These templates are ideal for sending content such as press releases, company announcements, invitations or other direct messages that do not directly originate from your monitoring results. They offer flexibility for broader communication needs. Once saved, they can be selected and used when composing emails for mass internal or external distribution to your distribution lists.
The Email Template option, found in the “+ Create New” dropdown menu, allows you to design and save reusable email layouts for general communication purposes, independent of your media monitoring newsfeeds.
The creation and editing process for email templates is identical to that described in the “How to create an email template using the BeFree editor” section below.
How to create a template using the BeFree editor #
To access the BeFree editor for creating email templates, navigate to the Sendings module from the left sidebar. From there, click the small dropdown arrow to the right of the “+ Create New” button in the top header bar. In the dropdown menu, select Email Template (see Screenshot 1).
Please note: the “+ Create New” button is only visible and accessible when you are viewing a section under Send in the left sidebar. It will not appear if you have selected a sub-section under Track (like Newsfeeds or Emails) or Manage (like Categories or Email Templates) (see Screenshot 2).
The editor interface #
The BeFree editor interface is typically divided into three main areas (see Screenshot 3):
- Left sidebar (responsiveness preview): this section contains icons for various screen sizes (desktop, tablet, mobile). Clicking these icons allows you to preview your template in the respective view, ensuring your design is optimised for all devices.
- Central workspace (drag-and-drop zone): this is the main canvas where you visually construct your template. It acts as a drawing area where you can drag and drop content elements. Initially, you will see prompts like “Drop content blocks here.”
- Right sidebar (content blocks and properties): this area is divided into three tabs:
- CONTENT: this displays a library of pre-built content blocks (e.g. TITLE, PARAGRAPH, LIST, MERGE TAGS, IMAGE, BUTTON, TABLE, DIVIDER, SPACER, SOCIAL, VIDEO, ICONS). These blocks are the building elements of your template.
- ROWS: this tab allows you to select various column layouts to define the structural arrangement of your template (e.g. full width, two columns, three columns).
- SETTINGS: this tab provides general settings applicable to the entire template (e.g. background colour, default fonts).
The creation process (drag & drop) #
- Build structure with “ROWS”: start by dragging a desired column layout from the “ROWS” tab into the central workspace. This defines the fundamental arrangement of your content.
- Add content blocks with “CONTENT”: switch to the “CONTENT” tab. Select the desired content blocks (e.g. “TITLE” for a headline, “PARAGRAPH” for text, “IMAGE” for a picture) and drag them into the columns you have created or directly into the workspace.
- Edit content: once a content block is placed, click on it to begin editing. For a text block, you can type or format text directly. For an image block, you can upload an image.
- Adjust properties (Properties panel): When you select a content block in the workspace, the Properties panel automatically appears on the right side (see ). Here, you can fine-tune detailed settings for the selected block, such as:
- Text blocks: font family, font weight, font size, text colour, line height, letter spacing, alignment, etc.
- Images: size, alignment, linking
- Buttons: text, link URL, colours, sizes
- Insert merge tags: merge tags are particularly powerful. These placeholders are automatically replaced with dynamic data when the template is sent, allowing for personalisation. To insert a merge tag, drag the MERGE TAGS block into your template or select the option in the editor. A modal will open (see ), where you can select the desired Type (e.g. Article, Recipient, Newsfeed) and the specific Property within that type (e.g. Title, FirstName, Date). The resulting Tag will be displayed and inserted into your template (e.g. {{Article. Title}} or {{Recipient.FirstName}}).
- Save the template: once you are satisfied with your design, click the SAVE button in the upper right corner of the editor to save your template. It will then be stored in the appropriate section (Newsfeed Templates or Email Templates under Manage) and can be reused for future sendings.
