> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orriven.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Email templates > Design an email once — content, subject and variables — then send it from the Emails page or from an automation. An email template is a reusable email design: the content, a default subject line, and the variables the email personalizes with. You design it once and keep it — every send made from it is recorded separately, so editing a template later never rewrites what was already sent. Templates belong to one event. Find them under **Email templates** in the event's **Marketing** group. ## Create and design a template Click **Create template** and give it a name and a default subject. The subject is what a send starts from — it can be edited per send, and variables work in it too. Open the template's page and build the email in the rich editor — layout, text, images. Insert variables from the editor's merge-tag menu wherever a value should be filled in per recipient. Save your design, then use **Send test** to deliver the template to one address and check it in a real inbox. The test substitutes sample values for built-in variables and the real values for your own. Unsaved changes are not included — save first. A template with no designed content cannot be sent — the list marks it **No content yet** until the editor has saved once. ## Variables Two kinds of variables can appear in the content and the subject: * **Built-in variables** resolve per recipient at send time: attendee name, attendee email, event name, event start time, ticket type, exhibitor name and booth number. The last two fill in for exhibitor staff and stay empty for everyone else. * **Custom variables** are the template's own — a venue address, a support email. Each carries one value that every recipient sees, with an optional description that labels it in the editor menu. A send can adjust these values without touching the template — see [Sending email](/en/marketing/emails). Custom variable keys use lowercase letters, digits and underscores, start with a letter, must be unique, and cannot reuse a built-in variable's name. ## Duplicate a template **Duplicate** creates a copy under a new name with the same subject, design and variables. Send history stays with the original. Duplicating an **archived** template is allowed on purpose — it is how a shelved design comes back into use without restoring the original. ## Archive and restore Templates are **archived, never deleted** — past sends keep citing the template that produced them. An archived template cannot start a new send; **Restore** brings it back. If you only want to reuse its design, duplicate it instead. ## Rules to know * **Templates are per event.** Each event keeps its own template list; use Duplicate within an event to branch a design. * **Editing a template never changes past sends.** Every send records a snapshot of the subject and content as they were at send time. * **The subject takes variables too** — both built-in and custom. * **A test send is a proof, not a record.** It goes to one address of your choosing and does not appear in the send history. * **No content, no send.** Design and save the editor's content before sending or testing. * **Archived templates cannot be sent**, and automations cannot activate while citing one — see [Automations](/en/marketing/automations). ## Next Turn a template into a send: pick recipients, set variable values, preview and deliver. Send a template automatically when something happens in the event.