Sending Emails And Email Templates

Sending Emails from Tadabase

Tadabase provides multiple ways to send emails from your application, allowing you to communicate with users, send notifications, and automate your workflows. This guide covers all the methods for sending emails and explains how to use email templates.

Methods for Sending Emails

There are four primary ways to send emails from your Tadabase application:

1. Form Notification Emails

The most common way to send emails is through form notifications. When a user submits a form, you can automatically trigger email notifications.

To set up form notifications:

1. Open your form component in the page builder
2. Go to the Notifications tab
3. Click Add Email Notification
4. Choose between:
   • Basic Email - Quick setup with default formatting
   • Custom Email - Full control over To, From, Subject, and Body
5. Configure your email settings and save

Basic emails are great for simple notifications, while custom emails let you personalize every aspect of the message, include form field values, and add attachments.

2. Email Templates

Email Templates are reusable, standardized email formats that can be used throughout your application. They're perfect for consistent communication across different forms, scheduled tasks, and automation rules.

To create an email template:

1. Navigate to Automation in the builder sidebar
2. Click Email Templates
3. Click Add New Email
4. Configure your template (see Email Templates section below for details)
5. Save and enable your template

Once created, email templates can be selected in form notifications, scheduled tasks, action rules, and other automation features.

3. Scheduled Tasks

Scheduled tasks allow you to send emails automatically at specified times or intervals. This is useful for reminders, daily reports, follow-ups, and recurring notifications.

To create a scheduled email task:

1. Go to Automation > Scheduled Tasks
2. Click Add New Task
3. Set your schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, or custom)
4. Add an Email action
5. Choose an email template or configure a custom email
6. Set any conditions for when the email should send

Scheduled tasks can send emails based on your data. For example, send a reminder to users who have incomplete tasks, or send a daily summary report to your team.

4. Automation Action Rules

Action rules allow you to send emails when specific events occur in your application, such as when a record is created, updated, or deleted.

To set up an email action rule:

1. Go to the Data Builder
2. Select your data table
3. Click on Automations tab
4. Click Add Automation
5. Choose your trigger (e.g., "After record is created")
6. Add an Email action
7. Select an email template or configure a custom email

Understanding Email Templates

Email Templates are a powerful feature that allows you to create and manage reusable, standardized email formats for consistent and efficient communication.

What Are Email Templates?

Email Templates are pre-configured emails that you can use anywhere in your application. Instead of writing the same email content multiple times across different forms or tasks, you create it once as a template and reuse it wherever needed.

Benefits of Email Templates:

• Consistency - Ensure all communications follow the same format and branding
• Efficiency - Create once, use many times
• Centralized Management - Update one template to change all emails using it
• Dynamic Content - Use parameters to personalize emails with data from your records
• Advanced Features - Include magic links, attachments, and custom SMTP configurations

Creating Email Templates

When creating an email template, you'll configure several settings across different tabs:

General Tab:

• Template Name - A descriptive name for internal reference
• Description - Notes about the template's purpose and usage
• Send To - Recipient email addresses (can add multiple with To, Cc, Bcc, Reply-To)
• From Name - The sender's name (optional, uses default if blank)
• From Email - The sender's email address (optional, uses default if blank)
• Subject - Email subject line (can include parameters)
• SMTP Configuration - Choose which SMTP server to use (if multi-SMTP is enabled)
• Allow Attachment - Enable attachment support (provides ATTACHMENT_URL parameter)

Parameters Tab:

Parameters are dynamic placeholders that get replaced with actual data when the email is sent. You can create parameters for any field from your data tables.

• Example: {{first_name}}, {{order_number}}, {{total_amount}}
• Parameters can be used in both the subject line and email body
• Type { in the subject field to see available parameters

Magic Link Tab:

Magic Links allow recipients to access specific pages in your application without logging in. This is useful for confirmation pages, one-time forms, or secure links.

Template Tab:

This is where you design the actual email content. You can use the rich text editor to format your email, include images, add buttons, and insert parameters for dynamic content.

Logs Tab:

View all emails sent using this template, including delivery status, timestamps, and recipient information. This is helpful for troubleshooting and monitoring email performance.

Using Email Templates

Once you've created an email template, you can use it in multiple places:

• Form Notifications - Select the template when configuring a custom email notification
• Scheduled Tasks - Choose the template in your task's email action
• Action Rules - Use the template in automation email actions
• Workflow Steps - Include the template in multi-step processes

Default Email Templates

Tadabase includes several default email templates for system functions:

• Login Email Notification - Sent when users log in (if enabled)
• Signup Confirmation - Sent to new users to verify their email
• Password Reset Request - Sent when users request to reset their password
• Password Reset Success - Confirmation that password was changed successfully

These default templates can be customized but cannot be deleted. They ensure consistent branding for system-generated emails.

Template Library

The Template Library provides pre-built email templates for common use cases. Click the Template Library button to browse and add templates to your application.

Email Settings

Before sending emails, configure your email settings in Settings > Email Settings.

Default Email Configuration

By default, Tadabase sends emails from no-reply@tadabasemail.com. You can set a default "From Name" and "From Email," but without custom SMTP settings, emails will still originate from the Tadabase mail server.

Custom SMTP Settings

For full control over your email delivery, configure custom SMTP settings:

1. Go to Settings > Email Settings
2. Toggle Custom SMTP to ON
3. Enter your SMTP server details:
   • SMTP Host
   • SMTP Port (usually 25, 465 for SSL, or 587 for TLS)
   • Username and Password
   • Encryption (SSL or TLS)
4. Save your settings

Popular SMTP Providers:

• Gmail / Google Workspace
• SendGrid (recommended for high volume)
• Mailgun
• Amazon SES
• Outlook / Office 365

For detailed instructions on configuring Gmail or SendGrid, see the Email Settings and Using SendGrid articles.

Email Logs

All outgoing emails are logged and tracked. To view email logs:

1. Go to Settings > Email Settings
2. Click on the Email Logs tab

Email logs show:

• Recipient email addresses
• Send timestamp
• Delivery status (sent, failed, pending)
• Email subject
• Error messages (if delivery failed)

Use email logs to troubleshoot delivery issues and monitor your application's email activity.

Best Practices

• Use Email Templates - For any email you send more than once, create a template
• Test First - Always test emails by sending to yourself before deploying
• Configure SMTP - Use custom SMTP for better deliverability and to avoid sending limits
• Clear Subject Lines - Make subjects descriptive and specific
• Personalize - Use parameters to include recipient names and relevant data
• Monitor Logs - Regularly check email logs for failed deliveries
• Brand Consistency - Include your logo and company colors in templates
• Mobile Friendly - Ensure emails look good on mobile devices

Common Issues

Emails Not Arriving

• Check spam/junk folder
• Verify recipient email address is correct
• Check email logs for error messages
• Ensure SMTP settings are correct (if using custom SMTP)
• Check if you've hit sending limits (without custom SMTP)

Parameters Not Working

• Ensure parameter names match exactly (case-sensitive)
• Verify the data exists in your record
• Check that parameters are properly configured in the Parameters tab

Formatting Issues

• Test emails in multiple email clients (Gmail, Outlook, etc.)
• Keep HTML formatting simple for better compatibility
• Use inline styles rather than CSS classes

Note: New applications have email sending limits until the account and application are manually verified. Using custom SMTP settings bypasses this restriction.

Related Articles

• Emails and SMTP Overview
• Email Settings
• Using SendGrid for Emails
• How to Send Email Notifications (Video Guide)
• Email Logs