This guide explains every option on the Report Writer Template screen, used to build search results and the mailing lists that power EDM campaigns.

Overview of the Report Writer Template screen

The Report Writer Template screen is where you tell RMS which guests or reservations you want to work with. The same screen builds the results for a general search and the mailing list for an Electronic Direct Mail (EDM) campaign. You reach it from Utilities > Report Writer, or from EDM > Send Campaign.

Each statement works like a short instruction to RMS. The Range Boundary, Options, Properties Against, From, Field and Criteria are the parts that make up that instruction. Together they answer one question: which records do you want to work with, or which guests do you want to contact?

Please Note! RMS is highly configurable. Some Terminology, User Access & Permissions, Images, Labels and Functions used in these articles may differ from your setup. CLICK HERE to find out more.

Template Selection

The Template Selection panel on the left lists the saved templates for your database. Selecting a saved template loads its Template Name and Statement List, ready to run or edit. Saved templates are reusable, so a search you use regularly only needs to be built once.

Template Name

Enter a name that identifies the search. When you select Save Template, the search is stored under this name and appears in the Template Selection panel for future use.

Range Boundary

The Range Boundary sets how each statement affects the results.

Please Note! When creating a new template, Include is the only Range Boundary option available. Once the first statement has been added to the Statement List, the Exclude and Only Include options become available.

Options

Important! Ignore Privacy Settings overrides a guest's stated communication preferences. Use it only for essential operational messages, and make sure the message complies with the marketing and privacy rules that apply to your property.

Properties Against

The Properties Against dropdown sets which profile the data is drawn from.

Option	What it does
Reservation	Draws the data from the reservation profile only.
Guest	Draws the data from the guest profile only.
Guest and Reservation	Draws the data from both the guest and reservation profiles.

Tip! On an enterprise database you can select one property, several, or all of them, so you can target marketing to specific properties.

Building a statement: From, Field and Criteria

A statement is built from left to right: choose a From category, then a Field within it, then the Criteria that field must meet.

From

The From column lists the categories you can search: Client Stats, Dwelling Management, Guest and Reservation. The category you choose determines which fields appear in the Field column. 

Field

The Field column lists the fields available for the category you selected. The list is drawn from Field Maintenance and reflects what your property records, so it varies from one property to another. Not every Field Maintenance field can be searched here, so to see your own options, look at the Field column on the Template screen.

The type of field you select determines which Criteria options are available:

Client Stats

Client Stats is the exception: it always offers the same fixed set of guest statistics, regardless of your setup.

Criteria

Once a field is selected, choose how RMS should match it. Up to five criteria options are available; which ones you can use depends on the field type (see the table above).

Criteria	What it does	Example
Inclusive Range	Matches values between a From and a To value, for example a date range such as 01 September 2026 to 30 September 2026, or a text range from A to Z.
Equal To	Matches a single, specific value. For some fields this is a list of the values already created, for example the available Booking Sources or Categories.
Greater Than or Equal To	Matches the entered value and everything above it, for example a date onwards, or a number of visits of 2 or more. Date fields also accept the value Today.
Less Than or Equal To	Matches the entered value and everything below it, for example a date and everything before it.
Wildcard	Matches text against a pattern using an asterisk (*). See Using the Wildcard below.
No Options Available for Selection	No criteria apply to the field you selected, meaning every option is greyed out and you cannot add a statement on it. This happens with fields that hold no searchable value, such as a link field like Guest_Portal_Checkout.

Using the Wildcard

Type the value with an asterisk (*) as a placeholder for any characters. You must include the asterisk; a value typed without one matches nothing.

The Statement List

When you have set the Range Boundary, From, Field and Criteria, select Add This Statement to add the line to the Statement List. Add as many statements as you need to refine the results. Each statement reads as a plain sentence.

Example templates

Unless stated otherwise, these examples assume Range Boundary = Include, Options = Remove Duplicate Guests and Ignore Cancelled Reservations, and Properties Against = Reservation with your property selected. Each example then sets the From, Field and Criteria shown.

Example 1: Everyone who has an email address

• Template Name: All Emails
• Range Boundary: Include
• Options: Remove Duplicate Guests, Ignore Cancelled Reservations
• Properties Against: Reservation (tick your property)
• From: Guest
• Field: Email
• Criteria: Wildcard, *@*

Resulting statement: Include Email from Guest where Email is *@*

Example 2: Repeat guests who stayed in a specific category

Example 2 uses two statements. Common settings: Template Name = Repeat Guests; Options = Remove Duplicate Guests, Ignore Cancelled Reservations; Properties Against = Reservation (tick your property).

Statement 1 - Range Boundary: Include; From: Client Stats; Field: No_Of_Visits; Criteria: Greater Than or Equal To, 2.

Statement 2 - Range Boundary: Only Include; From: Reservation; Field: Category; Criteria: Equal To, Acacia Cabin (select your category).

Resulting Statement List:

• Include No_Of_Visits from ClientStats where No_Of_Visits is greater than or equal to 2
• Only Include Category from Res where Category is equal to Acacia Cabin

More quick patterns

These quick patterns inherit the defaults set out above (Range Boundary = Include, Options = Remove Duplicate Guests and Ignore Cancelled Reservations, Properties Against = Reservation with your property selected).

Tip! To leave Online Travel Agent (OTA) emails out of a mailing list (for example Booking.com or Expedia), add an Exclude statement on the Email field with a Wildcard such as *@guest.booking.com* or *@m.expediapartnercentral.com*. Build your Include statement first and add it, then add the Exclude statement. To target a single source instead, use Only Include on Booking Source, or Exclude on Travel Agent Name.

Two buttons manage the Statement List:

• Remove This Statement removes a selected statement.
• Clear Statements removes every statement, whether selected or not.

Important! When you remove a statement, every statement below it is removed as well. If you have several statements and remove the second one, the third and fourth are also removed and will need to be added again.

Viewing matches

Select Show Matches to run the statements and list the results on the Matches tab, under the template name. The grid shows Group Name, Guest No, Full Name, Email, Address, PhoneBH, PhoneAH and Mobile.

Most matches are ticked to be included. Untick any guest you want to leave out. A row highlighted in yellow means RMS has detected that the email address could be a typo, for example guestname@gmail.com.au. The address may still be valid, such as a work address ending in .gov.au. To correct an obvious typo, select the Guest No to open the guest profile and update the email address.

This screen is the same whether you open it from Utilities > Report Writer for a general search or from EDM > Send Campaign for a mailing list. From the Matches tab you can act on the results directly - Tag, Labels, Form Letter, SMS, Send Campaign or Export. See Action buttons below for what each does.

Action buttons

The buttons available depend on which tab you are on.

Template tab

Several buttons stay greyed out until the template has at least one statement or matches have been shown.

Matches tab

After you select Show Matches, the Matches tab presents its own set of buttons. Some appear only when you have opened the screen from Utilities > Report Writer; others also appear when you open it from EDM > Send Campaign.

Related articles

Report Writer

• Use Report Writer to build and export reports
• Build an advanced search in Report Writer
• Create a Report Writer search template
• Export data from Report Writer
• Schedule a Report Writer export
• Print mailing labels from Report Writer

EDM and communication preferences

• Create a Campaign Mailing List
• Create an EDM Campaign
• EDM campaign reports
• Communication Preferences
• Default Guest Marketing to Opt Out
• Configure field maintenance