Skip to content
English
Go to opus1.io
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

How do I hide parts of an email with display conditions?

Show different parts of one campaign email to parents and students, or only to students with a certain tag, such as piano. In the Opus1.io email template builder, select a row or block, click Add Display Condition, and pick a rule. When the campaign sends, rows that don't match are left out of that person's copy. The builder preview still shows every row, so test with a real student.

Applies to: Owner, Manager
PLUS Feature: Yes
Plan: Opus1 PLUS (Campaigns)
Last updated: October 28, 2026

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. What a display condition controls
  3. Add a display condition
  4. Set up client tag categories first
  5. The rules you can choose
  6. How rules combine
  7. Worked example: one email, three readers
  8. Test before you send
  9. Troubleshooting display conditions
  10. FAQ
  11. Related Articles

Overview

Most campaign emails reach two kinds of readers about the same student: the student, and the parent who manages the account. Without display conditions you have two choices, and neither is good. You write one generic email that talks past both of them, or you build two campaigns with two audiences and keep them in step every time something changes.

Display conditions let one Opus1.io email template carry every version. You write the student greeting and the parent greeting side by side, add a practice tip that only piano students see, and Opus1.io builds each person's copy when the campaign sends.

Why: One template to maintain, and every family reads the version written for them.

Display conditions are part of the email template builder used by Campaigns in Opus1 PLUS.

What a display condition controls

A display condition is a rule on a row in the email (a full-width horizontal section), or on a single block inside a row, such as a paragraph, an image, or a button.

When the campaign sends, Opus1.io checks the rule once for each person receiving a copy:

  • If the rule matches, the row or block is included.
  • If the rule does not match, that row or block is left out. The rest of the email still sends.

Two people matter in every copy, and they are often not the same person:

  • The client is the person the campaign is about, usually the student.
  • The recipient is the person reading a particular copy.

Opus1.io sends a campaign email to the client and to each account manager on the client's profile, such as a parent or guardian. Each of them gets their own copy, and each copy is checked on its own. That is what lets a parent's copy say something different from the student's.

Rules based on client tags always look at the client. A parent reading an email about their child is matched using the child's tags, not their own.

Add a display condition

  1. Go to Settings > Templates and create or edit an email template. You can also open the template from the campaign that will send it.
  2. Click the row you want to show or hide. To limit a single paragraph, image, or button instead, click that block.
  3. In the panel on the right, click Add Display Condition.
  4. Choose a Type (a group of rules), then a Label (the specific rule). A short description underneath tells you when the row will be included.
  5. Confirm the window, then save the template.

If a row already has a condition, the same control opens the current rule so you can change or clear it.

⚠️ Warning: The Before and After fields fill in automatically when you pick a rule. Leave them exactly as they are. They are the instructions Opus1.io follows when it sends the email, and editing them can stop the template from saving or make the row disappear for everyone.

Set up client tag categories first

Recipient rules are always available. Tag rules only appear after you group your client tags into categories, because Opus1.io builds its list of tag rules from those categories.

  1. Go to Settings > Business > General.
  2. In the CRM section, find Client tag categories.
  3. Add a category name, such as Instrument or Level.
  4. Add the tags that belong in that category, such as piano, guitar, and drums. 

Opus1.io saves tags in a plain form: lowercase, with spaces turned into underscores, so "Beginner Piano" becomes beginner_piano. The tag on the client's profile and the tag in the category must match in that form. A tag that sits on profiles but is not listed in any category will not appear as a choice in the template builder.

After you add or rename a category, reopen the template so the new choices show up under Add Display Condition.

Why: Categories turn a loose pile of tags into a short menu of choices, and they give you a not tagged rule for catching students you haven't sorted yet.

The rules you can choose

Recipient type

These two rules decide whether a copy is the student's or a parent's. Opus1.io tells them apart by comparing the recipient's first and last name with the client's first and last name, so the two rules never both match the same copy.

Rule Included when Use it for
Client is recipient The recipient's first and last name both match the client's. This is the student's own copy. Talking to the student directly: what to bring, what to practice.
Recipient is the account manager of the client The recipient's first or last name differs from the client's. This is a parent's or guardian's copy. Talking to the parent about their child: billing, schedules, pickup.

A typical pair uses merge tags, the placeholders that Opus1.io fills in with each person's details when the email sends:

  • Student row: "Hi , here's what to bring to your lesson."
  • Parent row: "Hi , here's what should bring to their lesson."

is the student. is whoever is reading that copy.

ℹ️ Note: Because the check uses names, a parent with exactly the same first and last name as their child is treated as the client. Both of their copies follow Client is recipient, and the parent row is left out of both.

Client tags

Each category becomes its own type, named Client tagged with followed by the category name. A category called Instrument with the tags piano, guitar, and drums offers these rules:

Rule Included when Use it for
Instrument - has any tag The client has at least one tag from the Instrument category. One section for every student who plays something.
Instrument - piano (and one for each other tag) The client has that exact tag. Other tags on the client don't matter. A section only for piano students.
Instrument - not tagged The client has none of the tags in the Instrument category. Tags from other categories, such as Level, don't count. Asking students you haven't sorted yet to tell you their instrument.

Has any tag and not tagged in the same category never both match. Two specific tag rules can both match: a student tagged piano and guitar receives both the piano row and the guitar row.

How rules combine

Each row or block holds one rule. To combine rules in an Opus1.io template, use the structure of the email:

  • A condition on a row covers everything inside it: text, images, and buttons.
  • A condition on a block inside a row is a second check. The row's rule and the block's rule must both match, or that block is left out. For example, put Recipient is the account manager of the client on a row and Instrument - piano on a paragraph inside it to reach only parents of piano students.
  • Rows that sit one after another are checked separately. One can be included while the next is left out.

To show different content for each tag in a category, duplicate the row and give each copy a different tag rule. A student with two of those tags receives both rows.

Worked example: one email, three readers

Category Instrument has the tags piano and guitar. The template has four rows:

  1. Client is recipient. "Your lesson playlist is ready."
  2. Recipient is the account manager of the client. "'s lesson playlist is ready."
  3. Instrument - piano. A link to piano practice tracks.
  4. Instrument - not tagged. "Reply and tell us which instrument you're starting with."

Alex Chen is a student tagged piano. Jordan Chen is Alex's account manager. Sam Lee is a student with no Instrument tag and no account manager.

Who receives the copy Row 1, student greeting Row 2, parent greeting Row 3, piano Row 4, no instrument
Alex Chen Included Left out Included Left out
Jordan Chen Left out Included Included Left out
Sam Lee Included Left out Left out Included

Jordan's copy includes the piano row because Opus1.io checks tag rules against Alex, the client. If Alex were also tagged guitar and the template had an Instrument - guitar row, both Alex's and Jordan's copies would include the piano row and the guitar row.

Test before you send

The preview in the template builder shows the whole design, including rows some people will never receive. It does not apply display conditions.

Opus1.io test emails, whether sent from Templates or from a campaign, go to staff and treat the staff member as the client. That has two effects:

  • Client is recipient is always included and the parent row is always left out, even if that staff member is a parent in real life.
  • Tag rules use the tags on the staff member's own profile, which usually carries no student tags. A staff test is a weak check for tag rules.

To see both greetings with real tags, include a student who has an account manager and the right tags in the campaign, then compare the student's copy with the parent's copy.

Why: A template that looks right in the preview can still send the wrong greeting. One real student and one real parent are the only reliable check.

Troubleshooting display conditions

The parent wording never shows up in my test. Test emails treat the person receiving them as the client, so only Client is recipient is included. Check with a real student and their account manager instead.

A tag row is missing for a student who has the tag. The tag on the profile must match the tag in the category exactly, in its saved lowercase-and-underscore form, such as beginner_piano. A tag that isn't listed in a category has no rule, and has any tag only counts tags in that category.

The parent's copy includes the student's instrument section. That is expected. Tag rules follow the student, not the account manager.

A parent received the student greeting. The parent's first and last name match the student's, so Opus1.io treats that copy as the client's.

Only part of a section disappeared. The condition is on one block, and the rest of the row has none. Put the condition on the row when the whole section should travel together.

Two tag rows both appeared. The student has both tags. Use has any tag when one shared row is enough.

Save says the template is not valid. A Before or After field was edited, or a merge tag was broken. Set the condition again, leave Before and After untouched, and save after confirming the window.

Tag choices are missing, or still show an old category name. Either no client tag categories are saved yet, or the template was opened before the change. Add or rename the category under Settings > Business > General, reopen the template, choose the rule again, and save. Renaming a category does not update templates that already use it.

FAQ

Can I use display conditions in text messages?
No. Display conditions are available on email templates only. An Opus1.io text message template sends the same message to everyone, apart from the details its merge tags fill in.

Can one section require two tags, like piano and beginner?
Yes, by nesting. A row or block holds one rule, so put Instrument - piano on the row and Level - beginner on the block inside it. The block is only included when both match.

Can I show a section to piano or guitar students, but not drummers?
There is no single "this tag or that tag" rule. Duplicate the row, put Instrument - piano on one copy and Instrument - guitar on the other, and accept that a student with both tags receives both. If every tag in the category should get the same section, use has any tag instead.

Does a display condition decide who receives the campaign?
No. The campaign's audience decides who receives an email at all. Display conditions only decide which rows appear in each copy, so a person whose rules all fail still receives an email with the unconditioned rows.

Related Articles