specific language. Letterheads let you define global elements and customize the look and feel of your branded templates.

Create a letterhead

1. Open the Letterheads tab.

2. Click the + option to the left of the search bar.

3. Select the Language for which you want to create a letterhead.

4. Enter your source code. Paste {{CONTENT}} between the end of your header and the beginning of your footer.

5. Insert branding variables by selecting from the drop-down menu and clicking Add. See the Adding variables section to confirm whether a variable needs to be wrapped in HTML.

6. Click Apply in the bottom-right corner of the editor to create the letterhead.

Edit a letterhead

1. Open the Letterheads tab.

2. Click the Language you want to edit.

3. Edit your source code. Insert branding variables by selecting from the drop-down menu and clicking Add.

4. Click Apply in the bottom-right corner of the editor to save your changes.

Snippets

A snippet is a custom block of HTML that you can drag and drop into message templates. Snippets are language-specific: a snippet created in English can be added to any English template, but not to templates in other languages. Snippets are useful for greetings, closings, and frequently referenced information.

Create a snippet

1. Open the Snippets tab.

2. Click the + option to the left of the search bar.

3. Name the snippet. Choose a name that is memorable and easy to find.

4. Select the language. The snippet will be available for any message template in that language.

5. Create your content using the formatting options in the toolbar.

6. Optionally, insert branding variables from the drop-down menu and click Add.

7. Click Save in the bottom-right corner of the editor.

Edit a snippet

1. Open the Snippets tab.

2. Click the Name of the snippet you want to edit.

3. Update your content using the toolbar.

4. Optionally, insert branding variables.

5. Click Save.

Delete a snippet

1. Open the Snippets tab.

2. Click the Name of the snippet you want to delete.

3. Click Delete, next to Save, in the bottom-right corner of the editor.

Add a snippet to a template

Once created, a snippet appears on the right-hand side of any message template in its language, under Global snippets. Drag and drop the snippet into the Basic layout area to add it. To remove it, click Delete or drag it back to the right-hand side.

Messages

The Messages tab is where you manage existing templates and create new templates in other languages. Ready-to-use templates are provided for every message and can be customized or translated.

Manage existing templates

• Use the advanced option to the right of the search bar to filter templates by category.

• Use the toggle switch in the far-right column to enable or disable each template. A disabled template will not be sent automatically.

Customize a message template

Most resellers customize messages in the basic layout, which uses a WYSIWYG editor. Advanced users can edit the source code directly. Open a template from the Language templates list to start editing.

Use snippets in a template

• To add a snippet, drag it from Global snippets into Basic layout.

• To remove a snippet, drag it back to Global snippets or click Delete.

Edit a section

1. Hover over the section you want to edit.

2. Click Edit in the top-right corner of the section.

3. Update your content using the formatting toolbar.

4. Optionally, insert message and branding variables from the drop-down menus and click Add.

Delete a section

1. Hover over the section you want to delete and click Delete, or drag it to the right-hand side.

Required sections

Some sections are required by ICANN or registries. They are non-modifiable, cannot be deleted, and are always displayed in English.

• To display a required section in another language, create a snippet containing your translation and drag it directly before or after the required section.

• To extend a required section, add a snippet directly before or after it.

Advanced mode

Advanced mode lets you edit the source code directly. The WYSIWYG features are not available, including the smart chart editor. You can still use the message and branding variable drop-downs.

Customize message details

The Message Details section controls the header fields of the email:

• From Address

• CC Address

• Reply-to Address

• From Name

• Subject

• To Name

You can fill these fields in two ways:

1. Type information directly into the field.

2. Click the + option to the right of any field to select from a drop-down list of message variables.

Create a template in a new language

1. Hover over the Language templates column.

2. Click Add language.

3. From Language to duplicate from, choose English for the default template or another version, such as English (Custom), to copy your existing customizations.

4. From Language to duplicate to, choose the destination language.

5. Click Submit to view and customize the new template.

Language controls

How the platform selects a language

The platform follows a simple hierarchy to choose which language version of a message to send. The hierarchy considers the registrant language preference on the domain, the sub-reseller default language, and the reseller default language, in that order. [OUTDATED — UPDATE NEEDED] Confirm the current language hierarchy against the live product.

Set the preferred language for a domain

1. From the Reseller Control Panel home page, select Domains.

2. Select the domain you want to update.

3. Scroll to Messaging language and click Edit in the top-right corner.

4. Select the registrant's preferred language from the drop-down menu and click Submit.

Set the default language for a sub-reseller

1. In new messaging, select the Settings tab.

2. Scroll to Default language and click Edit in the top-right corner.

3. Select the preferred language from the drop-down menu and click Submit.

Smart charts

A smart chart displays dynamically generated data as a table inside a message. The platform generates one row per item, with the columns you select as properties. Smart charts appear automatically in the Basic layout of any template that supports them.

Create a smart chart

1. Hover over the section in Basic layout that contains the smart chart.

2. Click Edit in the top-right corner of the section.

3. Click Create smart chart to open the chart editor.

4. For each column, set or change the Property name from the drop-down menu and enter a Display name for the column header.

5. Click Remove to delete a property column, or Add property below the property list to add a column.

Edit a smart chart

1. Hover over the section in Basic layout that contains the smart chart.

2. Click Edit in the top-right corner.

3. Click the smart chart to open the chart editor.

Adding variables

Variables are placeholders that the platform replaces with live data when a message is sent. They fall into three groups: branding variables, registrar variables, and message variables.

Branding variables

Branding variables are modifiable and auto-populate with your branded values.

Registrar variables

Registrar variables auto-populate with information about the registrar and cannot be modified.

Message variables

The matrix that determines message variable values is complex. The most reliable way to confirm the value of any message variable for a given template is to send a test email.

Switch to new messaging

1. Open the Settings tab.

2. Click Edit on the right-hand side of the Enable new messaging heading.

3. Use the toggle switch to Turn new messaging on.

4. Click Submit in the bottom-right corner.

Next steps

• Build your letterheads first. A letterhead is global per language, so design it before you customize individual templates.

• Create reusable snippets. Common greetings, closings, and legal text make a great first set of snippets.

• Send test emails as you go. Use a test email after each meaningful change to confirm variable values and smart chart output.

• Confirm date formatting. Open the Date Localization in the Messaging Platform article to verify how dates will render for each customer's registrant country.

• Review trust product messages. Open the Trust Customer Messaging article to enable or edit the SSL, SiteLock, and renewal notifications you send.

Questions? Contact OpenSRS Support.