Prerequisites
- SMS Templates in Zyntro — The screen these problems occur on
SMS Template Problems
Symptoms, causes and what to do about them.
Nearly every problem with SMS templates comes down to one of three things: you are in a different brand from the template, a smart tag is not one that SMS substitutes, or a character you cannot see has changed the message's character set.
Known Issues
The template is not in the dropdown where you need it
Templates are saved per brand, and the picker only lists the current brand's.
Switch to the brand the template was created in, or create the template again in the brand you are working in. They are separate records; there is no sharing between brands.
If you are in the right brand and still cannot see it, open Brands > Brand Assets > SMS Templates and confirm it is listed there — that list is the definitive one.
A smart tag arrived as literal text, braces and all
The tag is not one SMS substitutes, or the message was sent from a place that does not substitute.
Check the tag against the table in Smart Tags for SMS. Only standard contact fields and a few member fields are replaced; organizations, entities, custom fields, appointments and webinar tags are listed in the picker but not substituted in SMS.
Also check where it was sent from. A manual send through Send SMS to Contact pastes the template in as written and expects you to fill the tags in yourself.
{members.email} was not replaced but {members.fname} was
Only the singular {member.email} is substituted.
Use {member.email} rather than {members.email}. The picker offers the plural form, but SMS substitution does not recognise it. The name tags work in both forms, which makes this inconsistency easy to trip over.
A short message is being counted as two parts
The message contains a character outside the standard set, which lowers the limit to 70.
The counter names the character set. If it says Unicode and you did not add an emoji, look for a curly apostrophe or quote, an en dash, an ellipsis or an accented letter — word processors insert the first four automatically.
Retype the punctuation directly into the message box. Straight quotes and plain hyphens keep the message in the 160-character set.
The delivered message was longer than the counter said
Smart tags expand at send time, and a signature may be appended.
The counter measures the template exactly as typed. {contacts.fname} is 17 characters in the editor and becomes the contact's real name when sent, and a sign-off of around 40 characters may be added depending on how the message goes out.
Leave headroom on anything close to a part boundary.
"That template could not be found for this brand"
The id being opened is not an SMS template owned by the current brand.
Usually a stale bookmark, a link from another brand, or a template deleted since. Go back to the SMS Templates list and work from there — it shows only what this brand owns, so anything listed will open.
A template was deleted and is needed back
Deletion removes the record outright.
There is no archive and no restore. Recreate it — the wording of a recently delivered message is the best source — and then repoint whatever was using it, because nothing is reconnected automatically.
A workflow or form action stopped sending its SMS
It references a template that has been deleted.
Open that step and choose a template that exists. A deleted template is not substituted with anything, so the step simply finds nothing to send.
An edit did not reach messages that already went out
Queued and delivered messages carry the wording from when they were built.
Expected behaviour. Edits apply to future sends only, and there is no way to amend a message that has left.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not directly. Open it, copy the message text, switch brand and create a new template with the same wording. Keeping them separate is deliberate — brands can differ in tone without affecting each other.
No. An edit replaces the previous wording, so copy anything substantial somewhere else before changing a template that is in active use.
Not from this screen. Check the places that reference templates — broadcasts, workflows, form actions, board settings and webinar registration settings — before deleting one.
For messages that must be identical every time, yes. For anything persuasive, Segmentation Intelligence writing per contact will outperform a template, which is why the screen itself advises using them sparingly.
Need More Help?
If a template is listed for your brand but a picker elsewhere will not show it, contact Zyntro support with the brand name and the template name.
Contact Support