Sendlane's Legacy Email Builder

Sendlane's drag-and-drop email builder is an easy and efficient way to build your ideal email! 

You can quickly format emails with different sections and layouts, and then customize your content with a variety of tools.

Here you'll learn exactly how to create an email from scratch, including how to:

• Add sections and content
• Save and reuse custom content blocks
• Use personalization tags
• Customize text
• Change the background color
• Add images
• Share hosted files
• Mask links
• Use the HTML builder
• Using Tags with the HTML Builder

Add Sections and Content

There are two main tools in this builder: Sections and Content. Sections are the foundation, or skeleton, of your email. The Content options are things like text boxes, images, buttons, dividers, and even pre-built social media icons. You will drag your content type into a created section.

1. To begin designing your email, choose a layout from the Sections menu and drag it into the center of the page

   

2. Next, choose the Content type you'd like to use, and drag it into the section you just added

   

    You can choose from 8 different types of content with Sendlane:

Text	This is the copy of your email. Text will be used in all of the areas that you will need to type out your message.
Title	Large, eye catching text
Image	Using this allows you to drag and drop any image you would like into the body of your email
Button	A great way to link to a store or site! Use HTML text formatting to customize buttons.
Divider	A way to break up chunks of text to make emails easier to read. This will include a line that you can adjust to clearly separate your content.
Spacer	Similar to a divider, this adds white space to your email without a line of separation
Social	Social media icons that you can link to so it's easy for contacts to navigate to your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc
HTML	If you are well versed in HTML, this is a block which allows you to code out your own email. Please Note: The HTML builder may alter the code that you have written out.

3. Customize your content block accordingly with text, images or anything you wish

Save and Reuse Custom Content Blocks

Custom content blocks allow you to create and save a section within your email to use again later. This is a great way to save things like an email signature or your company logo. 

To save your custom content block:

1. Click the Save icon within the toolbar

   

2. Enter a name for your custom content block and click Save

   

To use a custom content block:

1. Click the Custom tab in the toolbar on the left 
2. Drag the content block you'd like to use into your email:

Use Personalization Tags

After adding text, you can then add a personalization tag to the text. Select from the toolbar to add the tag of your choice. You can read more about personalization tags here. 

Personalization tags are a great way to customize your emails. Using the first name tag, for example, is a great way to begin an email. 

Customize Text

After adding text, you can then customize it however you'd like. Just highlight the text then utilize the text editor toolbar to customize!

Icon Meanings (From left to right):

• Font*
• Font Size
• Line spacing
• Text Color Picker
• Bold
• Italicize
• Underline
• Hyperlink
• Text Alignment
• Bulleted/Numbered List toggle
• Personalization Tags
• Section Settings (Move, Duplicate, Delete)

*Sendlane provides fonts that are supported by all email clients! Fonts in the dropdown list will appear in emails just as you see them in the Email Builder.

Change the Background Color

To change the background color of an entire email, select the Gear icon in the left-hand side panel. Under the Body heading, use the Background Color field to alter the color of the email.

To change the background of a certain section, click into the section. Under the Section heading, use the Background Color field to alter the color of the section.

Add Images

1. Start by dragging a section from the Sections tab to the email layout. 

   

2. Add the content to the section by dragging Image from the Content tab into the section.

   

3. After adding the content, double-click the content section to add the image from your files, or drag an image into the section from your files.

   Please Note

   The image file size must be under 3MB.

4. If you place an image and want to change it, you can select the image in the editor, then select Replace to replace the image.

   

Share Hosted Files

There are many places on the internet that will allow you to upload a file and they will host it for you.

To learn more about sharing files within your emails, click here.

Mask Links

To mask a link in an email means to hide it by hyperlinking the text as a link.

1. First, highlight the text you want to create a link from. Once you have the selected text highlighted, a mini text editor will pop up. Click on the Link icon.

2. Next, a text field will appear where you can paste the link you want to mask. You can add a URL, email address, or phone number (e.g. 15559876543) to this field. Type or paste it in and click Submit. The text you highlighted will turn blue, indicating the hyperlink was added correctly:

If you wish to undo a mask, select the text that is linked, then click the link button again. You can then edit or delete the link you have entered.

HTML Builder

If you are familiar with HTML design, or have a template you'd like to use, you can utilize our HTML Builder!

1. From the Email Design -Template Picker section, click HTML Builder
   
2. Enter your code in the left hand side of the split view, and a preview will be shown on the right
3. Once you're done designing, click Save and continue to finish and move on to the next step or click the "..." for more options

Using Tags with the HTML Builder

To create a Personalization Tag while building out an Email with the HTML Builder, utilize the code below:

If needed, here is an example of how you would insert this code into the Builder: 

Additional Resources

• The 4 Step Checklist for Great Email Branding
• How to Create Eye-catching Emails with Sendlane's Email Builder
• Email Marketing Insider Youtube Series: 4 Tips for Writing Emails People Actually Want to Read