Email Template User Guide

Welcome to the FORNAV Email Template experience. This guide walks you through preparing reusable email bodies, subjects, and recipient rules so you can deliver consistent, data-driven emails directly from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

1. Audience and purpose

• Built for functional consultants, report builders, and power users who configure FORNAV communications.
• Purpose: design an email template, connect it to business data, and let FORNAV populate emails automatically when documents are sent.

2. Prerequisites

• Ensure you have the FORNAV Report Pack extension installed in the target environment.
• Set permission to ForNAVUser (or higher) to manage templates.
• Gather sample documents for each email scenario you plan to test (sales orders, invoices, purchase documents, and so on).
• Decide who owns template maintenance and approval.

3. Open the Email Templates workspace

To open the Email Templates page:

• In Business Central, use Search to find and open the ForNAV Email Templates page.
• Create a personal list or pin the page to your role center for quick access.
  
  

4. Understanding the Template Card

• No. : Unique template identifier referenced by automation.
• Language Code: Optional language filter; leave empty to serve all languages.
• Description: Short summary for internal use.
• Email Scenario: Controls which business process can use the template (for example, Default, Sales Invoice, Purchase Order). Non-default scenarios lock the source table automatically.
• Source Table No. / Table Caption: Defines which table supplies merge data. Editable only when the email scenario is Default.
• Starting Date / Ending Date: Optional active window; the template is ignored outside this range.
• Usage Filter: Read-only summary of record filters applied through the drill-down.
• Health Status: Quick indicator from the FORNAV health check.
• Email Subject: Preview of the merged subject line, updated by the editor.
• To / CC / BCC Email Addresses: Static recipients appended to dynamic recipients.
• To / CC / BCC Address Source: Determines whether addresses come from customer, vendor, contact, or ship-to data, depending on the scenario.
• Email Content: Stored HTML body built with merge tokens.

5. Create a new template

To create a new template:

1. In the Email Templates page, click New.
2. Fill in the header fields, using the tooltips for guidance:
   – Specify the No. and Description fields according to your naming convention.
   – In the Email Scenario field, select a scenario. For non-default scenarios, the source table is set automatically.
   – If you specify Default or Master in the Email Scenario field, select the relevant number in the Source Table No. field.
   – Define the Language Code, Starting Date, and Ending Date fields as needed.
   – In the Usage Filter field, click the drill-down to limit which records can use the template.
   
   
   
3. In the Email Addresses group, decide whether to rely on address sources or add fixed addresses. The Address Source Default option keeps the address as it is in standard Business Central. The Bill-to, Sell-to, and Ship-to options will get the email address based on the relevant contact. If no contact is found, then FORNAV uses the email address from the relevant customer card.
4. Select Edit HTML to open the rich editor. For more information on editing personalized content, see the Personalized Content Editor Guide.
   
   
   
5. Compose the email body and subject:
   – Insert merge fields with {Value} for live data and [Caption] for labelled placeholders.
   – Use the Subject tab inside the editor for subject placeholders; the results sync back to “Email Subject”.
6. Save and close the editor. The HTML preview updates automatically.
7. Click Check Health to validate the template before using it.

6. Use master templates

To use a master template:

1. Follow the steps in the previous section (section 5) to create a template dedicated to reuse:
   – Set the Email Scenario field to Master Template so the template stays generic.
   – Select the Source Table No. that represents the data you want to expose.
   – Build the HTML content exactly as you want it reused across multiple child templates.
2. Open the template that should consume the master content and select Email Related Tables.
3. Add a new line and configure it as follows:
   – Source Table No. – FORNAV Email Template.
   – Name – a memorable label that describes the injected content.
   – Source Table Name – auto-filled to confirm the selected table.
   – Link Reference – select the related table you want to use for the table relation.
   – Table Relation – select the relation that connects the child template’s source to the master template’s source table.
   
   
   
   
4. Repeat the related-table setup for each master template fragment you want to include, then return to the template card.
5. Click Check Health to confirm that the template resolves the new relation and preview the rendered email to verify that master content loads as expected.

7. Manage translations

To test translations:

1. In the email templates page, select an email template and click copy.
2. Change the language on the new template records (or export/import with your translation process).
3. Ensure that each localized template references the same scenario and filters but uses the correct Language Code and translated content.
4. Test each language with representative data.

8. Manage scenario addresses

To manage scenario addresses:

1. Open the Customer Card (or another page that exposes scenario addresses) and click Email Scenario Addresses in the Customer action group.
   
   
   
   The list page ForNAV Email Scenario Address filters automatically to the current record by using the source table and system ID.
2. Add one line per scenario/address combination:
   – Email Scenario – selects the business process that should use the address.
   – Email Type – defines whether the address becomes a To, Cc, or Bcc recipient.
   – Email Address – stores the actual email.
3. Repeat for each contact who needs scenario-specific routing.

When FORNAV builds recipients, it first checks these scenario addresses before falling back to the address source (for example, customer or vendor). Use the page to override individual customers who require alternate distribution lists without cloning templates.

9. Put templates to work

• Communicate the new template to business owners and document the intended scenarios.
• Note that when a user sends a document via email, FORNAV intercepts the OnBeforeSendViaEmailModule event and:
  – Identifies the email scenario passed by Business Central.
  – Looks for matching templates first by scenario and then by source record filters.
  – Merges the HTML body and subject through ForNAV Generate Email.
  – Resolves recipients from address sources plus any static addresses and removes duplicates.
• No additional setup is required—templates are applied automatically during send. For optional testing, trigger Prepare and send on a sample document.

10. Maintaining existing templates

• Use Copy to branch successful templates for new scenarios.
• Schedule regular health checks and review the health detail list when issues appear.
• Keep address sources aligned with master data (contacts, customers, vendors, ship-to addresses).
• Retire time-bound campaigns by setting an Ending Date or disabling the template.

11. Troubleshooting

• No template selected: Confirm the email scenario has at least one active template for the current language and date.
• Wrong recipients: Check address source settings and the availability of contact email fields.
• Subject/body placeholders unresolved: Ensure merge fields match the related tables and that the Usage Filter field includes records with data.
• Static email list truncated: Keep combined addresses under 250 characters; shorten or move recipients to scenario addresses.

12. Best practices

• Align template numbers with scenarios (for example, SLS-INVOICE-EMAIL-ENU).
• Reuse shared components by using master templates.
• Review templates quarterly with stakeholders to confirm language and tone.
• Coordinate any legal text with compliance before publishing updates.
• Track ownership and change requests in your documentation hub.

13. Appendix

• Related Pages: ForNAV Email Templates, ForNAV Email Related Tables, ForNAV Email Scenario Address.

Document version: 2025-11-26.