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Stationary / Design

0 Votes
Scott Mason

After a struggle with 'templates' I finally discovered the stationary feature. I've made some pretty solid ones but I've had to modify my original design a little bit, which was similar to what we used to do with our old EMS. Now we have a new problem come up that I'm hoping to get some help with.

Is there a way to have separate content areas in a stationary, which others could edit in a template? There's the main area inside the border, but can we have uniquely editable areas outside of that?

In our past emails we've always changed the first line in the header to relate to different topics that we send emails for. We originally were given a few header options, but are finding that it doesn't work for us. A couple people have started editing and saving a new header each time, but the list, for what we do, could grow very, very long if they keep that up.

Here's my draft sample. I've had to move the legal copy inside the border/content area, but I haven't figure out an alternative for the header yet. I have a few other templates to make which I'll just have to avoid this situation again. If what I want to do is possible that would be GREAT though.

Thanks!

Email Draft



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Scott Mason
Web Designer, Med-IQ
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Comments

1 comment

Date Votes
  • Michael Turcsanyi
    Scott, we moved away from headers in a lot of cases (suppressed) - or just left a basic one line 'open email in browser / opt-out link' in the header for some clients.

    For the most part we've done what Sean is suggesting where the 'Header' is really part of the template: an additional 1 or 2 column standardized area that can be quickly edited and/or driven via personalization.

    Footer we've done similar. Especially because some footers have additional personalization driven into URL query strings for form submits. So we've relegated the footer stationary to basic address information.

    Content fragments for messages will make managing custom header and footers more controlled and efficient. But we're finding the workaround fairly reliable.

    Cheers,

    ------------------------------
    Michael Turcsanyi
    CEO, Goose Digital
    Marketing Automation Experts
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 10-18-2017 15:51
    From: Sean Chu
    Subject: Stationary / Design

    Hi Scott,

    As you may know, we use personalization (merge) fields to handle where exactly in your stationery Act-On places the Header, Logo, Body, and Footer sections. Unfortunately, what you are looking to do would require the usage of two {{TEXT}} (a.k.a. body) fields. The universe does not like this and will end up duplicating each block placed in each section whenever you add a new block (which we can call the Mr. Smith effect).

    The only way I can imagine getting around this would be to use premade email templates instead. You can then have a 2-column section at the top with your company logo on the left and a blank Rich Text block on the right.

    Let me know your thoughts on this alternative.

    ------------------------------
    Sean Chu
    Sr Solutions Engineer, Act-On Software
    ------------------------------

    Original Message:
    Sent: 10-18-2017 14:23
    From: Scott Mason
    Subject: Stationary / Design

    After a struggle with 'templates' I finally discovered the stationary feature. I've made some pretty solid ones but I've had to modify my original design a little bit, which was similar to what we used to do with our old EMS. Now we have a new problem come up that I'm hoping to get some help with.

    Is there a way to have separate content areas in a stationary, which others could edit in a template? There's the main area inside the border, but can we have uniquely editable areas outside of that?

    In our past emails we've always changed the first line in the header to relate to different topics that we send emails for. We originally were given a few header options, but are finding that it doesn't work for us. A couple people have started editing and saving a new header each time, but the list, for what we do, could grow very, very long if they keep that up.

    Here's my draft sample. I've had to move the legal copy inside the border/content area, but I haven't figure out an alternative for the header yet. I have a few other templates to make which I'll just have to avoid this situation again. If what I want to do is possible that would be GREAT though.

    Thanks!

    Email Draft



    ------------------------------
    Scott Mason
    Web Designer, Med-IQ
    ------------------------------

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