Building and Designing Email Templates

Email templates are the designed emails you send to your contacts through Oomiji. This article covers how to create a new template, configure its settings, and use the drag-and-drop editor to design and preview it.

A template combines the email's layout, content, styling, and metadata (subject line, sender name) into a reusable file. Once saved, you can send it to a mailing list, schedule it, copy it as the basis for another email, or edit it again later. Many users build a base newsletter template and copy it each month, updating the content for each send.

Before You Start

Before you can send a template as a live campaign, your Mailing Suite Profile must be configured with a verified sending address. You can create and save templates without this step, but you will not be able to send them to real recipients. See Set Up Your Mailing Suite Profile for configuration instructions.

Creating a New Email Template

To create a new email template:

  1. Click Interaction in your toolbar.
  2. In the Email Design Center card, click Create New Email.

The Create New Email screen has three main areas: the template settings at the top, the design canvas in the middle, and the content block palette on the right. Complete the fields at the top first, then build your email in the canvas.

Configure Template Settings

At the top of the screen, fill in the following fields:

  • Email Name: The internal name you will see in your template list. Use something descriptive (for example, "March 2026 Newsletter" or "Spring Event Invitation") so you can identify the template later. Recipients do not see this name.
  • Subject Line: The subject line recipients see in their inbox. This is one of the most important factors in whether your email gets opened, so make it clear and specific.
  • Conversation: Optional. If you want to attach a conversation you created in Insights, select it from this dropdown. You can attach either a single-question email conversation (which embeds the question directly in the email) or a full web conversation (which embeds as a link recipients can click). For step-by-step instructions on this workflow, see Embedding a Conversation Question in Email.

Below the main settings, a collapsed section labeled Expand to view advance settings contains optional fields for social media sharing. Expanding this section opens three fields (Social Media Title, Social Media Description, Social Media Image Link) that control how your email appears when shared on social platforms that support link previews. For details on using this feature, see Sharing Email Content on Social Media .

Designing Your Email with the Editor

The Oomiji email editor is a drag-and-drop builder. You add content by dragging blocks from the palette on the right into the canvas in the middle. You edit content by clicking on it in the canvas and using the controls that appear in the right panel.

Understand the Right Panel Tabs

The right side of the editor has four tabs, each showing different tools:

  • Content: The default tab. Shows the palette of content blocks you can drag into your email.
  • Blocks: Pre-built block combinations
  • Body: Email-wide settings that apply to the entire template. This includes background color, text color, default font, content width, and other global styling choices. 
  • Uploads: Previously uploaded images and files you can reuse across templates without re-uploading.

Add Content Blocks

The Content tab includes 12 blocks. Drag a block from the palette into your canvas to add it, then click the block in the canvas to edit its contents and styling. Blocks can be rearranged, duplicated, or deleted after placement.

Layout blocks:

  • Columns: Creates a multi-column row inside your email. Use columns to place content side-by-side, such as an image next to text or two call-to-action buttons in a row.
  • Divider: Inserts a horizontal line to visually separate sections of your email.

Text blocks:

  • Heading: A larger, bolder text block for section titles or main messages. Supports font, size, color, and alignment controls.
  • Paragraph: The standard text block for body content. Includes a formatting toolbar with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, lists, text color, highlight, and link insertion.
  • Menu: A navigation-style row of text links, typically used in the header or footer of an email.

Media blocks:

  • Image: Upload or link to an image. Supports resizing, alignment, alt text, and link targets (so the image becomes clickable).
  • Video: Adds a video thumbnail with a play button overlay. Because email clients do not support inline video playback, clicking the thumbnail takes recipients to the video hosted elsewhere. For embedding a YouTube video specifically, see Embedding a YouTube Video in an Email Template.
  • Social: Inserts a row of social media icons linking to your profiles.

Interactive blocks:

  • Button: A styled call-to-action button. Supports custom text, link target, background color, border, padding, and alignment. Use buttons for your primary call to action in each email.
  • Unsubscribe: A pre-built unsubscribe link block. Every email you send must include a working unsubscribe link for compliance with email regulations. Oomiji provides this block so the link is always correctly configured. For details on verifying the link is set up correctly, see Setting Up Your Unsubscribe Link.

Advanced blocks:

  • HTML: Lets you paste custom HTML code directly into your email. Use this for embed codes (such as YouTube videos or conversation questions from Insights) or for custom layouts the standard blocks do not support.
  • Table: Inserts a data table with configurable rows and columns. Use for structured information like pricing, schedules, or comparison charts.

Edit Block Content and Styling

Click any block in the canvas to select it. The right panel switches from the block palette to the editing controls for that specific block. The controls vary by block type: a Paragraph block shows text formatting options, an Image block shows source URL, alt text, and sizing, a Button block shows link target, label text, and color.

Each block also has a small toolbar when selected. This toolbar lets you delete the block, duplicate it, or move it.

Use the Text Formatting Toolbar

When you click into a Heading, Paragraph, or Button block, a formatting toolbar appears above the text. The toolbar includes bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, font color, highlight color, superscript, bullet and numbered lists, text alignment, table insertion, link insertion, link removal, and merge tags for personalization.

Merge tags let you personalize emails with contact-specific information like first name or company. Insert them through the Merge menu in the toolbar. For example, inserting the {FirstName} merge tag will display each recipient's first name when the email is sent.

The link insertion tool includes a Special Links option for platform-specific URLs like the unsubscribe link and "view in browser" link. Always use Special Links rather than typing these URLs manually. See Setting Up Your Unsubscribe Link for the full workflow.

Preview Your Email

At the bottom of the editor canvas, a toolbar contains undo and redo buttons, a preview button, and desktop and mobile view toggles. Use the mobile toggle to check how your email will render on phone screens, since most recipients open email on mobile devices. A design that looks balanced on desktop can become cramped or broken on mobile, so preview both before saving.

Saving Your Template

When your template is ready, click Create Template at the top right of the screen. The button will be greyed out until you have filled in the required fields (Email Name and Subject Line). Once saved, your template appears in the template list.

Next to Create Template, a Copy HTML button copies the raw HTML of your entire template to your clipboard. This is useful if you want to reuse the design in another system or share it with a developer.

What's Next