Email templates give recurring campaigns a consistent structure, visual identity, and starting point. Use a built-in template when one suits the campaign, or create a custom template when you need to reuse your own design across campaigns and autoresponders.
This guide covers choosing, creating, importing, managing, and testing templates. For message preparation, see Email Content; for individual editor operations, see Using the WYSIWYG Editor.
Choose the right starting point
Start with a built-in template when you need a professionally structured layout and only need to change the copy, images, colors, or sections for a particular campaign. Open Templates and choose View built-in templates to browse the available designs and preview one before using it.
Create a custom template when you want a reusable branded layout, need to adapt a built-in design, or already have an HTML template created elsewhere. A custom template can be used again in email campaigns and autoresponders, which helps a team keep recurring messages consistent.
Create a custom template
To create a template from scratch or adapt an existing design:
- Open Templates and choose Create a custom template.
- Enter a clear template name. Name it for its purpose, such as “Monthly product newsletter” or “Order update”, rather than for a single campaign date.
- Choose the email format. HTML and Text is a useful default when you want to provide both a designed HTML email and a plain-text alternative. Choose HTML-only or text-only only when that format is intentional.
- Select an existing template as a starting point, or choose No template to begin with an empty layout.
- Select Next, then create or edit the HTML content in the editor. Add or update the text content when the selected format includes it.
- Preview and test the template before saving it.
- Mark the template active if it is ready to use. Make it global only when other users should be able to select it.
Use a custom template rather than editing a built-in design in place. This preserves the original and gives you a reusable version that your team can manage safely.
Import an HTML email template
If an agency, designer, or another email tool has provided an HTML template, import it as a custom template when you expect to use it more than once.
- Start a new custom template and enter its name.
- Choose the appropriate format, then select No template and continue to the content editor.
- In the HTML content step, choose Upload a file from my computer.
- Select the local HTML file, then choose Upload.
- Review the imported layout in the editor before saving it.
An HTML file does not include images stored beside it on your computer. Upload each image through Image Manager and select it again in the template, or use a publicly accessible image URL. Check links, image alternative descriptions, and table layout after importing; copied HTML can include styling that behaves differently in email clients.
If the imported design is for one immediate campaign rather than future reuse, you can upload the HTML while creating that campaign instead. Keep the template library for designs your team will use again.
Edit and manage custom templates
Open Templates and choose Custom email templates to view the templates available to you. From there, you can view, edit, copy, activate, deactivate, or delete a custom template.
Copy a template before making a major variation. For example, copy a monthly newsletter template before turning it into a holiday edition. This keeps the dependable original available and makes it easier to compare or revert your work.
Use active status to control whether a template is available when someone creates a campaign or autoresponder. Use global status only for templates that should be available to all permitted users. Before deleting a template, confirm that it is not still needed as a reference or for recurring campaigns.
Make templates work in email clients
Email clients do not render HTML in exactly the same way. Keep the design simple, use the editor’s table controls carefully, and avoid assuming that a layout which looks correct in one inbox will look identical in every inbox. Use inline styling where it is needed for the design, and avoid JavaScript or embedded video: email clients commonly remove or cannot play them. Use a linked image or button to take recipients to hosted video instead.
Give recipients a browser-based fallback when appropriate by inserting the %%webversion%% tag in the template. Test the resulting link in a sent campaign before relying on it.
Before saving a new or substantially changed template, use Preview for an initial layout check. Then select Email Client Compatibility in Email Validation or send controlled tests in the desktop and mobile email clients that matter to your recipients. Confirm that images load and have useful alternative descriptions, links reach the intended destination, and the plain-text content is useful when the template includes both formats. For the final campaign checklist, see Sending Email Campaigns.
Troubleshooting
Images are missing after import
Local image paths are not uploaded with an HTML file. Upload images through Image Manager or replace the image source with a publicly accessible URL, then save and test the template again.
I need a slightly different version of an existing template
Copy the custom template and edit the copy. This avoids changing the layout used by other current or future campaigns.
The imported layout changes in the editor or inbox
Check for malformed or unnecessarily complex HTML, especially nested tables and inline styling copied from another system. Make one focused correction at a time, then preview and send another test. If you need to edit the markup directly, use source mode carefully and preserve table, row, cell, and closing tags.
