How to create a template

Save time when creating emails by creating an email template. You can use the drag & drop editor or import your own HTML to create a template that you can save and use for future emails.

To create a template:

1. Navigate to the Templates page.

2. Click Create template.

3. Select the editor in which you want to create your template.

4. Select a pre-made email template to build from, or build your email template from scratch.

5. Design your template.

6. Save your changes.

Template default values

If you enable Default settings for a template, all populated fields will replace any previously existing value, like the subject, the sender name and email address, the reply-to name and email address. 

Additionally, you can add tags to your templates to easily find them on the Activity and Analytics pages.

How to use the drag & drop editor

Anyone can design a clean, branded email using our simple drag & drop editor. In the sidebar you will see two tabs: Blocks and Settings.

Blocks

Under the Blocks tab, you will find all of the blocks you can use to build your email template. 

The blocks you can choose from include:

Content

• Header - Add this block to give your email a header including a logo and link

• Navigation - This block enables you to add a series of links in a navigation bar to your template

• Image - Use this block to add an image, such as your logo, to your template

• Text - The text block can be used to add any text to your email including headings and subheadings

• Button - Use this block to redirect recipients to an external link using a button

• Divider - Dividers are used to separate your email into sections by adding a small line between blocks

• Spacer - Spacers are used to separate your email into sections by adding a larger empty space between blocks

• Article - The article block displays an article with a featured image, excerpt and button linking to the article

• Product - The product block allows you to display a product image, product description, price and CTA in your template

• Social links - Add this block to include links to your social profiles

• Text box - This block can be used to add text within a text box

Special

• Table - Use this block to embed a table in your template

• Vertical table - Use this block to embed a vertical style table

• Signature - This block allows you to add a personalized signature and profile picture to your template

• Carousel - Create an image carousel within your template

• Countdown - Add a customizable countdown timer

Dynamic

• Code - The code block allows you to add custom HTML to your template

• Dynamic table and Dynamic vertical table - Use the dynamic table block when you want to display data in rows, for example, an order summary email. To display data in columns, use the dynamic vertical table.

• Dynamic product - Use this block to add products from your website

Sections

There are 2 sections blocks. One containing 2 columns and one containing 3 columns. The sections blocks allow you to divide email content into columns. Once you have added a sections block, you can drag and drop other blocks into each column

To add blocks to your email template, drag and drop the blocks you wish to use into the body of your email.

Settings

Use the settings tab to edit the style settings of your email. You can apply changes to your email’s Global settings as well as individual Block settings.

Global settings

To edit your email’s global settings:

1. Ensure you have no blocks selected.

2. In the sidebar, click the Settings tab.

Here you will find 3 types of settings: Template settings, Content settings and Footer settings.

1. Template settings

Under Template settings you’ll find the following settings:

• Blocks type - Choose whether you want your blocks to be displayed as a centered list or with the full width of the screen

• Font - Select the font you wish to use for the entire template

• Background & more - Click the design bubbles under Background & more to change the background color/image and apply font settings to your email preheader

2. Content settings

Under Content settings, you’ll find all of the design elements required to change your template’s style settings.

• Blocks style - Here you can edit the background color of the blocks within your template

• Style - Under Style you can edit the global style settings for your template. Including the font, font color, line spacing and more

• Call to action - Here you can edit the style of all buttons within your template

• Product style - Under Product style you can edit the font and formatting of the prices displayed on your product blocks

• Table style - Here you can edit the style settings of any tables included in your template

3. Footer settings 

Under Footer settings, you’ll be able to edit all the design elements within your email footer including the footer background, fonts, font styles, line spacing and more.

Block settings

If you require a particular block to have different style settings than the rest of your template, you can edit your individual block settings.

To edit the settings of a particular block:

1. Hover over the block you wish to edit.

2. Click the pencil icon.

3. Edit your block’s settings in the sidebar.

How to edit the content within the footer block

If you wish to display a logo, additional company information or any disclaimers in your email template, the footer is the place to do it.

To add your logo to your footer:

1. Hover over the footer block and click the pencil icon.

2. In the sidebar, click the Content tab.

3. Click the image icon to open your File manager.

4. Upload or select an image from your file manager.

To add additional information to your footer:

1. Hover over the footer block and click the pencil icon.

2. In the sidebar, click the Settings tab.

3. Under Footer, use the dropdown menu to select what information you want to display in your footer.

How to parse simple personalization variables

Simple personalization allows you to print basic data in email templates using variables in {$var} format. Variables must follow the following rules:

• Start with a dollar sign

• Surrounded by curly brackets

• May contain alphanumeric characters and underscores (_)

• Must not start with a number or underscore

• Case sensitive, meaning that {$VAR} is different from {$var}

Here’s an example of a shipping update email that contains the following simple variables: tracking_number, order_number, date, delivery, address, delivery_date, and support_email.

And this is the API request body to call the simple variables:

{

    "from": {
        "email": "your@email.com"
    },
    "to": [
        {
            "email": "recipient@email.com"
        }
    ],
    "variables": [{
        "email": "recipient@email.com",
        "substitutions": [
            {
                "var": "date",
                "value": "10/12/2021"
            },
            {
                "var": "address",
                "value": "432 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York"
            },
            {
                "var": "delivery",
                "value": "Next Day"
            },
            {
                "var": "order_number",
                "value": "8171"
            },
            {
                "var": "delivery_date",
                "value": "10/13/2021"
            },
            {
                "var": "support_email",
                "value": "help@lovelyscentedcandles.com"
            },
            {
                "var": "tracking_number",
                "value": "1A9823948PZ"
            }
        ]
    }
],
    "template_id": "your_template_id_goes_here"
}

The simple variables added to the API request will now appear in the email when the request is sent:

How to parse variables in a dynamic table

When you insert a dynamic table, it is automatically populated with {{ elements.name }} where elements is the name of the table object (for example, “items”) and name is the column, or key (for example, “product”, “quantity”, “price” and "image").

To create an order summary email, for example, insert a dynamic table and create the following columns for Product, Quantity, Price and Image.

Next, populate the table with variables using advanced personalization like the following example. There will be as many rows as there are arrays in your request.

"personalization": [{
"email": "recipient@email.com",
"data": {
     "items": [
        {
            "product": "Scented candle",
            "quantity": "10",
            "price": "4.95",
            "image": "www.scented-candle.com/scented-candle.jpg"
        },
{
            "product": "Bath bomb",
            "quantity": "3",
            "price": "7.95",
            "image": "www.scented-candle.com/bath-bomb.jpg"
        }
     ]
   }
}]

The recipient then receives an order summary email populated by the variables.

How to parse a variable inside a button

Edit the button in the drag & drop editor and enter the variable in the URL field. The following example shows a password reset link variable being inserted.

How to use the rich-text editor

Create emails with only the most essential content blocks and seamless inline editing.

Rich-text template blocks

To add new blocks to your rich-text template:

1. Hover over the line or block under which you want to add a new block.

2. Click the Add icon on the left-hand side.

3. Select the block you wish to add to your template.

You can choose from the following 6 blocks:

• Text - Add any text to your email including headings and subheadings

• Image - Add an image, such as your logo, to your template

• Table - Embed a table in your template

• Signature - Add a personalized signature and profile picture to your template

• Divider - Separate your email into sections by adding a small line between blocks

• Button -  Redirect recipients to an external link using a button

To move a block up or down, hover over the selected block and click the Move up or Move down icons. Alternatively, you can click and hold the Move icon and drag the block to your desired position.

To duplicate or delete a block:

1. Hover over the selected block.

2. Click the More icon on the right-hand side.

3. Click the Copy icon or Delete icon.

Rich-text template settings

In the sidebar, you will find 2 different settings tabs: Global settings and Footer Settings.

Global settings

Global settings apply to the template as a whole, rather than an individual block or section. 

There are 4 elements in your global settings: Email width, Email alignment, Font and Content settings.

1. Email width

Email width determines how your email is displayed in the recipient’s inbox. You can choose from the following options:

• Limited - Limits the width of your email, you can then select whether you want to align your email to the Left or Center

• Full width - Stretches your email to the full width of the screen, much like a traditional email.

2. Email alignment

Here you can choose to align the content of your email to the left or center.

3. Font

This is where you can choose the font for your email. If the web font you select isn’t supported by a particular email client, a similar standard font will be used instead.

4. Content settings

Under Content settings, you set the default design settings for the following elements of your email:

• Heading 1 and Heading 2 - Apply global settings to all H1 and H2 text, such as font, font size, color and more

• Text -  Apply global settings to all other text such as font size, color, line height and font style

• Links - Set the global link color and link font style

• Button - Apply design settings to all buttons included in your email

• Divider - Apply global settings to all email dividers including color, size, width and style

Footer settings

Under Footer settings you can apply different design settings to your footer text and links.

You can also select whether or not to include an unsubscribe link in your email with the Include unsubscribe link checkbox.

How to organize templates into categories

Keep track of your templates by organizing them into categories. 

To create a new template category:

1. Navigate to the Templates page.

2. On the left-hand side under Category, click New category.

3. Enter a name for your new category.

4. Click Create.

Now you can use the left-hand menu to select a category in which you’d like to create a new template.

To add an existing template to a new category:

1. Hover over the template you wish to add and click Manage.

2. Under Category, use the dropdown menu to select the category in which you want to put your existing template.

Need more info?

Feel free to reach out to support@mailersend.com. A member of our support team will gladly assist you.