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5.34. Can I design my own templates?
Updated 05.26.13
Absolutely! You can use our HTML or Open Palette features to create your very own message designs and templates.
If you are not relatively experienced with writing HTML code, no problem! Use the Open Palette feature to create copy, make it fancy, insert links and images and much more.
Or, if you are good with HTML, use the HTML feature to paste your code and go!
To create a template to use and re-use, name the "template message" something like "Barb's Beauty Bonanza Drip #1 Template". Once it's been tested thoroughly and you're sure it's absolutely perfect in every way, just replicate it each time you want to send it. Rename it appropriately, and don't forget to change your EMAIL SUBJECT LINE.
Did you notice our reference above to testing your eMessages? This is a critical step when sending eMessages, whether you design your own templates or not, so you can avoid mistakes and potential embarrassment. Click the link above or see our Related Pages below so you can incorporate this important step into every eMessage you send.
A few words about the HTML feature:
- Note that there is no "ready-made" address block, "business card" or other section in your HTML message. If you want specific contact information or images to appear in your messages, you must create them in this mode! (Hey, you wanted to be a designer!)
- Merge Tag and all other WYSIWYG editing functionality are necessarily disabled in HTML mode. To access these features, click on the Design tab, insert Merge Tags or perform other editing functions, then go back to HTML mode to continue writing or pasting your code.
- We can't stress this enough: We can not be responsible for HTML code we didn't create. Test your HTML message by sending it to yourself at many email clients like AOL, Yahoo, GMail, and a variety of webmail based clients to be sure it looks good in each. Yeah, you really have to. Then retest it to be sure it looks good and works the way you expect it to. Then test it again.
- NewPanda cannot troubleshoot your HTML code. It's not that we don't love you, it's just that our developers are really busy designing cool new features, as well as keeping up with the latest technology and doing other important IT stuff, so we need to keep them focused! Our mission is to provide the best eCommunications tools around so you can create and send beautiful eMessages. It's a lot like going to the salad bar - they provide the ingredients, but you make your own salad. Make sense?
- You can find help for your HTML questions from MANY sources (some free, some - not so much) by doing a keyword search (Google, Yahoo, Ask, Dogpile, etc.) for the phrase "html troubleshooting" or a search phrase of your choice. There are many forums available for both Mac and PC. Because different sites are better for different issues, we can't really recommend one site or forum over another.
- If you aren't fairly savvy with HTML developing or editing, we suggest that you create your message with our very versatile Open Palette feature.
Several resources for HTML Coding are listed below. We make no promises about the information provided and accept no responsibility for content found on the pages referred to herewith. While we want to be helpful, please understand we can't control content on other sites. If you find something inappropriate, outdated, offensive or inaccurate, please let us know and we'll remove or update the link in question.
Introduction to HTML and URLs by Ian Graham