---
key: create-a-message-template
title: Create or change a message template
audience: staff
section: settings/templates
routes: ["/settings/org/templates/messages", "/settings/org/templates/messages/new", "/settings/org/templates/messages/:templateUid"]
permissions: ["message_templates.read"]
features: ["settings.org.message-templates"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Write your own version of an email, text or push notification Nova sends, or add a new reusable message, save it as a draft, preview it, then activate it so it goes out in your words.
keywords: [email wording, text message wording, notification text, change email text, canned response, message wording, custom email, sms template, edit notification]
related: [set-up-email-branding, change-customer-message-wording, send-an-email, send-a-text-message]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Message Templates** under **Templates**. The page address is `/settings/org/templates/messages`. A new template opens at `/settings/org/templates/messages/new`.

Nova comes with a default for every email, text and push notification it sends. The list shows those defaults alongside your own. To change one, you create an override draft in your organization, edit it, and activate it; the default stays untouched underneath.

## Before you start

- Your role needs permission to read message templates to see the list, permission to create them to add or override one, and permission to activate them to make a draft live.

## Steps

To change a message Nova already sends:

1. Find the message in the list. Filter by **Channel** (**Email**, **SMS**, **Push**) or search for it. The **Source** column shows where the current version comes from.
2. Open the row's menu and choose **Create Override Draft** (on one of your own active templates it reads **Create Next Draft**). A draft copy opens in the **Message template** drawer.
3. On the **Editor** tab, change the wording under **Channel content**: for email, the **Subject**, **Preheader**, **Headline** and **Body**; for text, the **SMS body**; for push, the **Push title** and **Push body**. Keep the placeholders in curly braces; they fill in the customer's name, amounts and links.
4. Press **Save Draft**.
5. Open the **Preview** tab and press **Render Preview** to see the message with sample values.
6. Press **Activate Draft**. In the **Activate draft?** dialog, read **Changed fields**, **References** and **Risk**, type an **Activation summary**, and press **Activate draft**. The draft becomes the live version.

To add a brand-new message:

1. Press **New template**. The **New message template** drawer opens.
2. Type a **Template key** (a stable id like `notifications.visit_reminder`), a **Name**, and pick the **Channel** and **Classification**.
3. Write the content as above, press **Create Draft**, then preview and activate.

Email **Body** uses the shared message editor for bold, italic, underline, lists and links. On a phone, press **Formatting** to show its tools. Use **Insert variable** to add customer and record details at the cursor. Nova saves the formatted body and its plain-text counterpart together. Older formatted templates keep their existing headings and tables when you edit the message.

## What you see

- Each row shows **Name**, **Source**, **Status** (**Draft**, **Active**, **Archived**), **Channel**, **Classification** and **Version**.
- The list is paginated. Use the page controls and rows-per-page selector at the bottom; changing a filter starts at page one.
- The **Quality** tab checks the draft for problems such as placeholders that do not exist. Fix anything it flags before activating.
- The **Governance** tab shows the version history and where the template is used.
- **Test Dispatch** sends the draft to your own saved email address or phone, so you can see it in a real inbox. It cannot send to an address you type in.
- **Import JSON** and **Export JSON** move a template between organizations.
- An email's **Footer note** shows the organization's footer note from Email branding until you press **Override for this template** and write this message's own. **Use organization default instead** goes back to it, and **Edit organization default** opens the footer on the Email branding page ([[set-up-email-branding]]).

## If something looks different

- **Activate Draft** is missing: your role cannot activate, or you are looking at a live version rather than a draft. It is off while you have unsaved changes; press **Save Draft** first.
- The activation dialog lists a blocker in red: fix it and try again. Warnings in yellow do not stop you.
- You changed a template but customers still get the old wording: the draft was saved but not activated. Open it and press **Activate Draft**.
- The message you want to change is not in this list: some customer messages are worded inside their automation. See [[change-customer-message-wording]].

[[route:/settings/org/templates/messages|Open Message Templates]]