How to use the template preview
- Pick the category. It does not change the preview, but it turns on the right tips, such as warning when a utility template sounds promotional.
- Choose a header: text, or an image, video or document placeholder.
- Write the body. Add variables with Add variable or type {{1}}, {{2}} yourself, then give each one a realistic sample value.
- Add an optional footer and up to three buttons, then read the checks under the phone.
The defaults show a delivery update for Rangoli Home: "Hi {{1}}, your order of {{2}} has been shipped with {{3}}…" with a Track order website button and a Talk to us quick reply.
What the checker treats as an error
These come from Meta's template documentation and will stop a template from being accepted:
- Length limits: header text 60 characters with at most one variable, body 1,024 characters (32,768 if the body is the only component), footer 60, button labels 25.
- Button limits: at most 2 website buttons and 1 phone button, and quick replies grouped apart from website and phone buttons.
- Variable numbering: {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}} in sequence with no gaps.
- Variables at the edges: the body cannot start or end with a variable. "{{1}}, your order is ready" fails; "Hi {{1}}, your order is ready." passes.
What it shows as a tip
Tips are good practice or common rejection causes rather than hard limits:
- Two variables side by side ("{{1}} {{2}}"). Meta's documentation is unclear on this, so put words between them to be safe.
- Many variables for very little fixed text. Meta can reject templates where the variables outweigh the wording.
- Missing or unrealistic samples. Reviewers see your sample values, so "Priya" and "15 Oct" work better than "test".
- Promotional words in a utility template, which can lead to recategorisation as marketing.
- Requests for sensitive data such as full card numbers or ID numbers, a common reason for rejection.
Before you submit
Template review can take up to 24 hours, and Meta reviews content and category as well as format. The usual rejection reasons are badly formatted variables, asking for sensitive data, threatening or abusive wording, Commerce Policy violations, duplicates of an existing template and the wrong category; the rejection reasons guide covers how to fix each one. Formatting such as *bold* works in the body; the text formatter helps you write it.
When the template is ready, create it in your WhatsApp platform. In Broadchat that is CRM → WhatsApp Templates, where templates sync with Meta and their status updates automatically; the step-by-step help article walks through it. Approved templates can then go out as broadcast campaigns or from the inbox. For more ideas, the templates guide and the template library have tested examples by use case.