We offer the ability to create custom layouts for your mass emails that use the drag and drop email editor as a feature available to partners who make a recurring monthly donation to support our toolset. Contact us here to ask about a partnership and request access.
Once you are a partner, you can access custom email layouts in the menu in the Details tab of the Start Organizing menu by clicking the Email Wrappers & Layouts link.
On the custom email wrappers and layouts page, first choose the list you want to edit the layout for from the dropdown. Each list can have multiple different wrappers and layouts. You can choose any group you are an administrator of.
Once you've chosen your list, click the Add New Layout button to start making a layout.
Making A Layout
Action Network has layout templates for action, fundraising, and newsletter emails. You can use these as is or click the Duplicate button and make changes so you can customize them as you need. The built-in templates will say [Default] next to them.
If you want to create a layout from scratch, click the Add New Layout button. Next, give your layout a name.
Then enter defaults for your button color, button text, and body text if you'd like. These default colors will apply to buttons and text in the drag and drop email editor. To have them apply to the layout editor, save your layout and edit it again.
Next, you can create a layout using the drag and drop editor. Email layouts are like templates. When you choose a layout when writing an email, the layout's design will be loaded into the drag and drop email editor and you can customize it from there, creating the email you want to send based on the layout as a starting point. For example, you could create a layout with your logo at the top, a side by side text block underneath for newsletter content, and a call to action section with a button after that, plus a footer. You'd leave the content blank so when the layout was loaded into an email you're writing all you need to do is customize the content sections to finish designing your email. Layouts are mobile responsive by default and work in all email readers, allowing you to quickly make complex designs without code.
The drag and drop editor works largely the same as it does when writing email. Choose blocks you want to use in the content tab and drag them into the layout on the left. From there, click on them to view options in the sidebar, and drag to rearrange or use the buttons next to the block on the left in the layout section to duplicate or delete. Text blocks have a section when editing the text to add personalization clips labeled "Personalize" so you can add clips to your layouts. The body section has options that apply to the entire layout like background color and font.
You can also lock blocks by clicking on them and using the row admin section in the sidebar options. This allows you to make layout blocks unselectable (they can't be edited), undraggable (they can't be moved), or undeletable (they can't be deleted). This is useful to lock down portions of your layout such as your logo header or your footer that don't need to change each time you write an email, to prevent accidental edits.
Note: We automatically add an unsubscribe link at the bottom of all emails, including custom layouts. This section is not editable, and you don't have to worry about adding an unsubscribe link to your layout. Please do not try to hide this section, it must be present to handle unsubscribes. However, we do have the ability to hide it for you in special situations. Contact us to find out more. We also support list-unsubscribe, which will display a one-click unsubscribe link in some recipient's email readers
Saving, Previewing, Managing, Deleting, & Duplicating
You can preview your layout in your inbox using the Save & Send Test section below. Once you're done, click save to return to your list of email layouts.
In the list you can quickly edit and preview any custom layouts you have made, and set a default to be used for your list's mass emails. You can always pick a different layout for each email, this simply sets the default.
You can also delete layouts, though note that deleting a layout is permanent and cannot be undone.
You can duplicate layouts as well with the duplicate button. If your group is in a network, you can optionally duplicate the layout to child groups as well, giving you a way to easily share layouts with children.
If you have a network and want to share a layout with all child groups, you can click the Send button. Note that if you do this, your child groups will not be able to edit the layout on their end. However, any changes made in the parent group will automatically apply to the child groups.