Custom booking flow
User Variables work much like a standard Merge Tag you may be used to with common newsletter services such as Mailchimp. The difference is, not only can you personalise emails sent to your clients, but the entire booking flow!
Look out for the 'Personalise' icon shown below which indicates if the text field can accept User Variables. You can click on it for a reminder as to how they work.
Each User Variable is wrapped in handlebar tags like `{{ variable_name }}`. If the variable does not exist or is missing, the tag will be ignored resulting in a blank space.
You have the option to add fallback text if this is the case. To do this you simply add a pipe (vertical bar) character followed by the text you wish to display.
For example `{{ name | guest }}` will display the users name if it exists but will display the word 'guest' if it does not.
By default, `{{name}}` and `{{email}}` are available to use throughout the booking flow.
To personalise the experience event further, you can use Metadata or the URL to store any data you like. For example you could store nickname, invited_by and favourite_drink to personalise a sentence like so:
"Hey {{nickname}}, thanks for booking with {{invitedby}}. We will make sure a {{favourite_drink}} is waiting for you at the bar."_
Depending on where the user is in the booking flow, variables will be taken from three separate sources:
Invites
Bookings
URL Parameters
Before a booking is made, user variables are sourced either from an Invite (if this is how the user entered the booking flow) or URL Parameters. For example within the Visitor booking information.
After a booking is made, user variables are sourced from the Booking itself. Any data stored on an invite will be automatically transferred to a booking. For example, on the booking confirmation text or reminder emails.
Simply add in variables in the URL before you send a link to your event page. You will need a key and a value for each variable.
For example, to use name and vip_type you could link to your event page like so: https://artsvp.co/abc?name=mike&vip_type=priority
For security reasons, Invite data will have preference over URL Data. For example, if you create an invite with name 'Mike' and pass in a URL parameter '**name=David'**, the URL parameter will be ignored and the name 'Mike' will be displayed.
Look out for the 'Personalise' icon shown below which indicates if the text field can accept User Variables. You can click on it for a reminder as to how they work.
**Formatting & Fallbacks**
Each User Variable is wrapped in handlebar tags like `{{ variable_name }}`. If the variable does not exist or is missing, the tag will be ignored resulting in a blank space.
You have the option to add fallback text if this is the case. To do this you simply add a pipe (vertical bar) character followed by the text you wish to display.
For example `{{ name | guest }}` will display the users name if it exists but will display the word 'guest' if it does not.
**What variables can you set?**
By default, `{{name}}` and `{{email}}` are available to use throughout the booking flow.
To personalise the experience event further, you can use Metadata or the URL to store any data you like. For example you could store nickname, invited_by and favourite_drink to personalise a sentence like so:
"Hey {{nickname}}, thanks for booking with {{invitedby}}. We will make sure a {{favourite_drink}} is waiting for you at the bar."_
**Where do variables come from?**
Depending on where the user is in the booking flow, variables will be taken from three separate sources:
Invites
Bookings
URL Parameters
Before a booking is made, user variables are sourced either from an Invite (if this is how the user entered the booking flow) or URL Parameters. For example within the Visitor booking information.
After a booking is made, user variables are sourced from the Booking itself. Any data stored on an invite will be automatically transferred to a booking. For example, on the booking confirmation text or reminder emails.
Personalise with URL Parameters
Simply add in variables in the URL before you send a link to your event page. You will need a key and a value for each variable.
For example, to use name and vip_type you could link to your event page like so: https://artsvp.co/abc?name=mike&vip_type=priority
For security reasons, Invite data will have preference over URL Data. For example, if you create an invite with name 'Mike' and pass in a URL parameter '**name=David'**, the URL parameter will be ignored and the name 'Mike' will be displayed.
Updated on: 29/12/2022
Thank you!