The Message Editor (Email Designer view only) includes a Zones tab that houses the building blocks that you use to construct your message.

TIP: Use this article to learn about the various zones and decide which are best suited to your message-design plans. The more complex zones (such as WYSIWYG and Video) have dedicated articles; these are linked to in this article.

Click and hold a zone and then drag-and-drop it onto the "canvas" to insert a new block. You can insert the content for each zone as you place it or build the layout and then return to the content blocks to populate them.

NOTE: Where you place the zones determines the layout of the message.

Zones	Descriptions
	Column Section - Use to add one or multiple parallel columns to more easily manage your content.
	WYSIWYG - Use alone or within a column to add editable text, images, tables, and more to your message.
	Image - Use to enhance your message with images, hyperlinked or not.
	Video - Use to add a video thumbnail that links to a Vimeo or YouTube video.
	Post/Share Article - Use to share an article & simultaneously post it to your social-media sites.
	Dynamic Content - Use to enhance your message with sections that are customized per recipient.
	RSS - Use to add an RSS feed to your message.
	Social Sharing - Use to add a "share" button that enables your recipients to share your entire message on their social-media accounts.

Custom Zones

In addition to the Zones that are included, you can use the Custom Zones option to create zones that are unique to your account. To learn how to create and edit these zones, refer to Custom Zones.

Let's take a look at the Message Editor Zones.

Column Section

Adding columns is a great way to separate your template/message content chunks and add visual appeal by making your message easier to scan and read.

Drag-and-drop the Column Section zone to the location in the message where you'd like to insert one or more parallel columns.

After you've placed the zone in the message, you can choose how many columns it will have. Note that each column:

• can be customized with unique borders, padding, and background colors.
• can host any of the other zone options (e.g., text, images, an RSS feed).
• can host additional columns by adding a Column Section zone to it.

Columns can really enhance the layout of your messages. Experiment with different column structures and column-in-column designs to see what works best for the content in your messages.

WYSIWYG

Add a WYSIWYG zone to your message in order to create a text block that you can populate with your template/message content.

Drag-and-drop the WYSIWYG zone to the location in the message where you'd like to insert one or more parallel columns. After you've placed the zone in the message, you can use the WYSIWYG Editor to:

• apply styles and formatting your text,
• insert images, tables, and personalization, and
• add links to images and text.

See Message Editor Zone - WYSIWYG for a deep dive into how to use this zone to add a text block to your message.

Image

Use this zone to insert images, add hyperlinks and alt tags to images, and position images within a column. After inserting an image, use one of the image editors to customize it — without leaving the editor or the message.

• Use the Basic Editor to perform rudimentary edits, such as cropping and re-sizing.
• Use the Advanced Editor to add text, adjust the colors, add overlays and frames, and do lots of other customizations.

See Manage Images to learn more about how to customize your images.

NOTE: If the image you've added is too large for the zone you've placed it into, you'll automatically be warned at the bottom of the message. This gives you the opportunity to re-size the image to ensure it looks great before sending your message.

Image repository update

In December 2019, all Higher Logic Real Magnet images were migrated to a new repository. Images that were inserted into messages prior to this migration remain linked to the pre-migration repository. If you try to edit one of these images, an on-screen message will indicate that you have to perform a one-time save in order to update the image’s link to the new repository.

• Edit the image and then save it to the new repository.

NOTE: Message-based images that you do not edit will remain unaffected by the migration.

Video

Use this zone to add a video thumbnail to your message. You can then configure the thumbnail to link to either a Vimeo or a YouTube video.

See Message Editor - Video to learn more about adding and configuring video thumbnails.

Post/Share Article

NOTE: You must be using the new Message Editor to access this zone.

Content added via this zone is posted not only in your message but also simultaneously to your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts. You can also configure it to include a share button so your recipients can share the content within their social circles with the click of a button.

While share functionality has been around for a long time, this feature gives you the ability to schedule and publish individual email articles to your social sites. For example, let’s say your email newsletter has 10 articles. Each article can be scheduled to be published at different times, effectively creating a mini-marketing campaign across both your email and social channels. Not only are you publishing Twitter and Facebook posts, you’re creating content for those channels that's automatically optimized. Both the Facebook and Twitter versions will include an associated summary and image. And because we're leveraging Twitter's Twitter Card technology, we can accommodate 380 characters instead of the customary 140.

How it works

After adding this zone, you'll be prompted to configure a number of parameters:

• Email Layout - If including an image, you can position on the left, right, or top of the article. Select No Image if you don't want to include one. NOTE: Because the content is optimized for Facebook and Twitter, the image should not exceed 120x120 pixels for the left and right images.
• Article Title - Enter a title for your article.
• Article URL - Enter a URL here to create a hyperlink for your title. When a message recipient clicks the article title, they'll be taken to this URL.
• Add SWYN zone - Check this box to give your recipients the option of sharing the article within their social networks.
• Add button link - Check this box to include a button recipients can click to view the full article.
• Social Publishing - Here, you can control whether you want to tweet the article and/or post the article on Facebook. NOTE: These options are available only if you've connected your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts on the Social tab.

Sending the email and posting its articles

After creating your message, you’ll be prompted to send the email and post its articles, towards the bottom of the Send To Groups page. You have several options for scheduling the Twitter and Facebook content:

• Do not post
• Post them at the same time as your email message
• Post them at an interval (5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes between each post/tweet)
• Schedule them individually

After your email and social posts are scheduled, click Send and you're done. You've created a mini-marketing campaign across email and social media.

As shown in the example below, the Post/Share Article content from our message is now also posted as a fully optimized Twitter Card.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic Content blocks allow you to have customized sections of your message for different recipients. Recipients will see the view which applies to them. For example, you might have a part of your message that you want to show differently to recipients depending on their home city. You would choose the City field for the Dynamic Content block. Then, you would create a view for each city (or combination of cities) that you would like to have customized content. If a recipient’s city field doesn’t match one of the customized views, you can choose either to hide the block or show a default message.

See Message Editor - Dynamic Content for more information.

RSS

Drag-and-drop the RSS zone to add an RSS feed to any section of your message.

NOTE: There is a limitation with feeds that have the .cfm extension. Feeds with this extension will not load in the Image Editor.

 

Once placed, you'll be able to enter the RSS feed's URL. The URL can be your own website content, blog, or any other RSS content available. After entering the URL, click Load Feed to view the feed's available articles. The most recent articles from the feed are shown, and you can click More... to view additional content from the site.

Check the boxes to add one or more articles to your message. Then, use the configuration options at the bottom to determine whether to show article titles, excerpts, publication dates, and a Read more… recipients can click to view the full article. After you’ve made your selections, click Insert to add your chosen article(s) to your message.

Like all message content, you can format the RSS content using the standard WYSIWYG editing tools. Simply click the RSS zone, followed by Edit on the right. This enables you to standardize the font appearance, spacing, zone padding, etc., to match your message's content.

Social Sharing

The Social Sharing zone enables your recipients to share your entire message on their social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, Twitter).

NOTE: Do not use this zone if you don't want the information in the message to be shared.

When the zone is "dropped" into the message canvas, a configuration dialog will appear.

1. Choose either a Basic or Novelty layout option.

NOTE: The Basic options are actually transparent; they will inherit the background color of the section they are placed in.

2. Select left or right alignment or leave the default of center.
3. Click Insert.

The zone will appear in the message with the selected layout and alignment.

You can sample other layouts to see which best suits your design.

1. Click the zone.
2. Select Edit.
3. Choose a different layout and/or alignment.
4. Click Insert.

TIP: A new layout will not display on the canvas until you click Insert, so drag the editing dialog to one side so that you can see the existing layout for comparison as you consider an alternative.

When your design is as you want it, you can click the zone and use the other options to relocate (drag) or copy it. It's also a good idea to save your changes before proceeding.

Custom Zones

You can add custom zones in order to further customize your messages and templates beyond the standard set of zones. You can add custom zones to:

• existing messages and templates, as well as
• new messages and templates.

NOTE: Custom zones can be built on WYSIWYG and Image zones.

These zones are ideal for adding "static" content that is customized for, and is unique to your organization/business. For example, a physical address and links to your social-media sites are ideal candidates for a custom zone because they're not likely to change and they're the type of info you should include in your messages.

NOTE: Some Higher Logic-supplied templates, as well as your account's existing templates and messages might already have custom zones; you can edit these if the Zone Settings allow it.

Add a Custom Zone

To add a custom zone:

1. Create a new message or template (or open an existing one) in the Message Editor.
2. Click one of the zones that pre-populates the canvas. (You should see the options tabs on the right side of the zone.)

NOTE: You must do this in order to be presented the option to add a zone.

3. Click the Zones tab (left side of the page).
4. Scroll down, click Custom Zones to expand the section, and click + Add new zone.

NOTE: If the template that you've selected already has custom zones, this "Add" option will be below them; scroll down to access it.

5. In the dialog:

• Give the zone a title (required) and a description (optional).
• Optionally, check the boxes to:

• Make this custom zone available to other users.
  NOTE: Unchecked = only you will see this custom zone in other templates and messages. This setting can be changed.
• Make this custom zone accessible for this template only.
  NOTE: Unchecked = this custom zone will be available to other users for use in other templates and messages. This setting cannot be changed.

6. Click Save.

Now you can position the custom zone where you want it in the message/template and then drag other zones into it to create your custom content.

EXAMPLE: In the following image, five zones comprise this one custom zone.

Be sure to save your changes.

Edit & delete a Custom Zone

Custom zones have properties and content. Some of the properties can be changed; all of the content can be edited. You can also delete custom zones.

NOTE: Edits and changes that are made to a custom zone are unique to that specific message; the custom zone will not be updated in other messages or templates.

To change custom zone properties:

1. Click the Zones tab.
2. Click Custom Zones to expand the section.
3. Hover on a custom zone to reveal the pencil (edit) icon and click it.
4. Make your changes to the properties that are editable.
5. Click Save.

To delete a custom zone:

1. Click the Zones tab.
2. Click Custom Zones to expand the section.
3. Hover on a custom zone to reveal the pencil (edit) icon and click it.
4. Click Delete and then click Yes at the confirmation prompt.

The custom zone is removed and no longer available for use. Any content in messages and templates that were built on the custom zones remains intact.

To edit custom zone content:

1. Click the zone that you want to edit. (You should see the options tabs on the right side of the zone.)
2. Click the Edit tab.
3. Make your changes and click anywhere on the canvas to exit the edit mode.
4. Review and save your changes.