e-Blast (Newsletter) Part I: Configure Master Template
- This tutorial will cover how to configure a blank/master template for use with e-Blasts (newsletters and bulk communications).
- Generally, before sending an e-Blast you will have already created a general e-Blast/newsletter template. That is, you will have set up at least one e-Blast master template that contains your formatting, logo, layout, dummy text, etc. This one master template can then be used over and over to send e-Blasts; you will select that template every time you send a newsletter to your constituents and fill it with your custom content that should be sent in that instance (in essence, you will only be filling out/creating the newsletter "articles"/content at the time you send the newsletter and not also creating the layout/format, which you will have ideally set up ahead of time). Here is an example of a master template - note the dummy/placeholder text.
- You can set up more than one master template. Examples of why you might want more than one master template:
- You want to have seasonal designs/layouts/colors (one for Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer)
- You will send more than one communication per month and want to have monthly designs/layouts/colors (one with fireworks and party hats for January, one with hearts for February, one with Shamrocks for March, etc.) pre-configured so you don't have to add the seasonal colors/images every time you send a communication that month
- You want to use different layouts or branding for different types of communications (for example, different layouts for communications sent to donors versus communications send to your newsletter subscribers)
- You want to use different layouts or branding for communications sent from different departments (for example, different layouts/colors/logos/fonts for communications about/by your youth program versus your adult education program)
- To set up your master e-Blast template(s), see this tutorial about creating templates to get started working with templates/for an overview of working with communication templates in Fundly CRM.
- To configure a master template for your e-Blasts, start by going to Main Menu: Communications: Create New Communication.
- To create a brand new master template from scratch using one of our blank/default layouts, navigate to the System Templates tab. If you already have a master template that you'd like to copy and use as a jumping off point for a new master template (perhaps you want to create a seasonal version of your regular newsletter template with seasonal or holiday images or colors), go to the My Templates tab.
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- Please Note: there are significant differences in the layout options offered by the five system/default layouts and you cannot convert one layout to another; that is, if you initially selected the single column layout, you cannot then convert it to a 2 column/side-by-side layout. You need to have started with the correct base/default layout in order to get the correct # of articles horizontally. The main layout option differences are:
- e-Blast #1 (yellow template) offers the cleanest/most slimmed down layout. You can have any number of articles (vertically) that you want. You can hide/remove images and buttons from each article individually (to display only text, or only text plus and image, or text plus an image plus a button). The article buttons and images can individually have their alignment set to left or right (that is, with this layout you can align all articles, for example, so that the image is on the left (as shown in the thumbnail of e-Blast #3 [the brown one]) or you can alternate right and left as is shown in template #1's thumbnail.
- e-Blast #2 (the blue one) is similar to template #1 except that it provides an option for 2 articles, side by side, horizontally/"row". You can add more (as many as you like) rows/more articles vertically.
- e-Blast #3 (the brown one) is similar to template #1 except that it provides the options to provide a second row of header images; this second row of header images can range from 1-3 images.
- e-Blast #4 (the white one) provides the option to have 3 articles horizontally per row (with the ability to add additionally rows).
- e-Blast #5 (the green one) is similar to template #2 except that it omits the header image and it has a hard-coded footer border/area. Please be aware that you can delete the header image widget from template #2 if you prefer to use a template that doesn't have the hard-coded footer area.
- e-Blast #6 (the blank/unformatted one) is a plain/"blank slate" template that has no formatting/layout at all.
- Please Note: you can change almost everything on all of these templates. You can change the background color and border color of the headers, delete the image from the header, change the alignment of the header image, change the alignment/placement of the image and text in any "image + text" widget, etc. Formatting tips provided below starting with Step #12.
- Note: Embedded videos are not supported in our communications templates (and, in fact, will usually break the template). We recommend instead that users insert an image/screenshot from the video and hyperlink the image to direct to the video (on your website/youtube/etc., wherever the video is hosted).
- In either tab, scroll down to the e-Blasts category, hover over the blank/default layout that you wish to use to build your master template, and click the green Use button.
- Click the black Save as Template button in the upper right hand corner to save this copy as a master template.
- A pop up window will appear. Enter the name of your master template and click the Save button. After saving, you will now find your master template in the e-Blasts section of the My Templates tab of Create New Communication (template manager/library).
- You can hover over the master template and click the blue Edit button to go in and make any changes to your master template.
- In general, the master template should be a blank layout that you will use over and over to send bulk e-communications, such as newsletters, to your constituents.
- You will want to configure the layout by adding your logo, header, footer, and setting the colors (background color, button colors, etc.). You will also want to configure your overall layout/appearance of your articles/content. For instance, do you want your articles/newsletter sections configured as a single column list, with all articles aligned on the left, as pictured here?
- Or perhaps as a single column with the alignment of the images in your articles alternating right and left, as shown here?
- If you have any questions on how to achieve a particular format or need help creating a custom template, contact support@fundly.com for assistance.
- Once you have your master template(s) configured, you will be able to use it over and over to send e-Blasts/emails to your contacts. Read our Send e-Blast (Newsletter) Part II: Send New e-Blast tutorial for the steps on using your master template to send email to your contacts.
- If a user is subscribed to newsletter/e-blast categories, user can unsubscribe Newsletter by clicking on Unsubscribe. It will take them to a page which will show them all their subscribed newsletter option. User can select and unsubscribe the newsletter.
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