Mail Designer 365 makes HTML email design easy, but there are still some key things to be aware of when it comes to building your email templates. This quick guide shares our top 5 best practices when using Mail Designer 365.

1. Always use text styles

Text styles make your design more reliable when sending, as they are automatically set up with a fallback font. This means your text will be displayed using an email safe font, should there be any compatibility issues with the first font you've chosen.

In this example, there is no text style or no fallback font set up. If the font 'Allerta Stencil' is unavailable, readers will receive an unformatted message.

You can learn more about setting up text styles here.

It is also a good idea to set up text styles, as they help you to keep all text consistent throughout your design. Without a style, editing newsletter text is more difficult, as you will have to apply changes to every section of your design manually.

2. Use text layout blocks for email copy

Use the designated text layout blocks for any email copy, as you may run into compatibility issues otherwise. Email designs which are purely made up of images often encounter problems after sending.

What could go wrong?

• Some email providers block images in emails by default. Your all-image email will appear blank and readers will miss your message.
• Using only images also increases the size your email; making it much slower to load.
• Spam filters can detect and trap image-only emails as a precaution.

This email consists solely of image elements. Although it's hard to see a problem while editing inside Mail Designer, after sending, you could run into compatibility issues.

Decorative text like buttons and eye-catchers are ok to go in an image area. Any copy which is important to the message of your email should be displayed in a text block.

This design looks almost the same as the first, but is much better practice. Text is contained in text blocks and images in image areas.

3. One link per image block

Unlike text blocks, where you can include as many different text links as you like, you can only use one link per image block. This is because the link attaches itself to the entire area of the block, rather than the individual design element you are referring to.

In this example, 4 buttons have been placed in one image block. Only one link will work per image area.

To link two or more images (e.g. social media buttons, product catalogue listings, etc.), you will need to use a multi-image layout block as a workaround. Each design element needs to be linked inside its own image area in order for the links to work correctly.

Use a multi-image layout block if you want to add additional links.

You can find more information on how to insert multiple image links here.

4. Think about your mobile version

You can customise content in the smartphone view to make it more suitable for mobile users. This is done by detaching the respective layout blocks to separate them from the main design (see this tutorial.)

We would advise against detaching all of your mobile blocks from the main layout. Not only does it create a much larger file size (you essentially have two email designs in one), it also means that any changes you make to the content of your email will have to be made twice.

Detaching all of your mobile blocks from your main layout as shown here will increase the size of your design file and make editing more difficult.

5. Don't change your design following export

As we have no means of testing external or custom code, our team cannot guarantee that changes made outside of Mail Designer 365 app will be compatible.

It is best practice to carry out any changes inside the app and re-export new versions until you have settled on your final design.

When you are copying your exported code into your ESP's editor, don't change any aspects of it. We cannot guarantee your design will look the same as you intended it to if you change it.

With Mail Designer 365 you can use the search and sort option to organize your designs to your preference and also search for designs when you're in a hurry. Here's how...

How to quickly find a design

In the top right-hand corner of the design chooser you can find a search box:

Use this search box to quickly search a design by name:

How to sort your designs

Make sure that you are on the "My Designs" section of your Mail designer 365 window. The sort feature is not available in the "All Design Ideas" section.

In the bottom bar of the "My Designs" section of the design chooser you can find the sort menu:

Click on an option to sort your designs to your personal preference. For example, you can choose to sort your designs from the following options:

If you click on an option, your sort preference will be applied to your designs and automatically remembered by Mail Designer 365. For example, here designs have been sorted alphabetically (Title A-Z.)

Changing the language

You can change the language of all equinux Software products by changing the language settings of your device. For instance, on the Mac, you can do the following:

Open "System Preferences."

Click "Language & Region."

Change to your preferred language by clicking the "+" button. A popup will appear where it will let you choose the language you want to add. Please note, Mail Designer 365 is currently only available in English, German and Chinese.

Click "Add" once you have chosen.

Drag your preferred language to the top of the list. The language on top will be the one that applies.

If you have not already done so, close your software by choosing "Mail Designer 365" > "Quit Mail Designer."

Reopen Mail Designer 365. The program will now be in the language you have chosen.

Alignment Tools Keyboard Shortcuts

With versions Mail Designer 365, you have access to different keyboard shortcuts for aligning your graphic elements.

In case you do not want to use the Align Position tool manually, then feel free to remember these helpful shortcuts: