Email Templates

Use the Email Templates page to control the words customers read in the emails Arcus sends for quotes, orders, invoices, payments, shipping, refunds, backorders, and statements. Come here to preview a template, change its subject or body, send yourself a test, put a template back to the Arcus default, or stop one from sending.

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Before You Start

• You need both settings.view and settings.edit. Without settings.edit the page is not listed under Documents & Email, and a direct link shows Access Restricted: “This settings section requires the settings.edit permission. Ask an owner or admin to grant it.”

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Open Email Templates

1. In the deck, open Settings.
2. Under Documents & Email, choose Email Templates.

The breadcrumb reads Settings > Documents & Email > Email Templates. You can also search for Email Templates in the command palette.

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Template Types

Arcus shows templates that are configurable for the entity. Each template card shows its name, a Customer Email or System Alert badge, an Active or Disabled status, and the buttons Preview, Edit, Test, Reset, and Enable or Disable.

• Customer Email templates are customer-facing and can be previewed, edited, tested, reset, enabled, or disabled.
• System Alert templates are internal operational alerts. Some are read-only because Arcus generates the body from system events.

Platform authentication emails, password reset messages, invitations, and other platform-controlled messages are not edited from this entity template page.

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Preview Before Editing

Click Preview to render the saved template with sample data and current entity branding. Click Hide to close it. Preview is safer than reading raw HTML because it shows how conditionals, variables, logo, footer, and company information will appear. Use preview to check:

• Subject line.
• Logo and company name.
• Customer greeting.
• Document number or link text.
• Payment, quote, invoice, shipment, or return wording.
• Footer text and support contact.

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Edit A Template

1. Click Edit on the template. The editor opens, named for the template.
2. Change the Subject Line or the HTML Body.
3. Check the live preview beside the editor.
4. Open the Variable Reference to see the supported placeholders, written like {{variable}}.
5. Click Save Template. You see “Template updated”.
6. Send a test email.

Use supported variables instead of hardcoding customer names, document numbers, amounts, links, or due dates. Variables are replaced when Arcus sends the real message.

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Test A Template

Click Test on a template, enter an address in Send test to:, and send. You see “Test email sent to” with the address. The test sends a sample version to that address. This does not send a real invoice, order, quote, or shipment. It sends a rendered sample so you can verify layout and delivery. Test after:

• Changing subject line text.
• Editing HTML body copy.
• Changing variables.
• Changing the email logo or footer.
• Enabling a previously disabled template.
• Updating a custom sending domain.

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Reset A Template

Use Reset when custom copy should be discarded and the default Arcus version should return. Before resetting:

1. Confirm the team no longer needs the custom wording.
2. Preview the current version.
3. Save a note outside Arcus if the old copy needs to be referenced later.
4. Click Reset. You see “Template reset to default”.
5. Preview and test the default version.

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Enable Or Disable

Click Disable to stop a customer email template from sending, or Enable to turn it back on. You see “Template disabled” or “Template enabled”, and the card’s status changes to Disabled or Active. Disable only when the business has a clear replacement process or the related workflow should not email customers. Examples:

• Keep invoices, receipts, refunds, and shipment notices active unless the team has another customer communication process.
• Consider monthly statements separately because they are controlled by both the template and the Email Configuration digest toggle.
• Do not rely on disabling a template as a substitute for fixing wrong customer email addresses.

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Read-Only System Alerts

Read-only system alert templates cannot be edited, disabled, or reset from the entity page. Their buttons are disabled, and the tooltips explain why: “System alert templates are read-only. Body is generated by Arcus and cannot be customized.”, “System alert templates cannot be reset.”, and “System alerts cannot be disabled. They fire on real Arcus events that need admin attention.” Arcus uses them for important internal events where consistent system wording matters. If the alert content looks wrong, treat it as a product issue rather than a normal template edit.

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Messages You May See

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What Changes Elsewhere

• Customer emails: the next real email of that type uses your saved subject and body. A disabled template stops that email from sending.
• Audit trail: saving, enabling, disabling, and resetting a template is recorded in the Audit Log.

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Common Blocks

• Edit is disabled: the template is a read-only system alert.
• The page is missing or shows Access Restricted: you need settings.edit.
• Preview failed: refresh the page and try again. If it keeps failing, leave the template unchanged and report the issue.
• Variable rendered blank: the real workflow may not supply that variable. Use the variable list for that template.
• Customer did not receive the message: check template active state, Email Configuration toggles, customer preferences, and Email Log.
• Test email looks right but real email differs: real sends use real customer and document data, while test sends use sample data.
• Reset changed more than expected: reset restores the default subject and body for that template.

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