The new email editor makes creating great content for you members even easier, but it does involve some change. Here are some common questions users have had.
Other than message composing and editing, are there any changes to the mail sending workflow?
No, everything else about mail sending remains the same. You will still select recipients, message sending options, and schedule messages just as you always have prior to the editor update.
Why can’t I use any of my old templates?
The new Clubessential Email Editor uses a completely different set of more modern technologies compared to our current editor, which means that existing templates are not automatically compatible, nor can they be automatically converted. Any existing templates you want to use will need to be rebuilt in the new editor. While we understand this is additional work, building out a new message is a great way to learn the new editor - we're also confident that you’ll find the new editor to be much simpler and easier to use. The tools available in the new editor significantly decrease the amount of time and effort necessary to construct a message. Most importantly - the reliability of the new editor means that it will look as expected when it reaches your members' inboxes, ensuring a much better member experience.
Can I still use images from image explorer?
The new Clubessential Email Editor has an all-new image and file manager that offers much of the same functionality as image explorer. Not only does it have quick and easy drag-and-drop uploading to your emails, the images themselves are optimized to load even faster for your members. Images that are in the image explorer are not accessible through the new image and file manager. While we strongly encourage you to use the new image manager, you can still include images from the image explorer without uploading them to the new image manager if it is absolutely necessary. To do so, navigate to your image in image explorer using either Chrome or Firefox. Right-click your image and select “View Image.” On the image preview screen, right click the image again, and select “Copy Image Address.” Once you have your image URL copied, navigate back to the editor and select the image you want to replace. In the right-hand Content Properties panel, replace the URL of the existing image with your copied URL by pasting it in the URL field.
Are there any file size restrictions for the new file manager?
Any image or file exceeding 12 MB, or any image exceeding 1920 pixels in width will be optimized by the new file manager, however there is no restriction on the overall storage. To ensure the fast loading of your messages, especially for those viewing it on mobile devices, you should upload the smallest version of your image as possible. For animated GIF images, you should ensure they fall below the maximum file sizes as the optimization may break the animation.
Does the new file manager allow me to reorganize my files and photos?
As of right now, photos and files remain in the location you upload them to and cannot be moved or renamed. Photos and files can, however, be deleted. If you want to keep an organized folder structure, we suggest creating your folders when you begin using the new editor.
Can documents uploaded to the new file manager be secured/require login?
No. You should only use the new file manager to send documents that you do not want behind a login screen. If you want a document to require a login, you must upload it through the site’s document upload.
I used a background image in my email, but it’s not showing up in Outlook. Why is this?
While the current editor allows for background images, the new Clubessential Email Editor makes it even easier to enhance your emails with background images to create visually stunning communications. Some of our brand new themed templates also utilize background images. While background images have fairly wide support, some webmail clients as well as many versions of Outlook do not support them. It’s always important to specify a background color for the row your image is contained within, so that those using these email programs can read any text you have on top of the image easily. See also: “Where are my members reading their emails?”
I sent my email but the font is showing up slightly different in Outlook. Why is this?
The new Clubessential Email Editor has a wide variety of fonts available for use, many of which we use when building our websites. These fonts are known as “web fonts.” It’s best practice to use web fonts wherever you can, however, it’s important to keep in mind, that not all email clients offer universal support for web fonts.
Generally, the following email clients have good support for web fonts:
However, web font support depends on the email client, and won’t appear in some email clients such as recent versions of Outlook on Windows. Don’t worry, though - the new email editor automatically defines similar fallback fonts, so your message will still work for members using those email platforms. See also: “Where are my members reading their emails?”
I frequently use images in my email with text that wraps around it. How can I do this in the new editor?
Due to the way the stacking of multi-column content works in the new Clubessential Email Editor, there isn’t a way to directly wrap text around an image. Instead, you will need to use a combination of a two column row (containing your image in one column, and text beside it) followed by a one column row below it (containing your remaining text). In order to simulate text wrapping, you will need to have an amount of text that approximately matches the height of your image in the two column row. To see an example of this in action, take a look at the template called, “Newsletter 1,” which can be found in the Themed tab of the all-new template manager.
I use anchor links in my emails. Is this possible using the new email editor?
Anchor links are supported in many email programs, however notably they are not supported by Apple Mail on iOS, and this should be taken into account before deciding to use them (see also: “Where are my members reading their emails?”). For advanced users, anchor links can be created in the new email editor by using the HTML content area. See our separate anchor link guide on the Clubessential Knowledge Base.
Where are my members reading their emails?
We’ve done some extensive research on emails in the club industry. After examining data from over 100 million emails sent from our system, we’ve found the following to be the approximate average breakdown of devices that club industry emails are opened on:
Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen the usage of iPhones, iPads, and Gmail trending upward, whereas Outlook usage has decreased significantly over the past 12 months. We expect these trends to continue into the future.
Why does this matter? When designing your emails, it is extremely important to consider where members will be reading them. This can guide your decisions about what elements to include, and how to format your content. It’s also important to understand the trends, so that you can stay ahead of the curve.
Can I edit new editor emails in the old editor?
While the system will allow this, you should never edit new editor emails in the old editor. Doing so will break compatibility with many email clients, resulting in an email that doesn’t perform as expected.
Is the existing/old editor going away?
While we have no firm date in place, we do plan on eventually decommissioning the existing/old editor, so it is important that you begin using and migrating your communications to the new editor. Our current target as of this writing is mid-2020 at the earliest. We will be communicating our plans once we do have a firm date in place.
Will this new email editor eventually replace the site’s content editor?
The new Clubessential Email Editor employs technical strategies that tailor content specifically for email software to ensure the email will display correctly wherever it is opened. Since the new editor is email specific, it will not be replacing the content editor on website content pages.
What’s coming in the future?
Our team is hard at work continuing to enhance the functionality of the new Clubessential Email Editor even further, including adding hyperlink integration for events, Emoji support in templates, and the ability to delete template categories (all scheduled for completion in October/November 2019). Longer term, we are exploring a means of sending messages from a mobile device, as well as making sure you have access to the new editor in other areas of the product, such as reservations notifications. Of course, if you have any ideas or suggestions, we’d love to hear them!
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