Universal variables are placeholders that fill themselves in per booking. Write a document once, and every proposal gets the right names, dates, and venue without you retyping them.
Using them
In the document editor, open the Universal Variables palette and insert the tag you want. It's replaced with the real value when the client opens the document.
The tags
They're grouped into four categories.
Event
- Event Name
- Event Occasion
- Event Start Date & Time
- Event End Date & Time
- Event Location
- Event Duration
- Event Proposal ID
- Event Proposal Requisites
- Event Dashboard Link
Me
- My First Name
- My Last Name
- My Profile Display Name
- My Default Requisites
Client
- Client First Name
- Client Last Name
System
- Current Date
- Platform Legal Name
- Platform Support Email
- Platform Website
Why bother
Two reasons.
You stop making mistakes. The most common error in a hand-edited contract is the previous client's name left in one paragraph. It's embarrassing, and it makes the document look like a form rather than an agreement.
You stop editing documents. Set a template up properly once and you attach it to every proposal without touching it again.
Where they earn their keep
A cancellation policy referring to Event Start Date & Time rather than a typed date is correct on every booking, forever. A venue access document using Event Location always names the right venue.
Checking your work
Use the template preview before sending, and read the first real one the client receives. A tag that didn't get inserted properly shows as literal text, which is obvious once you look and invisible if you don't.
Your own contracts
Merge tags work in documents you import or write from scratch, not just our templates. If you're bringing your own contract across, replacing the fill-in-the-blank fields with tags is the single most useful thing you can do to it. See Uploading Your Own Document.