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My trigger isn't sending to the people it should
My trigger isn't sending to the people it should
Monique Clark avatar
Written by Monique Clark
Updated over a month ago

90% of cases of things not sending correctly are due to filtering issues. The remainder are due to how the appointment was booked.

If you've created a Transactional email trigger but you're experiencing:

then here's how to troubleshoot your configuration.

Peptalkr's trigger configuration settings make triggers powerful - but it's important to select your filters carefully.

It's sending to some people it should, but not everyone


If your trigger is sending, but not as much as you were expecting it to send - then you may be over-filtering. The below table has the top reasons that stop triggers from sending to everyone you intended them to:

Check if you have...

The solution

applied the 'Sex' filter

Do not apply a sex filter in most cases, especially if you've selected both Male and Female.

This is because many of your Cliniko patients may not have a value set for Sex, meaning they won't receive this trigger as you've got the filters set to only target people who have it set.

Remove the sex filter to target all patients, irrespective of their 'Sex'.

applied a 'Business' filter

Only apply a business filter if you need to narrow down the business(es) this trigger targets. If you have one location, remove this filter.

If you have changed locations - check that you are targeting the correct locations.

Selected all of the relevant appointment types

We often see Cliniko accounts with multiple appointment types that have the exact same name - e.g. Initial Appointment - where one of them hasn't been selected in the filter settings.

Make sure you have selected all of your appointment types correctly.

Added new appointments types, or changed existing appointment types in Cliniko

If you've added new appointment types to Cliniko, but haven't updated your Triggers to target them as well - you could have cases where certain appointment types aren't receiving email.

This is relevant when you are applying appointment type filters.

Selected all of the relevant appointment categories

If your trigger is targeting certain appointment categories - double check them. If you've added more categories, changed category names etc. - you may need to make an update here.

Do not apply the category filter if you are wanting to select 'all' categories. Just leave it unselected and all categories are included by default.

Made changes to your appointment category names in Cliniko

If you've been tidying up your naming conventions in Cliniko, or re-categorising appointment types - this can affect your triggers if you are using appointment category triggers.

Double check your triggers are targeting the correct appointment categories.

Was the appointmented booked manually? Another reason is that the appointment in question was not made by the patient online. If an appointment is manually created by staff in your Cliniko account, if a valid email address is not added to the patient file at the time of scheduling, then confirmation emails will not send to them.

It's not sending at all


If you've turned a trigger on and it's not sending anything - it's most often due to a filtering issue or a sending domain issue.

Check if you have...

The solution

Select a sending domain that is verified

In your transactional email template settings, which email address is the sender? You need to select a verified domain from the dropdown.

Sometimes your verified domain can become unverified if you have changed DNS hosts, moved your website hosting or recently set up a CDN. We'll email you if there is a problem with your domain - so check to see if we've sent you something. Feel free to check with us if you're not sure.

Applied filters

If you're using filters in your trigger - refer to the table above this one - the most common issue is that you have applied a 'Sex' filter - so read up for how to fix that one.

It's sending to the wrong people


If your trigger is sending to people it shouldn't be, the issue is most likely that you have not applied enough filters.

Check if you have...

The solution

Applied filters

Filters are recommended for most triggers - this is how you select exactly who should receive it. If too many people are receiving a triggered message - check that you have added filters to narrow down your audience.

The most common filters you'll need to apply are usually one or a combination of the following:

  1. Appointment category

  2. Appointment type

  3. Appointment count

Configured your filters correctly

If you are applying multiple filters, check this article to ensure you are layering your filters correctly.

This is particularly relevant to invoice based triggers. If you're targeting both products and billable items (services) in one trigger - then the trigger is looking for both those items on one invoice.

You generally should create separate triggers for your products and your billable items (services).

Still having issues?

Use the chat bubble to get in touch. So we can help you efficiently, please have prepared:

  1. The name of the trigger having the issue

  2. An example of a patient/appointment who should have received the trigger but didn't (or who received it when they shouldn't have)

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