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Setting Up and Sending Client Portal Notifications

Client Portal notifications help you stay on top of important activity happening on your client portal.

Whether a new client registers, someone books or cancels an appointment, or a waitlist request is submitted, Zanda can automatically notify the right people—keeping your team organised and your clients well-informed.

In This Article

What Are Client Portal Notifications?

Client Portal notifications are automatic messages sent by Zanda when key actions occur on your client portal. These messages can be delivered via email or SMS (depending on your setup) to clients, practitioners, and additional staff. Once configured, you don’t need to manually monitor the portal—Zanda sends updates for you.

When Notifications Are Sent

Notifications are triggered by four types of portal activity:

1. New Client Registration - Sent when someone registers a new profile through your client portal.

2. New Appointment Booking - Sent when a client books an appointment online.

3. Appointment Cancellation - Sent when a client cancels an appointment through the portal.

4. Waitlist Request - Sent when a client adds themselves or another client to your waitlist (only available if you’ve enabled the Waitlist feature).

Who Receives Notifications?

For each event, you can enable notifications for three groups:

Practitioner

  • New Client Registration: The client’s primary practitioner

  • New Appointment: The practitioner assigned to the appointment

  • Appointment Cancellation: The practitioner assigned to the appointment

  • Waitlist Request: The client’s primary practitioner

The Client - The client receives a confirmation message for the actions they performed.

Additional Email Addresses - Add other team members—such as reception or admin—by entering one or more email addresses.

How to Set Up Client Portal Notifications

Before you begin, make sure:

  1. Your client portal is enabled (at least one portal feature must be active)

  2. You’ve created message templates for the notifications you want to send in Tools > Communication > Templates

Step 1: Go to Notification Settings

  1. Navigate to Settings > Schedule > Client Portal

  2. Select Notifications from the left-hand sidebar

Step 2: Check Client Portal Status

At the top of the page, you’ll see a status banner:

  • Green: Client Portal is enabled and ready

  • Yellow: Client Portal is disabled — enable it in Access and Settings



Step 3: Configure Each Notification Type

Each event (Client Registration, Appointment Booking, Appointment Cancellation, Waitlist Request Submitted) includes three rows you can customize:

Row 1: Practitioner Notification

  • Toggle ON to notify the practitioner

  • Select a template from the dropdown

  • Click Edit Template if you need to adjust the message

Row 2: Client Notification

  • Toggle ON to send a confirmation to the client

  • Select a template from the dropdown

  • Click Edit Template to update the content

Row 3: Additional Email Addresses

  • Toggle ON to notify other staff

  • Add email addresses (comma-separated, no spaces)

  • Select an email template

  • Use Edit Template if you need to customize the message



Step 4: Save Your Changes

Click SAVE CHANGES at the bottom of the page to apply your settings.

Managing Message Templates

Go to Tools > Communication > Templates to create, edit, clone, print, or deactivate templates.

Creating a New Template

  1. Click + New Template

  2. Fill in:

    • Template Name

    • Type (Email, SMS, or Letter)

    • Description (optional)

    • Content with appropriate merge fields

  3. For Email templates, also complete:

    • Email From Name

    • Email From Address

    • Email Subject

  4. Click Save

Editing Templates

You can edit a template:

  • Via Tools > Communication > Templates, or

  • Directly from the Notifications page using Edit Template next to the dropdown

Using Merge Fields

Merge fields personalize your messages with client or appointment details. Some of the available merge fields you can use for client portal notifications:

Client Information

  •  {ClientFirstName} , {ClientLastName} ,  

  • {ClientMobilePhone} , {ClientEmailAddress}

Appointment Information

  • {AppointmentDate} , {AppointmentStartTime} , {AppointmentServiceName}

  • {AppointmentLocationName} , {AppointmentLocationAddress}

  • {AppointmentAddToCalendar}

Practitioner Information

  • {AppointmentPractitionerFullName} , {AppointmentPractitionerShortName} , {ClientPreferredPractitionerFullName} , {ClientPreferredPractitionerShortName}

Template Requirements

New Client Registration & Waitlist:

  • Use templates that contain only client-specific merge fields to ensure messages are relevant and personal.
  • Notifications can be sent via email or SMS, depending on your preferred delivery method.

Appointment Bookings & Cancellations:

  • Templates for these notifications must include appointment-related merge fields—such as {AppointmentDate}, {AppointmentServiceName}, or {AppointmentLocationName}—to provide clear details to recipients about the booking or cancellation.
  • Both email and SMS are supported for delivery.

Additional Email Addresses:

  • When sending notifications to extra team members (for example, reception or admin staff), use email templates exclusively. SMS notifications are not available for additional recipients.

Testing Your Setup

After you configure notifications:

  1. Create a test client profile and access the client portal as this user to simulate client experience.
  2. Trigger each type of notification event through the portal—register as a new client, book or cancel an appointment, and submit a waitlist request (if enabled).
  3. Verify that all intended recipients—including clients, practitioners, and any additional staff—receive the correct messages according to your configuration.
  4. Review each notification to ensure merge fields populate accurately with client, practitioner, and appointment details.
  5. Test delivery for both email and SMS channels if you have enabled both, confirming messages appear as expected and are received promptly.
  6. Review the content layout and formatting for clarity and professionalism across all notifications.
  7. Make any necessary adjustments to templates or notification settings before going live.

By thoroughly testing, you ensure a smooth, reliable experience for your team and your clients—reducing missed communications and increasing confidence in your client portal setup.

SMS Tips

  • SMS has character limits (160 characters) per one message and incur additional fees - see full details here. 

  • Clients must consent to receive SMS

  • A dedicated Toll-Free Number (TFN) is required to send/receive SMS messages in the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Barbados. For more details, please click here. 

Troubleshooting:

Notifications Aren’t Sending

If notifications aren’t being delivered as expected, review the following points to quickly identify and resolve common issues:

  • Ensure the client portal is enabled. Notifications require at least one active portal feature.
  • Confirm the toggle switch is ON for each recipient type you intend to notify (practitioner, client, additional email addresses). Each row needs to be explicitly enabled.
  • Double-check that you have selected a message template for every active notification type and recipient group.
  • Verify all email addresses are entered correctly, using proper formatting (comma-separated, no spaces), and that they are valid to avoid delivery issues.
  • If you’re sending SMS notifications, make sure your SMS service is active and properly configured in your Zanda account settings.
  • Also, check that clients have consented to receive SMS and that your sending configuration (such as a Toll-Free Number, where required) meets local requirements.

Working through these steps helps ensure notifications reach your clients, practitioners, and team members as intended, contributing to a seamless communication workflow.

Message Content Is Incorrect

If messages are sending but the content is incorrect, follow these steps to identify and resolve the issue:

  • Navigate to Settings > Schedule > Client Portal > Notifications
  • Locate the type of notifications where the message content is incorrect
  • Click Edit Template.
  • Update the content or adjust the merge fields as needed, ensuring that the template includes all required fields for the specific notification type.
  • Save your changes.
  • Test again by triggering the event in the client portal using your test client profile.

This process helps ensure that your notification templates meet Zanda’s requirements and display the intended information correctly to recipients.

Additional Emails Aren’t Receiving Messages

Verify that:

  • Email addresses are comma-separated (no spaces)

  • The toggle for Additional Emails is ON

  • An email template is selected

  • Email addresses are valid and not bouncing

Template Not Showing in Dropdown

  • The template is inactive. To appear in the dropdown, message templates must be active. Check the status of your template by navigating to Tools > Communication > Templates, and ensure it is enabled for use. If a template is inactive, click to activate it, then return to your notification settings and try again.

Related Features

Quick Reference

Navigation

  • Notifications: Settings > Schedule > Client Portal > Notifications

  • Templates: Tools > Communication > Templates

Key Things to Remember

  • The Client Portal must be enabled in your Zanda account for notifications to function. Always confirm that at least one portal feature is active before configuring notification settings.
  • For each client portal event (New Client Registration, Appointment Booking, Appointment Cancellation, and Waitlist Request), there are three types of recipients you can configure: the practitioner, the client, and additional email addresses. This ensures the right people are always informed.
  • Additional recipients—such as administration or reception—can only be notified by email. SMS delivery is available for clients and practitioners where enabled, but not for additional email addresses.
  • After adjusting your notification or template settings, thoroughly test your configuration. Create test events in the portal and verify each recipient receives accurate and timely messages according to your setup.
  • Always click SAVE CHANGES at the bottom of the notifications settings page to ensure that all updates are applied. Unsaved changes will not take effect and may result in missed communications.

✋ Need Help?

If you need further assistance:

  1. Review this guide, especially the troubleshooting section

  2. Test using a simple configuration

  3. Contact Zanda Support at support@zandahealth.com Live Chat or via Help menu in your Zanda account—we’re always here to help