Email Templates

Overview

UniSignIn has two kinds of email templates, both in Email Management:

• System Templates: the emails UniSignIn sends at sign-in, verification and billing, such as the welcome email and one-time passcode. They work out of the box, and you can change each one.
• Email Templates: your own emails, built from blocks and personalised with profile data and content lists. Use them in campaigns.

Both are designed in the same block editor, and use the colours, logo and footer from Branding. Emails are sent through the provider set in Email Settings.

System templates

Go to Email Management > System Templates.

Email	Sent when
Welcome	A reader registers.
One time password	A reader signs in with a one-time passcode.
Change password	A reader asks to reset their password.
Verification Link	A reader needs to verify their email address.
Account closed	A reader closes their account.
Subscription	A reader starts a subscription.
Invoice	A reader is charged for an order, a subscription payment or a top-up.
Renewal Reminder	A subscription is about to renew or a free trial is ending.
Countdown Reminder	A reader asked for a reminder on a Countdown.

The Status column shows which template is used:

Status	Meaning
Default	The built-in template.
Block editor · On	Your template from the block editor is used.
Customized · On	Your HTML template is used.
Block editor · Off or Customized · Off	You saved your own template, but the built-in one is used.

Click Edit to change an email, or Activity to see what was sent.

Edit a system email in the block editor

The block editor starts from a copy of the built-in email, so you only change what you need. Along the top:

Setting	What it does
Enabled	Use this template instead of the built-in one.
From, From name and Reply to	The sender and where replies go. Leave From empty to use the default sender.

Design the email as described in The block editor and click Save.

Some fields are required. For example, the One time password email must include the passcode. The Checks tab shows an error when a required field is missing, and you can't save until it is added.

HTML editor

You can also edit a system email as HTML. Click Use Twig editor in the block editor, or Switch to block editor to go back. The HTML editor has:

• Enable, Subject, Preview text, From, From Name, Reply To and Reply To Name.
• Variables, which inserts a value such as {{ user.first_name }}. Variables marked with * are required.
• Reset to default, which replaces the content with the built-in template. Nothing changes until you save.
• A live preview, switchable between Desktop and Mobile.

The HTML editor uses Twig in a restricted mode. Preview text is used even when Enable is off, so you can improve the inbox preview of the built-in templates too.

Your email templates

Go to Email Management > Email Templates. The list shows the Name, Type, Project, Subject and when each template was last edited. Use Edit, Activity, Duplicate and Delete on each row, and search by name.

Click New Template and pick a starting point:

Starter	What it has
Blank	Header, a text block and the footer.
Newsletter	An intro and the latest articles from a list.
Announcement	A hero with an image and a button, then a short note.
Offer	A promotion with a code, a button and the small print.

Along the top:

Setting	What it does
Name	For you; readers don't see it.
Type	Marketing or Journey emails must have an unsubscribe link and can be used in campaigns. Transactional emails don't need one.
Project	All or one project. A campaign can use templates for all projects or for its own project.

Click Save when you're done. Templates with errors in the Checks tab can't be saved.

The block editor

The editor has a panel with three tabs on the left, the email in the middle and the settings of the selected block on the right.

Blocks

Click a block type to add it, drag blocks to reorder them, and select a block to edit it.

Block	Use it for
Header	Brand name or logo.
Hero	Image, headline, text and a button.
Heading	A section title.
Text	Paragraphs. **bold**, *italic* and [link](url) work here.
Button	A filled or outline button.
Image	An image, optionally linked.
Callout	A highlighted box with a title and text.
Columns	Two columns, each with an image, title, text and link.
Data list	A list rendered with a sub-template, such as articles or order lines. See Lists and sub-templates.
Totals	Label and value rows, such as subtotal and total.
Coupon	A highlighted code.
Divider and Spacer	Space between blocks.
Link row	A row of links, such as your social accounts.
Footer	Company, postal address, unsubscribe and preferences links, and why the reader receives the email.
Raw HTML	Your own HTML with merge fields.

Every block also has Space above and below, Block background and Show this block when. Enter a condition, e.g. profile.plan == "pro", to show the block only to some readers. Empty means the block is shown to everyone.

Merge fields

Click the {{ }} button next to a text field to insert a merge field. You can pick:

• Profile attributes, such as {{profile.first_name}}.
• Payload fields and Payload lists from the sample data.
• Brand values from Branding.
• Sub-templates, and common logic and formatting such as a fallback, a date or a currency.

Add a fallback for values that may be empty, e.g. {{profile.first_name | default:"there"}}. For the full syntax, see Email Merge Tags.

Email settings

Select no block to see the settings of the whole email:

Setting	What it does
From name	The sender name.
Subject line	Can use merge fields.
Preheader	The grey preview text after the subject in the inbox.
Accent, Button text, Text, Muted text, Email background and Page background	Colours. Use a hex value or a brand merge field such as {{brand.color}}.
Typeface, Content width, Corner radius in px and Side padding in px	Layout.
Use custom link parameters	Set utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term and Add unis_eid to identify the email for this template only. Off uses the link parameters in Email Settings.

Data

The Data tab holds sample data for the preview. It is not saved to any real profile.

• Sample profile: preview as one of your most recent registered users, or edit their values. Leave a value empty to test a fallback.
• Event payload (JSON): sample data such as an order or a list of articles. It is saved with the template, for previews and tests.
• Brand: the email branding of the project, to pick as merge fields.

Your content lists are added to the sample data automatically.

Checks

The Checks tab merges the email for every sample profile and lists what would go wrong:

• Fix: errors that stop you from saving, e.g. an empty subject line, no blocks, a marketing email without an unsubscribe link, a data list without a sub-template or a condition that can't be read.
• Review: warnings, e.g. a merge field that is empty for some profiles, an image without a description, a button without a URL, or an email larger than 102 KB, which Gmail clips.
• Note: tips, e.g. no preheader or a subject longer than about 60 characters.

Click an item to jump to the block.

Preview

The middle of the editor shows the email as the selected sample profile receives it.

• Switch between Desktop and Mobile.
• Show the email Merged, or With merge tags to see the tags as written. Highlight marks every personalised value.
• For a template for all projects, choose which project's branding to preview with.
• The HTML output shows what is sent, with merge tags in place.

Lists and sub-templates

A Data list block repeats a sub-template once for each item of a list, such as the articles of a content list or the lines of an order.

Setting	What it does
List in the payload	The list, e.g. content_lists.top_stories. Leave empty to render the sub-template once with the whole payload.
Sub-template	The HTML for one item.
Layout	Stacked rows, Grid, 2 across or Grid, 3 across.
Show at most	The number of items, 0 for all.
Text when the list is empty	Shown when the list has no items.

A sub-template is a small piece of HTML with merge fields for one item, e.g. {{title}} and {{url}}. Every new template comes with ready-made sub-templates:

Sub-template	What it shows
Article card	Image, category, linked title, summary, author and date.
Compact article row	A thumbnail beside the title and one line, for digests.
Headline list	Numbered linked titles, for top stories.
Line item	Name, quantity times price and the line total.

Click New sub-template or Edit sub-template in the block to change one, or add a preset again from the sub-templates panel. Sub-templates can use {{theme.accent}}, {{theme.text}}, {{theme.muted}} and {{theme.font}} to follow the email design.

Content lists

Content lists are lists of articles you set up in Content Management > Content Lists, with pinned articles and matching content. Each list has a merge field such as content_lists.top_stories to use as the list of a Data list block.

A content list is read when each email is sent, so readers get the latest articles. Each item has title, url, image, description, author, category and published_at.

Branding

Go to Email Management > Email Branding and choose a Project. Each project has its own email branding, used by the built-in system emails and available to your templates.

Setting	What it does
Brand colour	Buttons, links and highlights.
Button text	The text colour on buttons.
Background	The page background around the email.
Email logo URL	The logo at the top. Leave empty to use the site logo.
Footer text	E.g. your company name and address.
Footer links	Up to 4 links, each with a label and URL. Click Add link to add one.

Colours use 6-digit hex values, e.g. #18181b. Click Save Branding.

Under Use in templates, the page lists the merge fields for each setting, e.g. {{brand.color}} and {{brand.logo}}. Each email gets the values of the project it is sent for.

Send a test

Enter an address next to Send test at the top of the editor and click it. The test uses the current content, even if you haven't saved it, with the selected sample profile and sample data. It is sent through your email provider, and the subject of a template test starts with [Test].

Test emails are marked Test in the activity and are left out of Analytics.

Email activity

Click Activity in a list to see every send of an email, newest first. Search by recipient or subject.

Column	What it shows
Time	When the email was sent, in your local time.
Status	See below. Opens, clicks, bounces and complaints show below it with their time.
Recipient	The address it was sent to.
Subject	The subject, with error details below it.
Message ID	The ID from your email provider. Click to copy it and look up the send in your provider.

Status	Meaning
Sent	Your email provider accepted the email.
Sending	The email is on its way.
Failed	Your email provider rejected the email. Click the error to read it in full.
Bounced	The address doesn't exist or can't receive email.
Spam complaint	The reader marked the email as spam.
Not sent: suppressed	The address is on your suppressed list, see Email Settings.
Test	Shown next to the status of a test email.

Bounced and Spam complaint need bounce and complaint handling, see Email Settings. Opens and clicks need open and click tracking.