Creating emails

Emails are written in the editor, which opens when you select a draft on the Emails page. You write directly on the page, and the controls for a block appear beside it. You can edit an email only while it’s a draft. The editor needs a bigger screen, so on a phone XOXO asks you to switch to a computer.

Write an email

1. On the Emails page, select Write something new….
2. Select the page and start writing.

The draft starts with a header, a placeholder text block, and a footer. It carries over the page design from the last email you sent (or your newest draft, if you haven’t sent one yet), along with its header and footer styling and the header image and its link.

To start from an email you’ve already written, open its actions menu and select Duplicate. The copy opens as a new draft.

As you write, you can also:

• Insert a block: between two blocks, select the add button to choose a Heading, Text, Image, Button, Divider, or Links block.
• Format text: select text to open the formatting toolbar for bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and links.
• Add lists and quotes: in a text block, use the block’s toolbar for bulleted lists, numbered lists, and quotes.
• Duplicate a block: select it, then select Copy in its toolbar.
• Reuse a block in another draft or a form: select it, copy it with Command-C (Ctrl-C on Windows), then paste it with Command-V (Ctrl-V). Block paste only works inside XOXO’s editors.
• Paste an image: paste one from your clipboard, such as a screenshot, and it’s added as an image block under the selected block.

An email holds up to 200 blocks. When you reach that, XOXO shows a message and stops adding blocks, so combine text into fewer blocks or split the content across two emails. An image can be up to 10 MB. For a larger file, export it at a smaller size and upload it again.

Add a subject and preview

The subject is required before sending. The preview is optional text that inboxes show beside the subject.

1. Select the audience and subject button at the top of the email.
2. Enter a Subject and an optional Preview.

To have XOXO suggest a line, select the suggest button () beside Subject or Preview. It writes a line from your email’s text and puts it in the field in place of what’s there. Edit it, or select the button again for a different one.

The suggest buttons appear only on drafts, and stay off until the email has some text. If a suggestion doesn’t come back, XOXO shows an error. Try again in a moment, or write the line yourself.

To choose who gets the email, see choose an audience. When the draft is ready, send yourself a test to see it in an inbox.

Personalize an email

Variables are subscriber details that XOXO fills in when you send: the email address, plus any fields you’ve created.

1. In a text or heading block, type @ and choose the detail you want. You can also select Personalize in the block’s toolbar.
2. For a field, select the variable in your draft to add fallback text for subscribers who don’t have a value.

Design an email

Styling works at two levels. Each block carries its own styling, and the design panel sets the look of the whole email.

Style a block

1. Select a block to open its toolbar.
2. Start with the preset control at the left of the toolbar. Its arrows step through the looks available for that kind of block, built-in ones first and then your own, and its name (Custom when the block matches none of them) opens the style panel.

From there you can:

• Use the style panel for the block’s colors, fonts, alignment, and spacing. Its settings sit in groups such as Style, Text, Frame, and Spacing, and which ones appear depends on the block. The toolbar keeps the preset control, the block’s own tools (like a button’s link, or lists and Personalize in a text block), and the move, copy, and delete buttons.
• Select an image to replace or remove it, or drag its edges to resize it.

To keep a block’s styling for later, save it as your own preset:

1. Select the block, then select the preset name in its toolbar.
2. At the top of the style panel, select the add button (Save as new preset).
3. Enter a name and select Save.

Saved presets belong to your account and are offered for the same kind of block in every email and form. Each kind keeps its own names, so a name is used once per kind.

• Update a preset: change the block’s styling, then select Update to write the changes back. Other blocks in the same email or form that still match the old version follow along. Your other emails and forms stay as they are.
• Replace a preset: save under a name you’ve already used and confirm Replace. Built-in presets can’t be replaced, so choose another name.
• Delete a preset: with the preset applied, open the style panel and select the trash button (Delete preset) at the bottom. Blocks already styled with it keep their look.

Style the whole email

Select the design button in the upper left to open the design panel for the page background, text color, accent color, and header and body fonts. Buttons and links use the accent color. Layout puts the email Flush to the page or On a background, with its own color, rounding, and margin.

If the email has no header, select the add button at the top of the page and choose Header.

Edit the footer

The footer is part of every email. It carries your physical address, your unsubscribe link, and your privacy policy link if you’ve added one in Settings. Select it to change its alignment, text, and colors. To add footer links, insert a Links block above it with the add button.

To show or hide the referral badge, see turn the referral badge on or off.

Delete a draft

1. Open the draft, or find it on the Emails page.
2. Select its actions menu.
3. Select Delete, then select Delete again to confirm.