Read time:ย 3 minutes
Hey there! Hereโs the honest truthโฆ
Our guide on custom BP notification setup was SO jam-packed with knowledge, we had to make some cuts for digestibilityโs sake ๐
You being here means youโre a dedicated learner, on a noble quest for knowledge ๐ช
How AWESOME. Weโre celebrating you! And we hope you take a sec to acknowledge yourself too ๐ ๐ค
Now, hereโs that deep-dive info you came here forโฆ
How to enable templates for your custom BP notifications
When you create a custom notification, the first input youโll see is Override Email Template.

Every custom BP notification can be associated with just 1 template.
When you click into this dropdown, the options you see come from these 2 places:
1๏ธโฃ Legacy Email Templates enabled for the usage of โBusiness Process Emailโ.
AND
2๏ธโฃ Notification Templates enabled for โCustom Business Process Notificationsโ.
If no options are available to select, neither 1 nor 2 above are enabled. Hereโs how to change thatโฆ
Enabling Email Templates for your custom notification
Hereโs how to make a legacy Email Template available to select within the โOverride Email Templateโ input on your custom BP notificationโฆ
Navigate to the task, โMaintain Email Templatesโ. Within the โBusiness Process Emailโ section, ensure your desired template is set to Activeโฆ

Your Email Template will then appear as an option in the dropdownโฆ

If you leave Override Email Template blank, Workday automatically applies the Email Template thatโs set to both Active and Default to your custom notificationโฆ

Note that when you set an Email Template to both Active and Default, youโll no longer see it as an option within Override Email Template. This is because itโs automatically applied to the notification, unless you select a different template in the input.
If no Email Template is set to Default, and you leave Override Email Template blank, no template is applied to your notification.
Recall that legacy Email Templates can be applied to both System and Custom BP Notifications*. Meanwhile, fancier Notification Templates created with Workdayโs Notification Designer can only be applied to Custom BP Notifications.
*This is a correction to our newsletter sent out on November 13, 2024. We incorrectly stated that Email Templates can only be applied to System BP Notifications. Actually, they can be applied to Custom BP Notificationsโbut itโs unlikely youโd want to since Notification Designer offers more robust design capabilities โบ๏ธ
Enabling Notification Templates for your custom notification
There are 2 steps to make a Notification Template (created with Workdayโs Notification Designer) available to select on your custom BP notificationโฆ
Make sure your template is assigned a Notification Category of Custom Business Process Notifications. You can apply this setting by navigating to the Notification Template within your Drive.

Navigate to the task, โMaintain Notification Templatesโ. Within the โBusiness Processesโ section, ensure your desired template is set to Custom Business Process Notifications in the โActive for Notification Typesโ input.

Once these 2 setup steps are complete, your Notification Template will appear as a selectable option within your custom BP notificationโฆ

There you have itโextra info, complete! โ
๐ Psssttโฆ if want to upgrade your template setup knowledge, check out these other Well Built guides (~13 minutes of reading, total):
Your step-by-step setup guide to Email Templates (5 minutes)
As always, thank you for being a reader!
Weโre celebrating you and your pursuit of a Well Built Workday ๐ฅณ
Until next time!
Ceci & Mia
Co-Founders of Well Built Solutions

Say hi ๐ on LinkedIn โ @ceciblomberg, @miaeisenhandler
P.S. When youโre ready, hereโs how we can help youโฆ
Learn Workday calculated fields: Master calculated fields in Workday once and for all with our free 34-part โ ๏ธ Calculated Fields Demystified ๐ค๏ธ LinkedIn series.
Accomplish your phaseX projects: Crush your organizationโs Workday roadmap, get your projects done well, and have fun while you do it!
Get guides and training: Custom Workday documentation and training videos that upskill and empower your team and workforce. Book a call to learn more.
