Nodes
When addressing the lead, we want to use their name to make it personalized. But how do we know what to call them in the email? That is where node and user fields come into play.
A node is a record containing information within FCOS. A node can represent a lead or customer and all pertinent information will be contained within that node or record. You can think of a node as the person who submitted the lead form on your franchise webpage.
Info
The Lead Form (above left) is directly from the FranchiCzar company page. The information entered here flows into our Franchisor node for leads. The Lead Form (above right) is for Franchisors within FCOS and flows into the Franchisee node.
FranchiCzar OS takes the data entered for “First Name”, “Last Name”, etc. on the form and lets you use this data within templates.
To better understand how and where information flows within FCOS, let's break down the node hierarchy.
FranchiCzar OS, Node Hierarchy
Within FCOS the information entered into a lead form and individual "General Information" pages, correspond to specific nodes. Here is a breakdown of the node hierarchy:
FCOS Node Fields
Here is a breakdown of how the lead form integrates with FranchiCzar OS:
| Leads (form fields) | FranchiCzar OS Fields | Syntax |
| First name | Node' First name | {{ node.first_name }} |
| Last name | Node' Last name | {{ node.last_name }} |
| Full name | Node' Full name | {{ node.full_name }} |
| Company name | Node' Company name |
{{ node.company_name }} |
| Node' Email address | {{ node.primary_email }} | |
| City | Node' City |
{{ node.city }} |
| State | Node' State |
{{ node.state }} |
Crucial lead info (first name, last name, full name, phone number, and email) is available for templates since FCOS stores this information immediately for each new node.
Some More on the ‘Company Name’ Field
"Company name" is used primarily for the Franchisee node (module) to populate the LLC or company information. If no "Company name" is provided this field is populated with the required* fields of "First name" and "Last name" provided.
Fields by 'Node Type'
When creating a template the "Node Type" chosen affects what node's fields you have available. Take note that the second row of fields is the parent to the "Node Type"
Continual Enhancements
Continual enhancements are made to improve what fields FCOS captures for your immediate use. Currently, these are the only fields that FCOS captures from the lead form (including the "Interests" custom fields). City and State are editable on the lead page (but empty for new leads).
Franchisee Node
Facility Node
Customer Node
Users
Now that we know what nodes are, let’s move on to users. A user is the account registered in FCOS when creating the template or workflow. For example, in our email signature, we use:
{{ user.full_name }}
{{ user.company.company_name }}
{{ user.phone1 }}
The first line, {{ user.full_name }}, will be substituted with the email sender’s first and last name. {{ user.company.company_name }} will populate the sender’s company. For franchisees, this will be the LLC or company’s business entity name. For non-franchisees (directors, employees), this will be the facility name Pearland, TX. {{ user.phone1 }} is the sender’s phone number.
Using FCOS Node & User Fields
To keep email template signatures consistent, the workflow you use will have you define who the user is for that template.
Continue Your Knowledge
This is covered in more detail in the Creating Workflows (General) and Creating a 'New Lead' Workflow articles.
User Fields in Templates
Now, let’s look at how the "user" field(s) appear within a template.
Once you feel satisfied with a template, click Preview to see how the email will look in someone’s inbox. If all looks good, click Save to start using the template.
Congrats! Your new email template can now be found in the “Email templates” list.
