Managing your patient and customer communications is now easier than ever. With ALOHA®, you can find, create, and edit all of your automated campaigns, internal notifications, and quick text replies in one centralized location.
✨ When You Need This Guide
You will find this guide helpful if you want to:
Find where all your automated and manual message templates are stored.
Build a consistent email or text message template for your patients.
Understand how to use the upgraded replacement string badges.
Check how many credits a text message template will use before sending it.
What This Covers (And What It Doesn't)
✅ Covers: Navigating the central templates page, filtering your messages, using the rich text email editor, building text message templates, and using replacement strings.
❌ Doesn't Cover: Setting up the actual trigger rules for automated campaigns or setting up integrated phone lines.
Prerequisites/You'll Need
An active ALOHA account.
The preferred verbiage for the template you want to create or edit.
✅ Finding and Navigating Your Templates
ALOHA brings all of your messaging tools together on a single page, making it easy to manage all of your templates template.
Go to your settings by clicking the Settings gear icon in your sidebar.
Click Templates on the left-hand side menu to open your central dashboard.
Use the top category filters to quickly sort through your library:
Automation: Look here for answering service, appointment reminder, birthday, feedback, and reactivations templates here.
Notifications: This contains notifications your office sends to itself or patients regarding the answering service, forms, the mobile app, scheduling, or Aloha Voice.
Saved Messages: These are your quick-reply snippets used when chatting directly with a patient or sending a bulk message.
Narrow your search by using the Types dropdown filter (to find specific categories like "Reactivations") or the Delivery Methods filter (to sort by Email or Text).
✅ Creating and Editing Templates
Whether you are building a template from scratch or tweaking an existing one, the template builder provides a real-time preview of your work.
Click the New Template button next to the search templates field to start from scratch, or click on the pencil icon next to an existing template to edit it.
Choose your template purpose from the options on the screen (Automation, Appointment Reminders, Reactivation Reminders, or Saved Replies) and click Continue.
Select your preferred delivery method (Email or Text Message) on the next screen and click Continue.
Fill out the required template details:
For Text Messages: Type a name for your template so your team can easily identify it.
For Emails: Type a template name and an engaging subject line. You can also use replacement badges icon directly in your email subject line to personalize it for each recipient.
Draft your message in the main body box.
Format your content using the toolbar at the top of the box.
For Emails: You can change font styles, sizes, bolding, colors, add links, and embed images just like you would in Gmail.
For Text Messages: The formatting tools are automatically hidden since text messages only support plain text.
Review the live preview on the right side of the screen. This preview shows how your message will look on a phone screen or in an email inbox.
Click Save in the top header bar to lock in your changes.
⚠️ Note: If you edit a default template provided by the system, ALOHA will automatically save a brand new copy for your account so you don't lose the original.
✅ Using Replacement String Badges
Replacement strings automatically pull specific details (like a patient's first name or your business phone number) into the message as it sends.
Place your mouse cursor in the text box exactly where you want the custom piece of data to appear.
Click the Replacement String icon on the editor toolbar.
Select the field category you need (such as Contact, Account, or Appointment) and choose the specific item.
Manage your badge directly inside the text box. You can click on the badge to change it.
💡 Common Questions
What You Might Notice | Why It's Happening | What to Do |
I can't find the old squiggly lines (like | ALOHA has upgraded text-based codes into clean, clickable visual badges. | Simply use the replacement string menu icon to insert the new badge format. It works exactly the same way at send-time! |
My text message template is costing more credits than the character counter says. | The character counter tracks standard text. Emojis and special Unicode characters require more digital data. | Keep an eye on your character and credit usage at the bottom of the SMS screen. Try limiting emojis if you want to save text credits. |
I am looking for a system notification, but it isn't showing up in my search results. | Large template libraries filter data in stages to keep the app running fast. | Try typing "notification" directly into the search bar, or use the main Notifications category filter to reveal it. |
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When
Your template library is neatly sorted by Automation, Notifications, or Saved Messages.
The live preview on the right side of your screen perfectly mirrors your edits in real-time.
Your sent messages accurately pull in personalized patient information instead of showing empty spaces or raw code.
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
If you have any questions or need a hand setting up your messaging workflows, our support team is happy to assist you!
📞 Phone: 800-563-0469
✉️ Email: support@getaloha.com