How to keep a CartBoss text to one SMS part (character limit and special characters)
The SMS character limit is 160 plain characters per part, or 70 if the text has one special character; CartBoss counts both while you type. Longer texts are split into parts, and each part is billed as one text; prices are on the pricing page.
Before you begin
- Open a message to edit: Messaging → Abandoned cart or Win-Back, then the pencil next to a message, or Add custom message.
How many characters fit in one SMS part?
- Plain text (the standard SMS alphabet): 160 characters in one part. A longer text is split into parts of 153 characters.
- Text with a special character: one special character switches the whole text to the special alphabet. Then 70 characters fit in one part. A longer text is split into parts of 66 characters in CartBoss's counter.
- Emoji count as 2 characters each, and they make the text special.
- In plain text, these count as 2 characters each:
^ { } \ [ ~ ] | €
Check the length of a text
- Type your text in the Default message box.
- Look under the phone preview on the right. The meter shows <used> of <per part> characters and the number of parts, for example 82 of 160 characters and 1 SMS.
- With 2 parts or more, the first number counts the characters in the last part. For example, 37 of 153 characters and 2 SMS means the second part holds 37 characters.
Find and remove special characters
- Look under the message box. When the text has special characters, a line Special characters: lists them.
- Replace each one with a plain character, or delete it.
- Check that the meter is back to of 160 characters.
In this example, one curly apostrophe in "you’re" makes a 71-character text special, so it needs 2 parts. With a straight apostrophe (you're) it fits in 1 part.
Characters that often sneak in:
- Curly quotes and apostrophes (’ “ ”) and long dashes (–), often pasted from a word processor.
- Letters such as č, š, ž, ć, ł, ő and ê.
- Emoji.
Some accented letters are plain characters and cost nothing extra, for example é, è, ü, ö, ä, ñ, à and ß.
Leave room for what CartBoss adds
The meter counts what you typed. The text the shopper gets is usually longer:
- Shortcodes are counted by their name, not their content. {CartItems} counts as 9 characters, but product names can be much longer. {CheckoutUrl} becomes a short link.
- A stop line is added at the end of every text: a blank line, the word "Stop" and a short link.
- Your site name is added at the start, as "Site name: ", unless an active brand sends the text.
- Translations are not counted. The meter and the preview show only the default message, so check each translation yourself.
So aim well below the limit. More on shortcodes: How to personalize CartBoss texts with shortcodes.
Let CartBoss convert special characters (SMS cost optimization)
- Click Sites in the left menu, under Websites.
- Click the pencil (Edit website) next to your store.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Under SMS cost optimization, choose Enabled (recommended).
- Click Save.
What it does, when CartBoss sends the text:
- It replaces special characters with plain ones, for example Č becomes C and ’ becomes '. It also changes accented letters to plain ones (ü becomes u, ß becomes ss) and € becomes EUR.
- It works on the whole text, including names and product names that shortcodes fill in.
- It does not run when your message text contains an emoji. Then the text goes out as you wrote it.
- It does not run for phone numbers from Bulgaria, Serbia or Greece.
- Texts to US phone numbers are always converted, whatever this setting says. Emoji are removed from them.
It is on by default for every new store. The meter in the editor still counts the text as you typed it, so a text it shows as 2 parts can go out as 1.
Questions
Does an emoji make a text cost more?
Often, yes. It counts as 2 characters, it makes the text special (70 characters per part), and it stops SMS cost optimization for that message.
Why does a long special-character text show 66 characters per part?
Texts with several parts need room in each part to join them on the phone. CartBoss counts 66 characters per part for special-character texts, and 153 for plain ones.
Where do I see what a text costs?
Each part is billed as one text. See the pricing page for prices.
Where do I write the text?
See How to write your own abandoned cart text in CartBoss.