Creating a Newsletter

Creating a Newsletter

Newsletters are created and sent through the Communications tab on the Dashboard. They are formatted emails that you send to people on one or more Communications Lists. If you don't already have Communications Lists set up, you will want to complete that step first.

To Create a New Newsletter:
  1. Go to the Communications tab on the Dashboard.
  2. You can start a Newsletter using the blue button on the Summary tab.
  3. Or, you can create and manage all of your Newsletters from the Newsletters tab.

  1. Select create newsletter, enter the Newsletter Subject, then click continue.


  1. Next, select a Template. You can choose to start from scratch or use a saved template created by your organization or by Membership Toolkit.

Editing Newsletter Content

The Newsletter Editor will help you create beautiful and functional newsletters by utilizing different content "blocks." These blocks represent individual types of content. You can choose from basic text-only or image blocks, or more sophisticated blocks such as a calendars, blogs, and videos. The formatting is already configured so that you get a consistent experience regardless of the reader's device.

The Newsletter Editor consists of 2 Panels that can appear on the right or left, depending on your preference.
  1. Editor Panel - where you add blocks and edit design settings
  2. Preview Panel - where you preview the content and design as it would appear on a desktop or mobile device, or as text-only.



Preferences
  1. Allows you to switch the Editor Panel from left to right.
  2. Select to have Advanced Settings presented as options for each block design.
Change Design
  1. Select from designs created by your organization's templates or from Membership Toolkit designs.
  2. Note: Changing the design will apply the new design's visual settings to your Block Design and Overall Design tabs, but will not change specific block settings that you have overridden. The new settings will replace any current "inherit" settings. Once you select a new design, there is NO UNDO!
Send a Test Email
  1. Select one or more email addresses to send a copy of the current preview.
Help
  1. Search the Knowledge Base or view specific articles pertaining to this screen.
  2. Open a help ticket to receive customer support by email.
  3. View page tours to learn more about the features on this screen.

Editor Panel

This is where all of the content and design editing tools are located. You can choose to display the Editor Panel on the left or right by selecting the Preferences menu at the top left. This panel has two views:
  1. Template Edit View — Whenever you are not editing a specific block, you will see the "Template Edit View" where you have access to add blocks and set default (inherit) design settings for each block type, as well as customize the overall design of the newsletter.
  2. Block Edit View — When you select a specific block in the newsletter, you will have access to the "Block Edit View" where you will be able to customize the content and design of that individual block.
When creating a new newsletter from scratch, we recommend setting up the Overall Design and Block Designs FIRST, before adding blocks and content.


Template Edit View - Block Design


This is where all of the default design settings for each block type can be configured to give your newsletter a clean and consistent design. All blocks will initially "inherit" the settings you set here, but you can override these settings if you choose when editing specific blocks later.

For blocks that contain text you can select the:
  1. Title and Body Text - font type, size, color, and alignment
  2. Text Style - bold or italic (Advanced)
  3. Line and Letter Spacing (Advanced)
  4. Block Background Color and Padding


Please Note: Any changes made in the "Block Design" tab of the Template View will automatically be saved to the newsletter.

Template Edit View - Overall Design


This tab contains the top level design settings for your newsletter. The settings set here aren't block specific, but are "bigger picture" settings that apply to the entire newsletter such as the newsletter page and region background colors.

Each newsletter is comprised of 3 basic regions:
  1. Header - where your banner or header image typically goes
  2. Body - where you put your content, utilizing various blocks
  3. Footer - where you might include your organization contact information or social media links
For each region you can customize the background color. By clicking "Advanced" you can also customize the Top and Bottom Padding as well as the Border for that region.
Please Note: Any changes made in the "Overall Design" tab of the Template View will automatically be saved to the newsletter.

Block Edit View

Once you have added a block (or selected an existing block to edit by clicking on it in the newsletter Preview Panel), the Editor Panel will change to the Block Edit View. In this view, there are 2 tabs:
  1. Content Tab - Edit the content of the block that you have added or selected.
  2. Design Tab - Customize the design settings of the selected block. These settings will ONLY apply to the selected block and NOT all blocks of that type. They will override any of the "inherited" design settings that have been set for this block type in the "Block Design" tab of the Template View.
Block Edit Controls - When you have finished editing your block, select from these options:
  1. Clicking the "save" button will save the changes you've made to the block and return you to the Template Edit View.
  2. Clicking "cancel" will discard any changes you may have made to the block.
  3. If you want to remove the block entirely, click "delete".


Adding Blocks


We have a variety of blocks you can use to build the content (body) of your newsletter.

Basic Blocks provide different image and text configurations to help you create the style and design of your newsletter. There's even a button block that will automatically create consistent "call to action" buttons from your text. Adjust the design settings to coordinate with the style of your newsletter and add a link to direct the user where they need to go.

Feature Blocks are associated with the various features you may have enabled on your account.

Select and drag the block you want into the newsletter Preview Panel, then hover and drop it within the region where you would like it to go.








Newsletter Preview Controls


These controls allow you to preview your newsletter as it will be seen on desktop and mobile devices. You can also preview the "text-only" version of the newsletter.

Clicking the right-most icon will switch the view to "test mode" which will allow you to test the links within your newsletter and interact with the content as a recipient would.
  1. When you hover over an object or text that is linked, your mouse pointer will change to a hand.
  2. When you are in test mode the Editor Panel is disabled.
  3. Click it a second time to go back to edit mode.



Newsletter Settings

Once you are done editing newsletter content and you "save & close" you will be returned to the Newsletter Settings screen. This is where you configure your "send settings" and social media posting. You can also:
  1. create a template from your newsletter draft
  2. duplicate your newsletter and make another copy
  3. delete the newsletter draft


Send Settings - This is where you edit the subject, add communication lists, edit the "from" information, and schedule when the newsletter will be sent.

Newsletter Content - This is where you go to edit the content and design of your newsletter.

Social Media - Organizations have the ability to post to their social media accounts when releasing newsletters. First you need to link your account, then you can configure those settings.

Finalize & Send - We recommend that you send a Test Copy of your newsletter before you send it out to your entire communications list. You can send a Test Copy to one or more email addresses. Have your "testers" check any links to be sure they are working properly.

Once you have tested, you will need to "release and send the newsletter" so that it will be sent out at it's scheduled time.

If you see this message: "One or more blocks in your newsletter has invalid content. You can't release a newsletter until the error is fixed.
View the newsletter in the editor for more information."  you will need to go back to edit the content of the newsletter. Most likely you have either forgotten to add an image to an image block or a link to a button.



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