Customising Templates

Customising Communication Templates

Every communication template in CrownSync Playbooks can be customised to match your organisation's tone, terminology, and specific requirements. Customisations are saved per organisation, so your edits persist across incidents and team members. The original default templates are always available if you need to revert.

Editing a Template

To edit a communication template:

1. Navigate to the Communications section from the main navigation, or open a template from within a playbook step
2. Select the template you want to customise
3. Click the Edit button to enter editing mode
4. Make your changes using the Markdown editor. You can modify text, reorder sections, add or remove bullet points, and adjust the language to suit your organisation's style
5. Click Save to save your customised version

The editor supports standard Markdown formatting including headings, bold and italic text, bulleted and numbered lists, and links. A preview pane shows how the template will appear when used.

Organisation Details Auto-Filled

Templates use placeholder tokens that are automatically replaced with your organisation's details when the template is viewed or exported. These tokens include:

• {{organisation_name}}— Your registered organisation name
• {{company_number}}— Companies House registration number
• {{registered_address}}— Your registered office address
• {{dpo_name}}— Data Protection Officer name
• {{dpo_email}}— DPO email address
• {{ico_registration}}— ICO registration number
• {{incident_ref}}— Current incident reference number (populated during active incidents)
• {{current_date}}— Today's date in UK format (DD/MM/YYYY)

These tokens remain as placeholders in the editor and are only resolved when the template is rendered for use. Do not replace them with hardcoded values, as this would prevent automatic updates when your organisation details change.

Saving Customisations

When you save a customised template, your version becomes the default for your entire organisation. All team members see the customised version when they access the template. The original default template is preserved separately and can be restored at any time.

Customisations are versioned. Each time you save changes, a new version is created, and the previous version is retained in the version history. You can view past versions and restore any previous customisation if needed.

Resetting to Default

If you want to discard your customisations and return to the original CrownSync template:

1. Open the template you want to reset
2. Click the Edit button
3. Click Reset to Default in the editor toolbar
4. Confirm the reset in the dialogue that appears

Resetting replaces your customised version with the original template. Your previous customisations remain in the version history and can be restored if you change your mind.

Legal Review Flag

CrownSync Playbooks includes a legal review flag for communication templates. When editing a template — particularly regulatory notifications, customer breach notifications, or press statements — you can mark it as requiring legal review before use.

When the legal review flag is set:

• The template displays a prominent banner indicating it has not been reviewed by legal counsel
• The template is still usable, but team members are reminded to seek legal approval before sending
• Once reviewed, an administrator can clear the flag to indicate the template has been approved

The legal review flag is an advisory feature. It does not prevent the template from being used, but it provides a visible reminder that helps organisations maintain proper governance over their incident communications.

Who Can Customise Templates

Template customisation is available to organisation members with the Owner or Admin role. Members with the standard Member role can view and use templates but cannot edit them. For more details on roles and permissions, see Roles & Permissions.