New Message Builder
This guide covers the whole builder.
On this page
The Message Builder is where you design email messages by stacking rows and dropping content blocks into them: text, images, buttons, tables and more. You see the email as you build it, and every message it produces is laid out to display properly in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and on phones.
This guide covers the whole builder. If you would rather be shown around, click Help at the top of the builder and choose Take the tour.
The Message Builder: toolbar at the top, your email in the middle, blocks and settings on the right.
Opening the builder
- Go to Settings > Messages and open a message (or add a new one).
- In the Message card, click Switch to Message Builder.
- A message that was designed in the builder opens there automatically when you click Compose / Edit Message.
The builder opens in its own window. When you are finished, save and close it to go back to the message page.
Finding your way around
The toolbar
The toolbar.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Back arrow | Closes the builder and returns to the message. You are asked first if there are unsaved changes. |
| Message name and status | Shows All changes saved, or Unsaved changes · draft kept with the time of the last automatic draft. |
| Desktop / Mobile | Switches the canvas between a desktop and a phone-sized view. |
| Undo / Redo | Steps back and forward through your changes (Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z). |
| Structure lines | Outlines every row and block so you can see how the message is put together. |
| Templates | Opens the template gallery. |
| Preview | Shows the finished email on desktop and mobile. |
| Test | Send a test email, or run the Inbox Deliverability Test. |
| More (…) | Version history, Check message, Switch to regular editor and Clear message. |
| Save | Saves the message. The arrow beside it has Save & close and Save as template. |
The inbox preview
The strip above the canvas shows how the email will look in an inbox before it is opened: the sender name, the subject, and the preview text that follows the subject.
The inbox preview strip.
The canvas and the side panel
The canvas in the middle is your email. Click anything on it to select it. The side panel on the right has three tabs, Content, Rows and Settings, and switches to the settings of whatever you select on the canvas.
Adding content blocks
The Content tab lists every block you can add.
The Content tab.
- Click a block in the Content tab.
- Dashed + spots appear on the canvas. Click the spot where the block should go, or click Add at the bottom.
- The block is added and selected, and its settings open in the side panel.
After clicking a block, click a + spot to place it.
Prefer dragging? In the Settings tab, under Adding blocks, choose Drag only, Click only or Both. The choice is saved to your user on any computer.
The blocks
| Block | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Title | A heading. |
| Paragraph | Body text. |
| List | A bulleted or numbered list. |
| Image | A photo or graphic, uploaded from your computer or picked from your image library. |
| Button | A call-to-action button that links to a web page. |
| Divider | A line between sections. |
| Spacer | Empty space between sections. |
| HTML | Your own HTML, for something the other blocks cannot do. |
| Signature | The sender’s signature. It shows as [Signature] and is filled in when the email is sent. |
| Unsubscribe | A link to the unsubscribe page. |
| Social | Icons that link to your social media pages. |
| Menu | A row of text links. |
| Table | Rows and columns of information, such as prices or dates. |
| Logo | Your logo from the brand kit. |
| Footer | Your business name, mailing address and footer note from the brand kit. |
Selecting, moving, copying and deleting
Click a block to select it. A label shows what it is, and two small toolbars appear.
A selected text block, with the block toolbar above it and the row toolbar to its right.
- Block toolbar (above the block): drag handle to move the block, + to add a block below, duplicate, and delete.
- Row toolbar (to the right of the row): drag handle to move the whole row, + to add a row below, save this row to reuse later, duplicate, and delete.
- The side panel shows the settings for the block. Back to content blocks returns to the block list.
Editing text
Click a text block once to select it, then click the text to start typing. The text toolbar appears above it.
The text toolbar.
- Top rows: font, size, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, text colour, highlight, paragraph or heading style, Spacing (line height, letter spacing and paragraph spacing), alignment, lists, links, special characters and emoji.
- Insert token adds a detail that is filled in for each lead when the email is sent, such as [First] or [Company].
- Token with fallback adds a token with words to use when that field is empty. For example, “Hi [First there],” becomes “Hi Sarah,” or “Hi there,”.
- Insert signature adds the sender’s signature.
- Insert unsubscribe link adds a link to the unsubscribe page.
Images
Add an Image block, then choose the picture in the side panel.
An empty Image block and its settings.
- Click or drop an image to upload a JPG, PNG or GIF. Large photos are resized automatically.
- Image library shows the images you have already uploaded, so you can reuse them.
- Alt text describes the image. It shows when images are blocked, and it helps your email stay out of spam.
- Link URL makes the image clickable.
- Width and Alignment size and place the image.
- Once an image is in place you can edit it: crop, straighten, adjust brightness, contrast and saturation, turn it grayscale, and resize it.
Buttons
Select a button to change its text and where it goes.
A selected button and its settings.
- Button text and Link URL. The Tokens menu beside the link can insert a link token.
- Button color, Text color, Font size and Corner radius.
- Full width stretches the button across its column. Alignment places it left, centre or right.
- Inner padding makes the button bigger or smaller. Outer padding sets the space around it.
Always give a button a real web address. A button without one goes nowhere, and Check message will point it out.
Rows and columns
Every block sits in a row. A row can have one to four columns, so you can place blocks side by side.
The Rows tab: layouts, and rows you have saved.
- To add a row, click a layout in the Rows tab, then click where it should go.
- Saved rows lists rows you saved with the row toolbar, ready to add to any message.
To change a row, select it with the handle at the top of the row toolbar.
A selected row and its settings.
- Columns: pick a layout, or drag the line between two columns on the canvas to fine-tune their widths.
- Background: a colour or image behind the row, and a colour for the content area.
- Border and Rounded corners. Rounded corners show in Gmail, Apple Mail, iPhone and Outlook.com; Outlook for Windows shows square corners.
- Spacing: space above and below the row.
- Mobile & visibility: stack the columns on phones, or hide the row on mobile or on desktop.
Settings for the whole message
The Settings tab.
- Brand kit: apply your saved colours and font to this message, or edit the kit.
- Preview text: the short summary shown after the subject line in most inboxes. Aim for 40 to 100 characters. Tokens such as [First] work here.
- Content width: how wide the email is. 600 is the standard.
- Colors: background, content area, text and links.
- Typography: the font and base size. Fonts marked (web font) only show in email programs that load web fonts; other programs show a standard font instead.
Brand kit
The brand kit is saved for your whole account. The Logo and Footer blocks, new messages and templates all use it, so set it up once.
The brand kit.
- Business name, Mailing address and Footer note. A mailing address is required in marketing email and is shown in the Footer block.
- Logo and its width.
- Colors & font for buttons and headings, links, text and backgrounds.
- Social links and the icon style used by the Social block.
Templates
Click Templates to start from a ready-made design. Each one is built to pass spam filters; replace the sample text, links, photo and address with your own.
The template gallery.
- Use the tabs to browse by type. My templates holds the ones your account has saved.
- Preview shows a template on desktop and mobile. Use puts it on the canvas.
- To save your own, click the arrow beside Save and choose Save as template.
Preview and test
Preview
Preview shows the finished email, with a switch between Desktop and Mobile.
The preview window.
Send a test email
Click Test, then Send a test email.
Sending a test email.
- Send to up to three addresses.
- The test sends what is on the canvas now, even if it is not saved yet. “[Test]” is added to the subject.
- Choose how tokens are filled in: from your most recent lead, from a lead number you enter, or not at all.
- You can send up to five test emails per hour.
Check message
More (…) > Check message looks for common problems, such as a link with no web address or missing preview text.
Check message.
Inbox Deliverability Test
Test > Test inbox deliverability checks the saved message against the sending rules used by Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and other providers and gives it a score. If you have unsaved changes, you are asked to save first.
The Inbox Deliverability Test.
- Step 1 is an automatic scan of the subject, content, links, images and unsubscribe details.
- Step 2 sends the message to your own personal inbox. Tell it where the email landed to get your final score.
- Fix anything marked in red before you send. The score is guidance only; no score can guarantee the inbox.
Saving, drafts and version history
- Save saves the message. Save & close saves and returns to the message page.
- While you work, the builder keeps an automatic draft. The status under the message name shows when it was last kept. A draft never changes the saved message.
- Undo and Redo step through the changes made since you opened the builder.
The More menu.
Version history keeps the last 30 saves. Pick one to see it, then click Restore this version to put it on the canvas. Nothing changes until you save.
Version history.
Clear message empties the canvas so you can start again.
Switching to the regular editor
More (…) > Switch to regular editor opens the message in the regular editor as HTML you can edit freely. Your design is kept: switch back before changing anything and it returns exactly as it was. If you changed the message in the regular editor, you choose between the kept design and the edited message when you switch back.
Tips for reaching the inbox
- Write real text. An email that is one big image with little text looks like spam.
- Give every image alt text.
- Use full web addresses in links and buttons, not link shorteners.
- Include your mailing address. The Footer block adds it from your brand kit.
- Keep an unsubscribe link in the message.
- Add preview text in the Settings tab.
- Run the Inbox Deliverability Test before sending to a large list.