Pages 2.0 | Personalize Pages with Smart Placeholders

🔒 Availability: Smart Placeholders are only available for Pages 2.0 – Happeo’s new Pages editor, released on April 2, 2025. 

1. Overview

Smart Placeholders are dynamic text variables that automatically display the name of the user viewing a page—turning shared, centralized knowledge into something that feels more welcoming and personal. 

This kind of light personalization helps pages feel more relevant when people land on them, especially on pages that teams return to regularly, such as onboarding hubs or homepages, where tone and approachability matter as much as structure and accuracy.

2. Use cases

Homepage greetings

Company or department homepages are often the first pages people open when they start their day. A simple personalized greeting can make the page feel more welcoming without overwhelming the layout.

Example: "Welcome, Alex."

The greeting works best when paired with clear structure and relevant content below—creating a warm introduction that still prioritizes usability.

Team homepages

Team pages are often revisited for priorities, updates, and shared resources. Adding a name placeholder can make repeat visits feel more relevant without turning the page into a personal feed. It helps team members quickly orient themselves in a shared space they return to often.

Example: "Hi Marcus, welcome to the Sales team homepage, where you can find priorities, updates, and shared resources."

Onboarding hubs

New hires often open onboarding pages while navigating unfamiliar tools, processes, and terminology. A personalized greeting creates a clear starting point and makes the experience feel more supportive from the first interaction.

Example: “Welcome, Sarah. Here’s everything you need for your first week.”

Used this way, placeholders help onboarding hubs feel less like static documentation and more like a guided space designed for someone who is new to the organization.

Team achievement and milestone celebrations

Placeholders can be effective for celebrating shared wins within restricted team or project spaces. When everyone who can access the page contributed to the outcome, personalization helps each viewer feel included.

Use this approach only on pages or page groups that are restricted to the relevant team or project members, and not visible to the wider organization.

• Quarterly performance (Sales team page): “Great work, Priya. The Sales team just closed its strongest quarter to date.”
• Department milestone (Product team page): “Thanks for being part of this quarter’s work, David. Here’s how the Product team performed.”
• Project completion (project page): “Hannah, the website redesign project is officially live. Thanks for being part of the launch.”   

3. How to use Smart Placeholders

Before you begin

• You must be an admin, page group owner, or page editor.
• The page must be built in Pages 2.0.
• Smart Placeholders are supported in:
  • Page Hero
  • Any Widget Header
  • Text Widget (titles, headers, and body text)
  • Banner Widget
  • Accordion Widget

Available placeholders

Use one of the placeholders below. Placeholders are case-sensitive and must include the % symbols on both sides.

• %ViewerFirstName% → Displays: John
• %ViewerLastName% → Displays: Doe
• %ViewerFullName% → Displays: John Doe

Add a user name placeholder

1. Open the page you want to edit in Pages 2.0.
2. Add or select a page hero, Text Widget, Banner Widget, or Accordion Widget.
   1. Alternatively, you can go into a widget’s configuration settings and enable a widget header.
3. Click into the text editor where you want the name to appear.
4. Type the placeholder exactly as shown above.
5. Continue writing your content around the placeholder.
6. Save or publish the page.

🔍 Read more about building pages with widgets in Pages 2.0 in our dedicated article: Add and Manage Widgets.

What viewers see

When someone opens the page, the placeholder is automatically replaced with their own name. Each viewer sees a personalized version of the same page content.

Example:

You type: “Welcome, %ViewerFirstName%! Here’s your onboarding checklist.”

• John sees: “Welcome, John! Here’s your onboarding checklist.”
• Dave sees: “Welcome, Dave! Here’s your onboarding checklist.”
• Marcus sees: “Welcome, Marcus! Here’s your onboarding checklist.”

4. FAQ

Can I use Smart Placeholders in widgets other than the Page Hero, Text, Banner, and Accordion? 

No. Smart Placeholders only work in the Page Hero, Text Widgets, Banner Widgets, and Accordion Widgets in Pages 2.0. In other words, placeholders work anywhere you can type text within a page widget.

What if I type the placeholder incorrectly? 

If the placeholder isn't typed exactly as shown (including capitalization and % symbols), it will display as plain text instead of being replaced with a name. Double-check spelling and formatting if the placeholder isn't working.

Can I edit or remove a placeholder after publishing? 

Yes. Placeholders work like any other text in your widgets. Simply edit the widget, delete or modify the placeholder text, and save your changes.

Why don't I see a name when I add a placeholder in the editor? 

Placeholders only display viewer names in preview mode or after the page is published. While editing, you’ll see the placeholder text itself (for example, %ViewerFirstName%) in both the editor and Live view. To see how the placeholder appears with a real name, publish the page and view it, or use preview mode.

Do Smart Placeholders affect search indexing?

Smart Placeholders are indexed as the placeholder text itself (for example, %ViewerFirstName%), not as individual user names. Because users do not search for placeholder text, this does not practically affect search results or make content searchable by personal names.

Are there any other available Smart Placeholders other than names?

Currently Smart Placeholders support first names, surnames, or full names. However, should you need additional Smart Placeholders within your instance of Happeo (such as organization name, department, or role) please do share your feedback with our product team.

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