Content Editor

The content editor allows you to edit the message content of your mail job.

The editor consists of the main panel that displays the actual editor and an additional panel with various sections on the right.

In this panel on the right, each section can be opened and closed separately, so that you only need to see the content of those sections that are currently of interest to you. Simply click on a section header to open/close this section.

The WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editor for a message that is based on a standard system template has two modes:

In Design Mode you edit the HTML message in WYSIWYG fashion. In Code Mode you can edit the underlying HTML code directly. You can switch between the two modes at any time with the icons at the top left of the editor toolbar.

Use the other icons in the editor toolbar for access to various other editor function, for example to define formats and colors, to create links, add images, etc.

Since the content is based on a template, you can only edit certain editable blocks of the content. In the editor, move the mouse over the content. Editable blocks will be highlighted when the mouse moves over them. Or try clicking on the content part that you want to edit. If the part belongs to an editable block, then this block becomes highlighted and a cursor appears at the location that you clicked. You can now edit the content of this editable block as you see fit, but you cannot change anything outside of this block. To edit content that is part of a different editable block, simply click this other content to highlight and edit this other block.

Sometimes, the editable part consists only of an image. In such a case, when you click the editable image, you do not get an edit cursor. Instead you get the options to replace the image with an image of your own, or to set the size of the image.

All content areas that do not react to your click, i.e. where no editable block is highlighted and no cursor appears when you click, are not editable but are instead part of the template itself.

However, depending on the template definition, the template may contain parts that you can clone (duplicate) or delete from the content. These options may be available for template areas that surround one of the editable blocks. You will see if such an option is available when you put the cursor into the editable block. In such a case, not only the editable block itself is highlighted, but also the surrounding template part (or parts) that can be cloned and/or deleted is highlighted.

Note that the HTML editor in Maestro supports only a subset of all possible HTML tags, which includes the most commonly used HTML features, especially for emails.

For a message that is based on the currently selected standard system template, the panel on the right contains the following sections:

Widget Hierarchy

This panel section shows you all the fluid design widgets that are currently contained in the HTML content, and also the hierarchy in which the widgets are nested into each other.

If you select a widget entry in the hierarchy, then the corresponding widget will be highlighted with a widget border in the main WYSIWYG editor panel. Double click the widget entry to open the widget's properties dialog or, for an already selected widget entry, click the properties icon near the right edge of the entry to open the properties dialog.

You can delete a widget by selecting its widget entry in the hierarchy panel section and pressing the DELETE or BACKSPACE key on the keyboard.

See below for more details about fluid design widgets and their properties.

Fluid Design Widgets

This panel section shows the available fluid design widgets that you can use in the HTML content.

Fluid design (often also called "responsive design") is a design principle under which the HTML content is created in such a fashion that it looks nice and readable on a variety of email clients, both with large and small screens, on computers or handheld devices.

To add a fluid design widget to your HTML content, place the cursor at the target location, then open the widget gallery dialog by clicking the Open the Widget Gallery link and insert the desired widget via this gallery. As a shortcut, you can also click on one of the widget icons below the link, to open the gallery dialog already with the desired widget section selected.

You have the choice between several different widget types. These widgets can also be nested into each other. See here for more details about the available widget types and how to use the fluid design widgets.

All widgets that you add to the HTML content will also be represented in the "widget hierarchy" panel section (see above for details).

Template Colors

This panel section allows you to change the colors that are used by the template. The colors that are currently in use are shown as color patches. Click on a color patch to open a color picker. Then in the color picker, select the new color. Once have found the color you want, click the [Close Color Picker] button to hide the color picker and show the color patches again. If you change your mind while the color picker is open and while you are trying to find a new color, and you want to stick with the previous color without changing it, click the Previous color patch in the color picker before closing it, to reset your color selection to the previous color.

Template Border

This panel section allows you to select the border type for the main content box. You have the choice between a slight 4-pixel wide shade, a single 1-pixel wide line, or no border at all. Simply click one one of the available border types to select it.

Template Default Font

This panel section allows you to select the default font that is to be used by the template. Simply click one of the available fonts to select it. This default is then automatically applied to the template. More precisely: The selected font is set as the default for all editable blocks in the template, and also for all fluid design widgets that are currently used, both widgets inside of the editable blocks and widgets in the non-editable template areas. The default font does not affect any text in the non-editable template areas that is not contained in a fluid design widget.

In the editable blocks, where necessary you can of course always override this default with individual font settings, for example for certain paragraphs or words.

Merge Fields

This panel section shows all available merge fields. Click on a merge field name to insert it into the editor at the current cursor position.

Drop-Ins

This panel section shows all available user-defined and system drop-ins. (Except for the social media sharing system drop-ins, see "Social Media" section below).

Click on a drop-in name to insert it into the editor at the current cursor position. Hover the mouse pointer over a drop-in name to see a short description of what this drop-in will do. See also here.

Unsubscribe Action

This panel specifies the unsubscribe action link (URL) that is used to replace the *UnsubscribeURL system drop-in. This system drop-in is mandatory to be included in the email content of the message. It is replaced with the URL that is specified here.

Click the Change link in the section to edit the action link.

Attachments

This panel section shows all attachments that are part of the message. You can add any number of file attachments to your message, or none at all.

To edit the current attachments, click the Change link in that section. This opens a dialog where you can upload new attachments or download or remove attachments that were added previously.

Hosted Attachments

This panel section shows all hosted attachments that are part of the message. You can add any number of hosted attachments to your message, or none at all.

To add or delete the current hosted attachments, click on Manage the Hosted Attachments in that section. This opens a dialog where you can upload new attachments or download or remove attachment that were added previously.

Or in the list of already added hosted attachments that is shown in the panel section, click on an attachment name to insert a link to this attachment into the editor at the current cursor position.

Landing Pages

This panel section shows all available landing pages. Click on a landing page name to insert a link to this landing page into the editor at the current cursor position.

Social Media

This panel section allows you to integrate social media sharing and publishing into your email. See here for more details.

Social Media Sharing

By embedding the social media sharing icons (or similar links) into your message, you enable the recipients to easily share your message with other people, on various social media.

You can either include the full {{*SocialMedia}} system drop-in or one of the specific ShareURL drop-ins.

Click on a drop-in name to insert it into the editor at the current cursor position. Hover the mouse pointer over a drop-in name to see a short description of what this drop-in will do.

Content Options

On this panel section you can define various options for the content

Images

Define how the images in the HTML content shall be sent with the email content. You have two options:

• As URLs: The images are included as URLs that load the images from the Maestro server when the email is viewed, i.e. the images are loaded from the server on-demand by the email client of the recipient.

• As Attachments: The images are included in the email itself, as attachments. The email client of the recipient can show the images without the need for an internet connection to access the Maestro server, but the email data that needs to be transferred is considerably larger.

Note, that this choice does not apply to images that are defined with an external image reference URL, i.e. with a URL that points to an image on an external server. These images are always sent with their original external URL.

See here for a more in-depth explanation of the differences between linked images (="as URL") and inline images (="as attachment"), which also explains the main advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Language

Define the character encoding to be used to encode the email message.

If Maestro is being used in a single language environment, either with plain English or with one of the common (West) European languages, then the safest choice is always the ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1) encoding. It contains all 26 common characters (both in upper and lower case), numerals 0 - 9, all the common punctuation characters and the more common special characters such as '@', '+', '*', and others. In addition, it contains many of the uncommon characters required for most West European languages, such as 'ö', 'å', 'ç' and others.
See here for more information.

Drop-In Tags

Define the drop-in opening and closing tags.
See here for more information.

Alternative Text

Define if the alternative text for the HTML message shall be created automatically from the HTML content or shall be supplied manually.

When LISTSERV Maestro creates the alternative text automatically, then the generated text is also formatted with additional spacing and special separator lines to mark up certain typical sections of your message, such as:

• Top Banner: This section often includes elements such as the view-in-browser link or certain other texts that address for example display problems of the message and how to solve them. To mark a section of your HTML as top banner, add the lsoft-plainTopBanner class to the outermost tag of this section.
• Bottom Banner: This section typically includes the unsubscribe link but frequently also general information about your organization such as contact addresses and legal disclaimers. To mark a section of your HTML as bottom banner, add the lsoft-plainBottomBanner class to the outermost tag of this section.
• Headings: Headings of four levels are recognized in the HTML, you can either use the standard HTML tags like <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, <H4>, or you can alternatively use the classes lsoft-plainHeading1, lsoft-plainHeading2, lsoft-plainHeading3 or lsoft-plainHeading4 if you code the header section in your HTML with other tags.
• Bulleted and Numbered Lists: If your HTML contains the standard <UL> or <OL> tags to render bulleted or numbered lists, then those lists are also included in the plain text alternative using the asterisk (*) as bullets and integral numbers (1..n) for numbered lists.
• Images: If an image in your HTML has the alt attribute set, then Maestro by default includes a link to this image in the plain alternative text part and prefixes this link with the value of the alt image attribute. If you do not want this behavior, open the image's properties in the content editor and un-tick the "Include a link to this image in the text alternative" box.
• HTML sections without alternative text: To mark a section in your HTML message so that LISTSERV Maestro does not create alternative text for it, use the lsoft-noPlainAltText class in a tag that surrounds this section.

Note: The system templates that are available with Maestro are already augmented with the special attributes described above to designate the given sections and areas.

Automatic CSS Inlining

Define if automatic CSS inlining shall be applied to the HTML content of the mail job. The CSS inlining will be applied just before delivery of the job.

If the mail job's content is based on a template, then this setting is defined by the template and cannot be changed here. In this case, the CSS inlining (if enabled) will be applied to the HTML code of both the template and the user supplied editable blocks.

Automatic Email Format

Define if the full HTML message, including the plain text alternative, shall be sent to all recipients, or if the email format for each individual recipient shall be defined automatically, based on a certain condition.

If the condition is true for a recipient, then this recipient will receive the full HTML message, including the plain text alternative. If it is false, then the recipient will receive a plain text message instead, that contains only the text alternative.

This can, for example, be used to let recipients choose the type of email they prefer (HTML or plain text).
The condition must be specified in the standard LISTSERV condition syntax, similar to what is used in a LISTSERV conditional block of the type ".BB ... .EB". See the LISTSERV documentation if more information is required.

Preferably, the condition should also contain at least one merge field from the recipient data so that the condition is a variable condition whose true/false result varies from recipient to recipient. Otherwise, the condition would evaluate to the same true/false result for all recipients; all of them receiving the same content type anyway, defeating the purpose of having a condition in the first place.

Example:

Assume that the recipient data contains a merge field named MAIL_TYPE and that a value of "html" in that field means that the recipient has opted to receive HTML email. If any other value is found, then the recipient wants to receive only plain text email. The condition you specify would be the following:

&MAIL_TYPE = html

(This setting is only available for HTML content with a plain text alternative.)