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Email Content Editor Overview

Article: 000050517

Updated: July 26, 2024

When creating emails, the Content Editor is what you use to customize the content of your email. If you have ever used a word processor, then you should feel right at home when utilizing its many features.

This article will detail the available Content Editor toolbar menu options and features. If you're using the new email editor, read Overview of the New Email Editor instead.

Users:

Administrators	✓
Company Managers	✓
Marketing Managers	✓
Sales Managers
Salespersons
Jr. Salespersons

Tip: Are you looking for information about Constant Contact’s Email and Digital Marketing product? This article is for Constant Contact’s Lead Gen & CRM product. Head on over to the Email and Digital Marketing articles by clicking here. Not sure what the difference is? Read this article.

Regarding Email Creation

To create an email in Lead Gen & CRM, you must first start with a template. Though using either a created template or an existing template is up to you, emails can only be created by using a template.

Refer to the following articles for more information on the email creation process:

Important: We highly recommend disabling browser extensions that read or alter content when using our email editor to avoid undesired code injection issues. Those extensions include but are not limited to AI generators, ad blockers, grammar tools, and font and icon extensions.

Regarding Pasted Text

When pasting text from external sources, such as other websites or programs, there may be times when that text does not work correctly in the Email Content Editor. Pasted text may contain certain styling or formatting information that can cause unforeseen issues with the Email Content Editor.

Before pasting text in the Email Content Editor, first paste it into a plain text editor. This will strip the pasted text of any excess information and present it in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get manner. Once the text has been pasted as plain text, you can then copy and paste that plain text into the Email Content Editor.

Opening the Content Editor

To open the Content Editor in an email, create or edit an email in the left toolbar.

Hover over a layout or content block.
Double-click the content of the block.

The + Insert Menu

The + Insert menu allows you to insert different features, information, and objects into an email. This menu is located at the top of the designer window. Inserting design elements allows for a great deal of customization.

The available + Insert menu options are as follows.

	Available Settings		Description
	Media		Media Center trackable links. When inserting media files, you can set the file to display a preview image or display a link for popular social media platforms.
	Meeting Link		Adds a clickable link to book a meeting.
	Special Character		Adds a special ASCII character to the email. These characters include Greek letters, mathematical symbols, and certain shapes.
	Horizontal Line		Adds a horizontal line. The line serves as a de facto line break and is best used as a visual divider between text.
	Anchor		Adds a page anchor to the email. Anchors link to other parts of the email. When clicked, anchors allow viewers to quickly navigate an email.
	Page Break		Inserts a page break at the location. Page breaks force content onto a new printable page area.
	Date/Time		Inserts the date and time at the location. Dates are listed in month/day/year and year/day/month format.
	Nonbreaking Space		Adds a nonbreaking space between characters. When inserted between two words, nonbreaking spaces force the words to remain together. The linked words will appear together at the start of a line.

Shutterstock Icon

Available images from the vast Shutterstock library. When inserting Shutterstock images, be aware of pricing.

Image Icon

Popular image formats are .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, and .TIF. When inserting image files, you can modify the description that appears when hovering over the image, the image's dimensions, spacing around the image, and the image's borders.

Link Icon

Adds a clickable link to text, images, or media.

The Paragraph Menu

The Paragraph menu provides a way to format text.

The available formats transform text into a specific-sized font with appropriate leading and kerning.

The Font Menu

The Font menu offers a selection of fonts to use in the email.

The available fonts are the most common fonts available across the majority of browsers and computers.

The Font Size Menu

The Font Size menu provides a way to quickly change font size.

The font sizes are predetermined, and they are set to best display across a variety of browsers and computers.

The Merge Variable Menu

The Merge Variable menu provides a way to add merge variables to an email.

Merge variable can be used to merge information about the each recipient, so you can customize each email to make it look like you are sending a personal email to each person on your list.

Like dynamic content, merge variables allow for personalized emails—which leads to higher transaction rates.

The Text Enhancement Toolbar

The Text Enhancement toolbar houses modifiers for text. The features are akin to those that you would find in a word processor.

The available enhancements are as follows:

	Available Settings		Description
	Text Color		Modifies the selected text to appear as a specified color.
	Text Background Color		Modifies the selected text to have a specified color behind the text.
	Fill Color		Sets the background of the content block as a specified color. This color appears behind all text, images, and media.
	Format		Modifies the formatting of the specified text. The Format menu has the most common formatting styles available, including those for bolded and italicized text.
	Justification		Sets the justification of the specified content. Justification determines how content appears on a given line. Content can be set to appear on the left, right, or center of a content block. Additionally, text can be set as justified, which spreads it evenly across a given set of lines.
	Bullet List		Sets off in a bulleted list a specified set of text or content. Bullet styles are predetermined through the list button. Bullets can be indented by pressing the TAB key on the keyboard.
	Numbered List		Sets off in a numbered list a specified set of text or content. Number styles are predetermined through the list button. Numbers can be indented by pressing the TAB key on the keyboard.
	Increase Indent		Increases the overall indent of a specified set of text or content.
	Decrease Indent		Decreases the overall indent of a specified set of text or content.

Legacy Emails: The Table Menu

In legacy emails, the Table menu allows you to insert tables. Tables are an excellent way of structuring data into an easy-to-read, aesthetically pleasing format. Tables can be somewhat complex, however.

Important: Tables are not available for use in Simple and Designer emails.

Inserting Tables

To insert a table into an email, Hover over a layout or content block.

Double-click the content within a layout block to open the Content Editor.
Click the Edit icon in the desired content block.
Click Table > Table in the inline editor menu.
Select the table's dimension.
Drag the sides of the table to expand it.

Table Toolbar

The table toolbar contains buttons that modify the table. These buttons perform the most common tasks associated with the menu.

The available buttons on the toolbar are as follows:

	Available Settings		Description
	Table Properties		A link to the list of table properties.
	Delete Table		Deletes the entire table.
	Insert Row Before		Inserts a row above the currently selected cell.
	Insert Row After		Inserts a row below the currently selected cell.
	Delete Row		Deletes the row the currently selected cell is part of.
	Insert Column Before		Inserts a column to the left of the currently selected cell.
	Insert Column After		Inserts a column to the right of the currently selected cell.
	Delete Column		Deletes the column the currently selected cell is part of.

Table Properties

To edit a table's properties after inserting the table into an email, do the following:

Click anywhere in the table.
Click Table > Table Properties in the inline editor menu.
Change table property parameters as needed.
Click OK.

The available properties are as follows:

	Available Settings		Description
	Width		The overall width of the table (in pixels). Changing this number changes how wide the table is, not how wide individual cells are.
	Height		The overall height of the table (in pixels). Changing this number changes how tall the table is, not how tall individual cells are.
	Cell Spacing		The amount of gutter space (in pixels) all cells in the table have.
	Cell Padding		The amount of space (in pixels) between all cell contents and cell borders.
	Border		The thickness (in pixels) of the table borders.
	Caption		Adds space for caption text above the table.
	Alignment		The page alignment for the table as a whole.
	Style		The overall HTML style of the table.
	Border Color		The color (in hexadecimal value) of any borders associated with the table.
	Background Color		The color (in hexadecimal value) behind cell contents.
	Background Image		The image behind cell contents. Background images must be uploaded from a computer.
	Background Repeat		Whether or not the background image will repeat. Backgrounds may repeat across either the X-axis or Y-axis. This feature is best used for smaller images, or for those images that create a pattern when repeated.
	Background Size		The overall size of the background image. Menu options allow the image to cover the entire table, be contained within the table, or be manually adjusted.
	Background Width		The width (in pixels) of the background image.
	Background Height		The height (in pixels) of the background image.

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