Concept: Email Templates

Workday uses email templates to generate email notification content, such as formatting and text. You can define separate email templates for group messaging, benefits open enrollment, Workday password resets, and other purposes.

Email template content elements can be:

Static (text, a URL, or an image file that doesn't change).
Dynamic (Workday-delivered variables determined from the context when the message sends).

Email template behaviors enable you to assign a purpose for a given email template. Each behavior contains Workday-delivered dynamic content variables that you can use as elements in email templates. The business process that initiates the email defines the value of each variable. Many variables are available across multiple email template behaviors, but some variables are exclusive to specific email template behaviors. Example: The

Collaborative Emails

template behavior has the dynamic content of

Worker Photo

, which isn't available in

Default

template behavior.

The

Default

email template behavior:

Includes dynamic content variables that can handle most use cases for the various notifications generated by Workday. These variables are also available, under different names, in other email template behaviors.
Uses the variable name format:
Content n
. For custom email templates, Workday displays the standard names. These names refer to the same content element. Example: The
Main Body
variable in the
Business Process Email
email template refers to
Content 1
in the
Default
email template.

You might want to use a context-specific template behavior instead of the

Default

template behavior because you can create custom static text that is context-specific to the behavior. Any email that Workday generates using a given template includes static content. You might want to include static content that is specific to 1 context, but not another. Example: The static content for an

Integration Process Event

email might not be appropriate for a

Benefits Notification

email.

While the

Default

email template behavior can be used for most notifications, these behaviors are specifically used for these notifications types:

Email Template Behavior	Notification Type
Collaborative Emails	Activity Comments Share Notifications Workbook Access Additions Workbook Access Removals Workbook Comments Workbook Conversations
Default	Customer Central Marketplace Opportunity Promotion
General Notification Emails	Interview Schedule Communications
Job Alerts	Job Alerts - Internal Candidates
Learning Campaign Emails	Extended Enterprise Campaigns Learning Campaigns Learning Expiration Periods
Prism Wbucket Complete Notification Email Template Behavior	Prism Wbucket Complete Notification
Recruiting Communications	Active Candidates Recruiting Marketing
Student Engagement	Academic Advising Admissions Financial Aid - Disbursements Financial Aid - General Financial Aid - Packages Student Financials Student Records Student Recruiting - Marketing Student Recruiting - Transactional
Worker Communications	Worker Communications

You can use the

Maintain Email Templates

task to specify which:

Templates are active for a given behavior.
Template to use as the default for a behavior that has more than 1 active template.

Workday uses only active email templates when generating email notifications for that behavior. You can create multiple templates for a given behavior, but usually only one can be active at a time. The only exception is the

Business Process

behavior. Multiple Business Process templates can be active, but only one can be the default. Use the

Default

check box to select the default template.

Workday uses the

Default

template for any behavior that doesn't itself have an active template. You can create more than 1

Default

template, but only 1 can be active. Custom notifications use the

Default

template for a given behavior unless you override it with another active template when you create the notification.