Create and design emails in Xendy

Introduction

With Xendy, creating emails is very easy. You can create a newsletter or a new email automation in no time. Use templates, template blocks, or the global email settings to make creating emails even simpler.

Create a new email

Select ‘New email’ in the top left to create a new email. You can later send this email as a newsletter or insert it as a step in an email automation.

After clicking ‘New email’, a pop-up opens with two options:

• Blank email: build your email from a completely blank template.
• Template: choose a template you previously saved. This template will be copied into your new email and you can customise it as desired.

Now choose the basic settings for the email you want to send:

• Sender name: the sender name visible to your recipient. Typically your name, such as ‘John from Company Name’, your company name, or ‘Team Company Name’.
• Sender email: the email address from which you want to send. Note: the domain is fixed, so you can only fill in the part before the @.
• Subject line: set the subject line of the email here. This is the first thing your recipients see in their email client. We recommend keeping the subject between 40 and 60 characters.
• Preheader: a preheader is the short text displayed next to or under the subject line, making your email more attractive and informative. Use between 40 and 100 characters.

Click ‘Create draft’ to create the email. All emails created as drafts can be found under ‘Drafts’ in the left menu. By clicking on a specific email there, you can navigate to it.

Duplicate a sent email

Select ‘Sent’ in the left menu. Click the three dots next to the sent email you want to duplicate. Then choose ‘Duplicate to draft’. The email will now be duplicated to ‘Drafts’, where you can further edit and send it.

Duplicate a draft email

Select ‘Drafts’ in the left menu. Click the three dots next to the draft you want to duplicate. Then choose ‘Duplicate’. The email will now be duplicated to ‘Drafts’ where you can further edit and send it.

Edit email in the email editor

Editing an email in the email editor is very easy. Open the email you want to edit via ‘Drafts’, ‘Templates’, or open the step you want to edit within the email automations. You will now see the email editor to make your changes.

Add email blocks to an email

You can easily use your saved template blocks in emails. Open the email you want to edit via ‘Drafts’, ‘Templates’, or open the step you want to edit within the email automations. You will now see the email editor to make your changes.

Click one of the ‘Purple plus icons’ on the left to add a new row to the email. A pop-up will open with all the email blocks you can add.

Standard email blocks

The standard blocks allow you to quickly build emails. Xendy provides the following standard email blocks:

• Text: add paragraphs or headings (H1, H2, H3) to your email. You can adjust the font, size, line height, and text colour directly in the sidebar.
• Images: upload your own images or choose from the media library. You can set alt text, adjust alignment, and apply padding or spacing.
• Buttons: create clickable call-to-actions. You can edit the text, link, font, background colour, text colour, padding, and border radius of the button.
• YouTube video: paste a link to a YouTube video, and Xendy will automatically display a preview with a play button. Clicking the video in the email takes the recipient to YouTube to watch it.
• Social media icons: add icons for your social media platforms. Choose which icons to display and adjust their size and colour. Links are automatically pulled from your global email settings.
• Divider block: use a divider to add spacing or visual separation between sections. You can select the background colour and height of the divider.
• Pre-made blocks: Xendy offers various pre-made blocks with, for example, 2 columns or a product and rows selection. Choose these blocks to make designing emails even easier.

Email blocks for webshops

In addition to the standard email blocks, Xendy offers email blocks for customers with an active webshop integration. Via this integration with WooCommerce, Shopify, Lightspeed, Magento 2, or a custom webshop, data is actively imported for use.

• Product block: if you have connected your webshop (e.g. WooCommerce, Shopify, Lightspeed, Magento, or a custom webshop) you can easily insert products into your emails. Product images, names, prices, and links are pulled via the webshop integration.
• Abandoned cart block: display the items a customer has left in their cart. Add a button that links directly to the checkout page.

Note: if no products are available to display (e.g. empty cart), the email will not be sent to that contact.

Email settings theme

In the email settings, you can find various options for the appearance or content of your emails. Here, you can configure how buttons look, which font to use, or which fallback should be used if a customer’s first name is not available. This saves a lot of time and ensures every email matches your branding.

Read how this works in our separate article on the ‘Email settings’.

Templates

With email templates, you can create an email in your organization’s branding once. You can then use this email as a base for future emails.

Create template from a blank email

Select ‘Templates’ in the left menu. Click ‘New template’ in the top right. You can now enter a name for the template. Click ‘Create template’ to create it. A blank email will now open where you can insert email blocks.

Save a draft as a template

Select ‘Drafts’ in the left menu. Click the three dots next to the draft you want to save as a template. Then choose ‘Save as template’. The email will now be moved to ‘Templates’. You can continue editing it there.

Template blocks

Sometimes, there are specific blocks in an email you want to reuse in new emails. For example, your footer with social media icons, a ‘menu’ with links to your website, or a block with your USPs. You can easily save these blocks to reuse them in another email.

Save an email block as a template block

Select ‘Drafts’ in the left menu. Open the email from which you want to save a block as a template block by clicking on the draft name. Hover over the email blocks and click the ‘Save’ icon. Enter a title and click ‘Save’.

Create a new template block

Select ‘Templates’ in the left menu. Choose ‘Template blocks’ at the top to see all your existing template blocks. Click ‘New template block’ in the top right to create a new template block. Enter a name for the block and click ‘Create’. You can now design the block just like you would edit a draft email in the email editor.

Edit template blocks

Select ‘Templates’ in the left menu. Choose ‘Template blocks’ at the top to view all existing template blocks. Click the name of the template block you want to edit. The email editor will open, and you can make your changes there.

Note: if you update a template block, it will be updated in all draft emails and email automations where this block is used.

Use a saved template block

You can easily use your saved template blocks in emails. Open the email you want to edit via ‘Drafts’, ‘Templates’, or open the step you want to edit within the email automations. You will now see the email editor to make your changes.

Click on one of the ‘Purple plus icons’ on the left to add a new row to the email. A pop-up will open with all the email blocks you can add.

Select ‘All blocks’ under ‘My blocks’. Here you will find all your template blocks. There are two ways to add a template block to an email:

• Insert: select ‘Insert’ to add the template block to the email.
• Insert content: click the downward arrow next to the template block you want to add and choose ‘Insert content’. This option pastes the content of the block into the email editor, allowing you to make changes to the block content without affecting where else it is used.

Frequently asked questions