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With our next release, we’re introducing a new editing experience for your business owner clients that’s intuitive and separates content from style inside your email campaigns. Using InContext Editing mark-up, you’re now able to define editable regions inside the HTML code of your email newsletter templates. Editable regions can be applied on both static (text, links, images or html) or dynamic (modules) content. When your client goes to edit the content of this template, they’re only manipulating the raw content itself, and hence are unable to break elements or the overall layout.
Enabling this feature under Site Settings > Beta Features > Email Marketing will split the campaign editing experience for Partners into two tabs – “Developer Editor” and “Client Editor” – with the latter being the in-context editing experience your clients will see, if the editor will find editable regions inside the campaign content.
To get you started, the campaign wizard also includes a sample email template that already has editable regions defined:
In the "developer" state or other HTML editors, Partner can mark elements from the campaign content to be Editable Regions by using a custom attribute on those elements:
<div ice:editable="editable region type">
SBO editable content here
</div>
The ice:editable attribute supports the following values corresponding to an ER type:
For the html value, you can list the editor options in the ice:options attribute, comma separated. Separators (for option groups) can be specified using the pipe character "|".
For example:
<div ice:editable="html" ice:options="bold,italic,deleted,|,link">
The editor will only allow the following options:
bold, italic, deleted, separator (|), fontcolor, link, unorderedlist, orderedlist, outdent, indent, alignment, alignleft, alignright, aligncenter, justify
Editable regions can be applied on the following tags:
To assist partners provide a seamless editing experience in email campaigns and prevent users from breaking layouts, we restrict the html tags an editable regions can be applied as well as what HTML mark-up is allowed inside an editable region.
Editable regions (of any kind) cannot be applied on any of the following self-closing tags:
<link />
<meta />
<area />
<br />
<col />
<hr />
<input />
<param />
Also, editable regions cannot be applied on any of the following inline level tags:
b, big, i, small, tt
abbr, acronym, cite, code, dfn, em, kbd, strong, samp, var
a, bdo, img, map, object, q, script, span, sub, sup
button, input, label, select, textarea
Additionally, editable regions cannot be applied on any FORM related elements:
<form>
<fieldset>
<legend>
<textarea>
<select>
Other restrictions
The following tags are not allowed inside an editable region:
iframe, script, map, area, object, embed, video, audio
Once you have defined editable regions in your email templates, the customer will only see the in-context editor and they’ll only manipulate the raw content itself, and hence are unable to break elements or the overall layout.
Single line and multi line editors - will allow copywriters to change text without altering the text formatting:
HTML editor - will allow copywriters to update campaign content while also applying some HTML formatting:
Module editor - allows copywriters update module filters so that they can display different content:
Please use this thread to post your feedback or requests about this feature. We would like to have it as open discussion about what's currently in the release, and what is absolutely required to make it work for you.
Note: Beta features are not officially supported and we do not offer a guaranteed response time. We usually respond within the next 48 to 72 hours, but this might vary depending on the team load and issue urgency.
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This looks really promising. I can't wait to enable this for some of our clients. However, we have a number of row based newsletters, e.g. image in one column, text in the other. For this sort of newsletter, we would need the ability to set an ICE repeating region. Could this be enabled, and repeat a row or add another copy of a table? That would turn this feature from a B+ to an A+!
We've been having trouble with the current system as copy/paste in some browsers in the standard HTML editor doesn't work very well when you're dealing with entire tables.
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Hi Megan,
This release does not include the ability to duplicate sections (similar to ICE repeating regions). Since email templates are almost entirely based on table based layouts, would it be enough to have the ability to duplicate/remove an existing table row?
Thank you,
Cristinel
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Yes! Duplicating or removing a table row would be ideal.
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Agreed, some kind of solution to repeating regions is essential.
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Ditto!
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Can both the source file and hyperlink of an image be editable? For example, I would like clients to upload a new button image as well as control the destination link. Does this constitute as nested elements, which are currently not allowed? Likewise, how do you control the appearance of a specific text hyperlink (different size and color from the general <a> style) while giving control to client to edit both the text itself as well as the destination link?
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Hi Centrifuge Media Lab,
Yes, you will be able to put a link on an image and be able to edit both. For that, you have to enmbed the img tag into the a tag and make both editable, one as an image and the other one as a link. Here is a example:
<a href="http://www.google.com/" ice:editable="link"><img src="/img/image.png" ice:editable="image" /></a>
Also, you will be able to allow users to edit both the text of the link and the link:
<a href="http://www.google.com" title="Go to google" ice:editable="line, text">Link text</a>
If you want to allow users to edit the formatting on the link, then, you will have to include an html editable area, where you allow users to create links.
Best regards,
Cristinel
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Ditto on the add/remove rows.
Also,an observation that might save some head-scratching by other partners...
Since we can't save a site template without tag_pagecontent, it appears that when we enable this beta feature, our process to provide this style of newsletter to a client site will be via adding it as a template in the Partner Portal / Tools / Newsletter Templates. (I guess we could also make a single campaign and then let the client copy it, too...)
I added a "new style" template for a test site via PP, then noticed that in the test site, the "select template" field in the Detaile page (not the Template page) is disabled, so the client/user is restricted to either a "start from scratch" newsletter using the Admin editor, or the template(s) we add to their site via PP. (And the client is prevented from using a web page template by mistake...)
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Looking great I have to say.
However, I agree with the above comments re. repeatable sections. This is a must really, as clients will always be wanting to write newsletters with varying numbers of topics.
As a work around, if the editor had H1, H2, etc formatting functionality we could have just one editable region that could contain multiple sections. Not ideal, but an improvement.
By the way, do you have a timeframe for updating the other templates to include this functionality?
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The ability to DELETE or HIDE an editable content section is needed. This enables the clients to not show a section as required within an individual camapaign. So far the little bit of playing about has been very impressive but certainly the ability to delete and the inclusion of the suggestions above about repeating a section are defiite musts for this to be at all considered a full feature.
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Repeatable regions will be included in the next release. You will be able to mark table rows as repeatable and users will be able to duplicate or delete those.
Cristinel
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When is the next release due to be released?
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Hello Snarzom12,
The next release is scheduled for the end of February. The current tentative date is 26 February, but this is subject to change.
Cristinel
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Is this still on schedule for release. I have two clients who hate that you cannot repeat regions.
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Hi Snarzom12,
We will be postponing the release for March, but just as a reasurring note, the repeating regions work is completed and will be included in the release.
Cristinel
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Boo! I was hoping to roll out repeating regions to a client next week!
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Hi Christinel,
Do we have a date scheduled for this during March?
Sorry just have 4 clients I want to hand this over to with repeating regions.
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Hi snarzom12,
The scheduled release date is Tuesday, March 26th. We'll let you know if something changes.
Cristinel
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Hi Cristinel - this didn't answer my question?
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Hi Tiger,
Unfortunately, the fix for blog links in not included in this release. We will be looking for provinding a fix in our next release.
Cristinel
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Hi Crintinel,
Was repeatable table rows included with the March release? I don't see it in the release announcement (http://www.businesscatalyst.com/bc-blog/announcing-our-march-2013-system-update) and can't find a way to do it in the admin view.
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I think this blog post is a bit out of date. Updated info at http://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-3201
(Yes, repeatable rows -- see the "section" attribute)
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If we activate this for a client but it does not meet their needs, can we switch back?
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Hello OnCompany,
While the email marketing is beta you will have the option of switching on / off for as many times you would want. Once the feature will be taken out of beta, which we plan to do it in one of the next releases, there will be no option to switch back.
Cristinel