Working with the legacy Joe editor
If you have a custom template of type Joe, you will see an editor in step 4 of your campaign that is specific to this template type.
If you are working with the latest version of the Joe editor, please see Working with the latest Joe editor.
Header, footer and structure of your template
Your template consists of a header (top) and a footer (bottom). Between these, you can place, fill and move blocks as you see fit, or in accordance with the guidelines set by your organisation.
Usually, you cannot edit the header and footer, or only in part. If there is a title in it that you are allowed to change, click on the text, edit it in the left-hand pane and click ‘Save’. Also check whether you can or need to edit the preheader: this text is located at the top left above the header. If you want to have anything else changed in your header or footer, the designer of your template can do this for you.
Adding, deleting and moving blocks
Use the three icons at the top right of a block: the arrows to move the block, the plus sign to add a block and the cross to delete it.
When you click on the plus icon, first choose which block you want to add. With ‘Here’, the new block will be placed above the plus icon; with ‘Beneath’, it will be placed below the current block.
Editing texts, headings and buttons
Click on the text or heading inside a block to open the editing options on the left side of your screen.
You can use the icons above the text section of the editor to format your text: make it bold, italicise it, adjust the text size, and so on. The font is fixed in the template and cannot be changed. You can use the paste function to copy text from other sources. You can also add a table, links, files and links to social media, and personalise your newsletter with variables.
Some blocks have buttons that link to a web page or a file. Click on the button and enter the button text and the link on the left. If you are linking to a file, upload it to Media first. Copy the link there via ‘Details’ and by right-clicking and selecting ‘Copy link address’ or ‘Copy link’, then paste it into the button settings.
If you are creating a digitally accessible newsletter, make sure that every link and button text clearly describes what the visitor will see, and vary your wording. Otherwise, a visually impaired reader might only hear ‘read more’, ‘read more’.
Adding and editing images
Click on the placeholder image to open the editing pane on the left. To find out how to choose an image, enter alt text, and crop a fixed or scalable image to size, read Editing an image in your custom template of type Joe.
Using a table of contents and feeds
Some custom templates contain a block for a table of contents or for one or more RSS or Atom feeds:
- If your template includes a table of contents, place that block below the header. The heading of each new item in your newsletter will automatically be added to the table of contents.
- When loading the template, the editor reads an RSS or Atom feed and displays all available items with the specified elements by default. Click on the cross next to an item to remove it and make a selection. When you proceed to the next step, your selection will be saved. If you reload the template, your selection will be overwritten and all current items will be displayed again.
Previewing, testing and proceeding to the next step
First, click ‘Save’ in the left-hand pane. After that, you can click ‘Preview’ and ‘Testmail’.
Your template has been designed for optimal display on a mobile phone. Check that all the texts, images and buttons you have placed are suitable for mobile viewing. Send a test email to yourself and, if applicable, to your colleagues to see if email clients display the newsletter as intended, and check all the links you have placed.
If you want to select the template again, go back to step 3, or choose to reload the template at the bottom, with or without retaining the content. If you proceed to step 5 for the final check of your campaign, you can always return to step 4 from there.