Using placeholders in Email Signatures

In this article, we’ll show you how to create dynamic and personalized email signatures in Spreadly using placeholders. Our editor supports the Liquid template engine, giving you access to a wide range of placeholders – from user details to dynamic values like date, groups, or your digital business cards. With just a few clicks, you can design professional and versatile email signatures!

What are placeholders?

Placeholders are variables that are automatically filled in with the correct information when an email is sent. For example, instead of typing your last name directly, you use {{ user.last_name }} – Spreadly will then automatically replace it for each user.

Supported placeholders & examples

Here’s an overview of the most important placeholders you can use. Just insert them with double curly braces like this: {{ ... }}

Current date & time

• {{ now }}

Information about the email itself

• {{ email.is_external }}: Whether any recipient is external
• {{ email.is_reply }}: Whether this email is a reply
• {{ email.is_forwarded }}: Whether the email is forwarding another message

Random values, perfect for A/B testing

• {{ random.boolean }}: Randomly returns true or false
• {{ random.number }}: Random floating-point number from 0 to 1

Groups the user is part of

• {{ groups[].name }}: Name of the group
• {{ groups[].external_id }}: External ID of the group
• {{ groups[].id }}: Spreadly group ID

Digital business cards

• {{ cards[].avatar_url }}: URL to the profile picture
• {{ cards[].name }}: Name of the card (usually your name)
• {{ cards[].qr_code_url }}: QR code URL for the digital card
• {{ cards[].url }}: Link to the digital business card
• {{ cards[].vcard_url }}: Download link for the vCard

User

• {{ user.avatar_offline_url }}: Profile photo URL that works offline
• {{ user.avatar_url }}: Profile photo URL (online, may be blocked by anti-trackers)
• All other user fields like {{ user.first_name }}, {{ user.last_name }}, {{ user.title }}, etc.

How to use placeholders in the editor

When working in the email signature editor, you can easily insert placeholders. Within two opening and two closing curly braces {{ }}, a list of available variables and suggestions pops up.

Check out the screenshot below – here, {{ user.last_name }} is being selected:

In the suggestion list, you’ll see all available placeholders, grouped by category (like cards, email, groups, now, random, user). Simply click on the desired placeholder and it will be inserted automatically.

Tips & hints

• You can combine multiple placeholders to make your signature even more personalized.
• The random values ({{ random }}) let you show different banners or quotes for A/B testing.
• Placeholders from arrays ({{ groups }}, {{ cards }}) can be used with loops to display, for example, all digital business cards of a user.

Updated on: 14/07/2025