Placeholder Reference
Placeholders are short tokens in curly braces, such as {first_name}. You type them into prompts and email settings, and Course Cadence swaps each one for real details when an email is sent or a guidance page is displayed. They let one prompt greet every student by name and name the right course and week.
This page lists every placeholder, what each one becomes, and where each one works. It’s for administrators who write prompts or customise the guidance emails.
Where you’ll see the list in the plugin: Course Cadence → Settings → Emails shows an Available Placeholders card below the settings. The help text for the Email Template field lists the same placeholders. Both are built from the same source as the emails, so they always match what the plugin can fill on your site.
Available placeholders
| Placeholder | Becomes | Example output | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
{student_name} |
The recipient’s WordPress display name | Sarah Johnson | In a trainer’s email this is the trainer’s own name. On the trainer guidance page it shows “Sample Student”. On the student guidance page it falls back to “Learner” if the display name is blank |
{first_name} |
The recipient’s first name from their profile | Sarah | Falls back to the display name if no first name is set |
{last_name} |
The recipient’s last name from their profile | Johnson | Blank if no last name is set |
{course_name} |
The course title (LMS course, or class name in standalone mode) | Certificate III in Individual Support | |
{week_number} |
The week of the timeline the content belongs to | 5 | For Rolling timelines this is the student’s personal week. See Timeline management |
{instructor_name} |
The display name of the user who authored the course in your LMS (Tutor LMS or LifterLMS) | Marcus Webb | Always blank in standalone (native classes) mode, and left off the Available Placeholders card there. The course author is not necessarily the trainer assigned to the course |
{current_date} |
Today’s date when the email is sent, in the format set under Settings → General → Date Format | 12 June 2026 | |
{prompts} |
The week’s rendered guidance | (the prompt bodies) | Email Template setting only. It marks where the guidance goes. A template without {prompts} sends no guidance |
Rules
- Single braces, lowercase.
{first_name}works.{{first_name}},{First_Name}and{ first_name }don’t. - Unknown or misspelt placeholders are left as typed.
{frist_name}arrives in the email exactly like that. - A placeholder with no value becomes blank, for example
{last_name}for a user with no last name. Write sentences that still read well when a value is missing. - Values are inserted as plain text. A name containing
&or<displays correctly and can’t inject formatting. - Placeholders aren’t processed in Attachment URL or Linked lessons.
Where placeholders work
Not every place fills every placeholder. “All 7” means the seven placeholders in the table above, without {prompts}.
| Where you type it | Placeholders filled |
|---|---|
| Prompt Body and Subject, in weekly guidance emails (single-course and consolidated) | All 7 |
| Prompt Body and Subject, in retried emails (a failed send tried again) | All 7 |
| Prompt Body and Subject, in a Test Single Course email (Email Delivery → Test Emails) | All 7 |
| Settings → Emails → Email Subject (subject line of single-course weekly emails) | All 7 |
| Settings → Emails → Email Template | All 7, plus {prompts} |
| Settings → Emails → Single-Course Intro Line and Multi-Course Intro Line | None of the 7 (see “Email layout tokens” below) |
| Settings → Emails → Email Footer | None. The footer is inserted exactly as written |
| Prompt Body and Subject, in catch-up emails (automatic on enrolment, or sent from Review & send) | {student_name}, {course_name}, {week_number} only |
| Prompt Body and Subject, in Test All Courses emails | {student_name}, {course_name}, {week_number} only |
| Prompt Body and Subject, on the student guidance page (shortcodes) | {student_name}, {course_name}, {week_number} only |
| Prompt Body and Subject, on the trainer guidance page | {student_name} (shows “Sample Student”), {course_name}, and {week_number} in the single-week view |
| Prompt Body and Subject, in the admin trainer digest | {student_name} (shows “Trainer”), {course_name}, {week_number} |
What this means in practice: {first_name}, {last_name}, {instructor_name} and {current_date} only work in the weekly emails. In catch-up emails and on the guidance pages they appear as literal text. If a prompt might also be read on the guidance page or in a catch-up email, use {student_name}, {course_name} and {week_number}. Otherwise, avoid placeholders in that prompt.
A few more details:
- The single-course weekly email’s subject line comes from the Email Subject setting. The field shows “Your Weekly Guidance for {course_name}” until you change it, and its help text says “Use {course_name} for the course title.” Until the Emails settings have been saved at least once, the subject line is “Week N guidance for course name“. The prompt’s own Subject isn’t used as the subject line there. See Prompt management.
- Consolidated emails (a student with several courses in the same week) always use the subject “Your Weekly Guidance (N courses)”. The Email Subject setting doesn’t apply to them.
- Catch-up emails use their own fixed subject and layout, so the Email Subject, Template, Intro and Footer settings don’t apply to them (see Catch-up emails).
Email layout tokens
The email layout also recognises a few tokens of its own. They aren’t shown on the Available Placeholders card, but they are replaced anywhere in the body of the weekly guidance emails. That includes prompt bodies, the intro lines and the Email Template:
| Token | Single-course weekly email | Consolidated email |
|---|---|---|
{site_name} |
Your site title (Settings → General) | Same |
{site_url} |
Your site’s home address | Same |
{course} |
Course title | “Multiple courses” |
{student} |
Recipient’s display name | Same |
{week} |
Week number | Blank |
These tokens don’t work in subject lines, in the Email Footer, in catch-up emails or on the guidance pages. Prefer the placeholders in the main table wherever they work.
Examples
Email Subject setting
Week {week_number}: your {course_name} guidancebecomes “Week 5: your Certificate III in Individual Support guidance”.
Email Template setting
<h2>Hello {first_name},</h2>
<p>Here is your guidance for <strong>Week {week_number}</strong> of <strong>{course_name}</strong>:</p>
{prompts}
<p>Sent {current_date}.</p>The Email Template field comes pre-filled with a template that starts the same way: “Hello {first_name},” followed by “Here is your guidance for Week {week_number} of {course_name}:”. The automatic “Hi {name},” greeting is added only when the Email Template field is empty. Whenever a template is in use, including the pre-filled one once it has been saved, the template has to supply its own greeting.
A prompt body that also reads well on the guidance page
Welcome to week {week_number} of {course_name}, {student_name}.
This week focuses on manual handling. Read the two linked lessons before Thursday's practical.Troubleshooting
A placeholder appears literally, for example {first_name}.
Check the spelling: lowercase, single braces, no spaces. Then check the “Where placeholders work” table. {first_name} is not filled in catch-up emails or on the guidance pages.
{instructor_name} is blank.
The site runs in standalone (native classes) mode, or the course’s author has no display name. The value comes from the user who created the course in the LMS.
A name or week is blank.
The recipient has no first or last name in their profile, or the email was sent outside a running timeline. Ask the user to complete their profile, or use {student_name}.
I used {{course_name}} and the braces arrived in the email.
Placeholders use single braces. Change it to {course_name}.
For developers: extra placeholders can be added to the weekly email context with the dantian_course_cadence_placeholder_context filter. They’re filled in emails but aren’t listed on the Available Placeholders card.