---
title: "Add placeholders to notifications"
slug: "add-placeholders-to-notifications"
tags: ["Totara Learn", "Site Administrator", "How-to"]
updated: 2025-07-22T10:52:18Z
published: 2025-07-22T11:18:21Z
canonical: "totara.help/add-placeholders-to-notifications"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add placeholders to notifications

To add [placeholders](/19/docs/notification-placeholders) to your [notifications](/19/docs/create-a-new-notification) follow these steps:

1. Enter your content in the **Subject** and **Body** fields when creating or editing a notification.
2. When you need to add a placeholder press the **[** key.
3. Select the placeholder you want to use from the dropdown list, or start typing to narrow down the options.

When entering placeholders, the ':' (colon) symbol is used to indicate nesting. For example, 'program:full_name_link'.

Note that the 'group' part of the placeholder key can be changed to suit the situation. For example, we can have '[manager:full_name]' and '[subject:full_name]' both using the 'user' placeholder group.

![Adding placeholders to a notification.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1638893472873.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-06T07%3A05%3A41Z&se=2026-11-06T08%3A05%3A41Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=I9jbbmFbjubSPkqSlCe9UdLoIk0WtA6BtP2%2BnDZkA6U%3D)

![Course badge](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/course-badge_notifications.svg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-06T07%3A05%3A41Z&se=2026-11-06T08%3A05%3A41Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=I9jbbmFbjubSPkqSlCe9UdLoIk0WtA6BtP2%2BnDZkA6U%3D)The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to [Notifications](https://totara.community/course/view.php?id=706) in Totara. Here you can learn more about how to set up and use centralised notifications, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.

Join the [Totara Community](https://totara.community/) for more resources to help you get the most out of Totara.

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