Reminder emails go out to everyone with an active booking the day before (or whenever you choose) so parents don’t forget about the slot they claimed. They’re configured per event.
Where to set them up
Open the event and find the Reminders section. Fill in:
- Reminder send date — the date the reminder goes out. Usually the day before the event runs.
- Reminder send time — the time of day the reminder goes out.
- From email — the address the email comes from. Often the events team mailbox.
- From name — the display name shown next to the from address.
- Reminder content — the body of the email. Plain text or basic HTML.
Save. The reminder is queued. You can keep editing the content right up until the send time.
What the reminder looks like
Each active submission gets an individual email. The reminder content can include placeholders that get filled in for each parent:
- Student name.
- Booked session time (if the event has sessions).
- Event name, date and venue.
Cancelled submissions don’t get reminders — only active bookings.
What gets sent and when
At the scheduled date and time, PortalHQ:
- Looks up every active submission on the event.
- Renders the reminder content for each one (filling in placeholders).
- Sends one email per submission via your school’s email backend.
The send is logged. A flag on the event marks the reminder as sent so it doesn’t double-fire if you edit the schedule.
Disabling reminders
If you decide you don’t want reminders on a particular event:
- Tick Disable reminder on the event.
- The scheduled send is skipped even if the date/time has been set.
Use this for small events where a reminder isn’t worth the inbox noise.
Common patterns
The day-before nudge — send time 5 pm the day before. Catches most parents while they’re still thinking about tomorrow.
The morning-of reminder — send time 8 am on the event day. Good for events that run later in the day.
The week-before warning — send time a week out for events with a high cancellation rate; lets parents reorganise if their plans changed.
Tips
- Write the content before opening bookings. It’s easier to draft a clear reminder when you’re focused on it, rather than scrambling the night before.
- Test the email by booking yourself into the event from a parent account, then triggering the reminder send (or wait for the scheduled time). Check the formatting and that placeholders fill in correctly.
- Include cancellation instructions in the reminder so parents who can’t make it know what to do — usually a line like “If you can no longer attend, please go to your parent dashboard and cancel your booking”.
- Reminders are per event. If you have a group of three PTI events on three nights, each one needs its own reminder configuration.
What reminders don’t do
- They don’t notify staff. If you want a heads-up on who’s coming, run the export the morning of — see Viewing, managing and exporting submissions.
- They don’t follow up no-shows. If you want to chase parents who didn’t attend, that’s a manual process from the post-event submission list.
- They don’t go to parents whose booking was cancelled.