Row Properties

  • Updated

Rows are the structural foundation of every design in Act-On’s Email Composer and Landing Page Composer. They serve as containers for Content Blocks and define how your layout adapts across devices.

Each Row automatically adjusts to fit the viewer’s screen size, ensuring your email or page remains clean, balanced, and responsive. You can apply styling, spacing, and alignment settings to a Row to control multiple content blocks at once - perfect for consistent design sections like headers, body sections, or footers.

Quick Reference (Advanced Users) – Click to Expand
  • Rows are layout containers for Content Blocks in the Composer.
  • Each Row adjusts automatically to device screen size.
  • All Row settings apply to every column or block within it.
  • Use Rows to manage background color, padding, alignment, stacking, and visibility.
  • Saved Rows can be reused across designs and shared between users.
  • Some saved Rows are specific to Email or Landing Page Composers depending on their content.
Try it like this: Create a Row for your email header or landing page hero section. Add two columns - one with your logo and one with a headline and button. Then apply a Row background image to make the design pop while keeping both elements centered and responsive.

Selecting a Row

Before you can edit a Row, you’ll need to select it in the Composer. Selecting a Row gives you access to all its layout and styling properties in the sidebar.

  1. Hover over the space to the left or right of the content area. A handle appears, allowing you to drag or reposition the Row.

Row selection handle in the Composer interface

  1. Click outside the content area to select the Row. Selecting a Row automatically deselects any currently selected Content Block, so you can make global design changes.

Selecting a Row in the Composer design canvas

Once a Row is selected, the right-hand sidebar displays its properties for styling, spacing, and behavior.

Row Properties panel in the Composer sidebar

Row Properties

Each Row comes with a flexible set of design controls that let you define how it looks and behaves across devices:

  • Row background color: Set a background color for the entire Row.
  • Content area background color: Apply a color only to the content area, leaving padding or outer space untouched.
  • Row background image: Add a full-width background image for the Row. Learn more
  • Content area border: Add a border around the content area with customizable color, width, and style. Learn more
  • Content area rounded corners: Round the corners of your Row’s content area for softer edges.
  • Vertical align: Choose how content aligns vertically within the Row - top, middle, or bottom.
  • Stack on mobile: Control whether content within the Row stacks vertically on smaller screens.
  • Stack order on mobile: Reverse the order of stacked content for improved readability on mobile.
  • Hide on Mobile/Desktop: Hide an entire Row on specific devices (great for mobile- or desktop-specific designs).

For more on optimizing your design for different devices, see Mobile Optimization Options.

Dynamic Content (Email Designs Only)

For email designs, you can make Rows dynamic by setting display conditions. This determines whether a Row appears in the final send based on recipient data or segment membership.

For example, you could display a promotional Row only to contacts in a “VIP Customers” segment. Learn more about dynamic content

Column Structure

Each Row contains one or more columns. You can resize them, add or remove them, and align content within each column. For full details, see Column Management.

You can also adjust Padding and Borders on any side of a selected column to control spacing and separation.

Saved Rows

Saved Rows help you reuse and share design sections across multiple projects and users in your Act-On account. When you save a Row, you preserve all its layout, content, and styling settings for future use.

This is ideal for frequently used design elements like headers, disclaimers, or branded footers - saving time and maintaining visual consistency across all your emails and landing pages.

Saving a Row

  1. Select the Row you want to save by clicking to the left or right of the content area.
  2. Click the icon (available in the Row toolbar and at the top of the sidebar).
  3. Enter a Row name and click Save.

The Row is now available to you and other users in your Act-On instance, ready to drag into any new design.

Saving a Row in the Composer interface (animated example)

Accessing Saved Rows

  1. Open the Row tab in the sidebar and choose My saved rows from the dropdown.
  2. Search or browse for the Row you want to reuse.
  3. Drag it directly into your design.
Tip: Rows saved by any Act-On user in your account are shared across both Email and Landing Page Composers, so your team can maintain consistent branding across all design types.

Compatibility Between Email and Landing Page Rows

While most Saved Rows can be used in both Composers, certain design elements are tool-specific. For example, a Landing Page Row containing a Form block won’t be compatible in the Email Composer, where forms aren’t supported.

  • Incompatible Saved Rows are automatically hidden in My Saved Rows when they can’t be used in that Composer.
  • Whenever possible, build general-purpose Rows using common blocks (text, images, buttons) to maximize reusability.

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