How to use Sumac's Built-in Template Editor
Sumac's built-in template editor makes it easy to create great looking email templates for newsletters, invitations, donation thank-yous, membership renewal notices, and more. You can use our ready-to-go default templates, or even make a few tweaks and have your template ready in seconds! This feature offers several benefits, including:
- Effortlessly design templates without the need for extensive time spent on layouts and design experimentation.
- Efficiently customize your templates by making quick, assisted adjustments for a personalized touch within minutes.
- The Template Editor provides a seamless and enjoyable user experience, removing barriers that once intimidated users from taking on the task of creating templates.
Creating a Template
The template editor uses a form-based approach to creating templates. This allows you to view and adjust the fields that are part of a template on one side of your screen, and see a preview of your template on the other. Just fill in the blanks, and you'll see a nice-looking result once you are done.
We've also integrated Sumac's most commonly used mail merge codes into the editor, along with the ability to preview your template with the information you will be merging.
If you want to insert a mail merge code that isn't available in the pre-set list of merge codes, you can copy and paste the mail merge code from the Sumac Desktop application into the Template Editor.
This template editor supports the following template types:
- Fundraising Email / Fundraising Ask
- Donation Acknowledgement Template / Thank you email
- Membership Purchase/Renewal
- Membership Expiry Notice
- Volunteer Recruitment
- Volunteer Sign-up
- Intake submission confirmation
- Other
You can access the template editor by going to Utilities > Templates and HTML Editor.
That opens the list of Templates currently saved in your database. Click "New" in the left hand pane to start a new template. Enter a Description, then click "Open HTML Editor".
Note: Clicking "Open HTML Editor" for templates that were created with a previous version of the template editor will open the previous template editor for you.
The Template Editor will open in a new browser window with the Template Type "Other" set as your starting point, but you can choose to create a different type of template by selecting a different type from the Email Template drop-down menu.
The fields for Template types come pre-populated to provide you with a starting point for your template, as well as a suggested subject and message body to help you complete your template faster. The generated subject and message will base its suggestions on the information you already have in the template. Be sure to review your generated content to ensure accuracy and make any necessary adjustments.
Once you are done with your edits, click "Save Template" at the bottom of this page.
This takes you back to the Sumac Desktop application with a confirmation that your Template has successfully been saved.
Click OK, and from here, you can use your new template. It is a good idea to test your new template by sending some test emails to yourself or other team members before using your template to send emails to your contacts!
Non-admin users can add new templates to their Sumac database. Administrators can control template permissions (who can view, add, and edit templates) via user settings.