Managing WhatsApp templates

WhatsApp message templates are the only way to send a message outside the 24-hour customer-service window — and they're required for first contact with any new recipient. Templates are registered with Meta and approved by Meta's review team before they can be sent.

Open Management → Communication and choose the Templates tab to manage them. The page lists every template Timed knows about, with its name, language, status, and a preview of the text.

If you use Timed's WhatsApp number

If your company sends from Timed's shared number (see Setting up the WhatsApp integration), Timed's shared templates appear automatically and are kept up to date every 30 minutes — the page shows when they were last synced. These templates are managed by Timed, so you can view them but not edit, submit, or delete them, and there's no Sync from Meta or Add Template button.

The rest of this article applies when you use your own WhatsApp Business number.

Where templates come from

There are two routes, and they often work together:

1. Sync from Meta. Click Sync from Meta at the top. Timed pulls in every template registered to your WhatsApp Business Account, including the body text, header text, language, and status. Use this whenever you've created or changed a template in Meta WhatsApp Manager.
2. Add in Timed. Click Add Template to create a template in Timed, then click Submit on it to send it to Meta for review. Until Meta approves it, it can't be used for sending.

You can also click Add Timed starters to add a starter set of templates to your list, ready to adjust and submit.

Anatomy of a template

Field	What it means
Display Name	Label shown in dropdowns in Timed only. Doesn't have to match Meta.
Facebook Template Name	The exact name registered with Meta. Lowercase with underscores, e.g. shift_reminder_v2. Required for sending.
Language	Meta's language code, e.g. en_US, en_GB, af, zu. Defaults to en_US. Must match exactly what's registered with Meta — en will fail if the template is registered under en_US.
Header Text	Optional first line, shown in bold in WhatsApp. Can contain placeholders.
Body Text	The main message. Can contain placeholders.

Placeholders

Both Meta and Timed support two placeholder styles:

Style	Example	Notes
Positional	Hi {{1}}, your shift is at {{2}}	Filled in numeric order — {{1}} gets the first value, and so on.
Named	Hi {{first_name}}, your shift is at {{shift_time}}	Filled by name, in the order they first appear.

When you edit a template, the Detected variables section lists its placeholders. You can bind each one to a recipient or company field so it fills in automatically for each recipient, or leave it as Manual so whoever sends the broadcast types the value.

Don't mix the two styles in one template. Meta rejects mixed templates; if one with both styles somehow gets through, Timed treats all of its placeholders as named.

Letting an unfilled placeholder go out as the literal text {{1}} will trigger Meta error 132000 — see Sending WhatsApp broadcasts for the fix.

Status

Templates carry one of these statuses from Meta:

Status	What it means
Approved	Cleared by Meta — safe to send.
Pending	Submitted but not yet reviewed. Can't be sent yet.
Rejected	Meta rejected it; you'll need to edit and resubmit it.
Paused	Meta has temporarily paused the template (usually after a drop in quality). Sends will fail.

The broadcast form lists pending and rejected templates but won't let you select them, so you don't waste a send.

Editing a template

Editing an approved template in Timed only changes Timed's copy — it does not change the template registered with Meta. To change an approved template:

1. Edit it in Meta WhatsApp Manager.
2. Wait for Meta to re-approve it (typically a few minutes to a few hours).
3. Click Sync from Meta in Timed to pull in the new text.

Editing in Timed is useful for:

• Renaming the display name.
• Binding placeholders to recipient fields.
• Fixing a pending or rejected template before you click Submit again.

Deleting a template

Deleting a template in Timed removes it from Timed only — the template in Meta is untouched. If you want it gone completely, delete it in Meta WhatsApp Manager as well.

Tips for designing a template

• Keep variables to a minimum — Meta scrutinises templates with many placeholders more strictly.
• Don't use placeholders for content that could fail review (e.g. money amounts, phone numbers, or links to websites other than your own).
• Create a new version (shift_reminder_v3) rather than editing an approved one — new templates are often approved faster than changes.
• Write times as plain text (14:00) rather than relative (in 2 hours) — Meta sometimes flags the latter as marketing.

If Meta rejects a template and you don't know why, the rejection reason is shown on the template's page in Meta WhatsApp Manager. Common reasons: no greeting, reads like marketing without being in the marketing category, or includes a personal opinion ("we hope you enjoy…").

If something doesn't work after following this guide, contact Timed support.