The Email Designer

The Email Designer is ClientCove's visual editor for the emails your portal sends. Pick a template from the gallery, build it from blocks, choose which notifications it's used for, and preview it with real sample data before it goes out.

Opening the Designer

1. Sign in as an administrator
2. Go to Settings → Email Designer, or open /email-designer/ directly
3. The full-screen designer opens on the Templates tab

The designer is for administrators only. Other roles see an access-denied message.

To leave, use ← Settings at the top left or the × at the top right. Both take you back to the Email Designer tab of Settings.

The Layout

The designer works like the form builder: a toolbar across the top, and four tabs.

Top toolbar

• ← Settings — back to Settings
• Template name — click it to rename the template you're editing
• Templates · Build · Settings · Preview — the four tabs. Templates shows how many templates you have; Build shows how many blocks are in the current one
• Undo / Redo
• Send test — email the template to yourself
• Save — a dot on the button means you have unsaved changes
• × — close

Templates

The Templates tab is a gallery of every email template, each shown as a small live preview. Each card shows:

• The template's name, with a Default badge if it's a default
• Its type (Transactional, Daily digest or Marketing)
• How many blocks it has
• Which notification it's used for

From the gallery you can:

• Search templates by name
• Filter by All, Transactional, Digest, Marketing or Defaults
• Open a template by clicking its card — it opens in Build
• Duplicate a template. The copy opens in Build named "… (Copy)", is never marked as a default, and isn't kept until you save it
• Delete a template. You're asked to confirm, and deleting can't be undone
• New template — starts a blank template in Build, with the name field ready to type in

If you have unsaved changes, the designer asks before switching to another template.

Build

Build is where you put the email together. It has three columns:

• Left — Add to email. The block library, with a search box. A second tab, Variables, lists the merge fields (see Merge Variables).
• Middle — the email. Your email on a canvas, roughly as recipients will see it. Switch between Desktop and Mobile width above it.
• Right — the inspector. The options for whatever you've selected. With nothing selected, it shows an overview of the email and its design (see Email Design).

Adding blocks

• Click a block in the library to add it right after the block you have selected (or at the end, if nothing is selected)
• Drag a block from the library to the exact spot you want it in the email

Arranging blocks

• Drag blocks within the email to reorder them
• Hover over a block for its move, duplicate and delete buttons
• Deleting a block shows a notice with an Undo button

Block Library

Nineteen blocks are available, grouped in the library:

Text

Block	What it's for
Heading	The big heading at the top
Subheading	A smaller section heading
Text	Paragraphs and links
List	A bulleted or numbered list, one item per line
Quote	A testimonial or pull quote, with an optional attribution
Callout	A tinted note box: Info, Success, Warning or Neutral

Media

Block	What it's for
Image	Upload or link an image
Image + Text	An image and text side by side
Video	A thumbnail and a "Watch the video" link

Actions

Block	What it's for
Button	A call-to-action link
Social	Text links to your website and social profiles

Layout

Block	What it's for
Columns	Two text columns
Divider	A horizontal line
Spacer	Empty vertical space (16, 32, 48 or 64 px)
Footer	Copyright and fine print

Dynamic

Block	What it's for
Details	Label and value rows — handy for invoice totals and due dates
Avatar	The sender's avatar
Message	The text of the message the email is about

Advanced

Block	What it's for
HTML	Your own markup

Every block appears in the emails that are actually sent, not only in the designer.

Editing a Block

Click any block in the email to edit it in the inspector on the right. Changes show in the email as you type — there's no separate edit window or "Save changes" step for each block. The inspector also has Duplicate and Delete buttons for the selected block.

The options depend on the block. Some examples:

• Heading — text, alignment, and the heading color used on the colored top bar
• Text — content (plain text or HTML), size and color
• Button — label, link, button color and label color
• Image — the image (upload or link), alt text, and width (50%, 75% or full)
• Image + Text — image, text, which side the image is on, and image width
• List — items (one per line), bullets or numbers, size and color
• Quote — the quote, an optional attribution, and the accent line color
• Callout — text and tone
• Columns — left and right column text, size and color
• Details — one Label: Value per line. A line without a colon spans the full width
• Video — video link, thumbnail, link text and alt text
• Social — website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube links, alignment and link color
• Spacer — height
• Footer — footer text (HTML and variables work), size, background and text color

Always fill in alt text on images. It's shown when an email app blocks images, and it's read aloud by screen readers.

Merge Variables

Merge variables are placeholders like {{recipient_name}} that ClientCove fills in when it sends the email.

The Variables tab in the left column lists every variable, grouped by area (General, Messages, Tickets, Tasks, Auth & users, Invoices, Contracts, File transfers), with a search box. Click a variable to insert it into the field you're editing, at the cursor.

Use variables that match the notification the template is for — a ticket variable in an invoice email has nothing to fill it with.

Email Design

With no block selected, the inspector shows the whole email:

At a glance — the template type, how many notifications it's used for (click to jump to Settings), and whether it's a default.

Design

• Layout — Centered, or Left-aligned. A left-aligned email sits on the reader's own email background, with no page color
• Width — 500, 600 or 700 px
• Corners — Square, 8, 12 or 16 px
• Colors — primary, text, page background and content box
• Colored top bar on headers — off, headings are plain; on, they sit on the classic gradient banner
• No border or shadow — drops the content box outline for a flatter look

Settings

The Settings tab holds everything about the template that isn't its content.

Template type

• Transactional — sent when something happens, like a new message or an invoice
• Daily digest — bundles activity into one email
• Marketing — for campaigns

Used for

Tick the notifications this template is for. They're grouped by area:

Group	Notifications
Messaging	New messages
Tasks	Task assignments, Task due soon
Tickets	Ticket updates
Projects	Project deadlines, Project stage update (client), Daily summary
Auth & users	Auth code (2FA), Magic link login, Forgot password, Registration welcome, Registration pending, User invitation, New user welcome
Invoices	New invoice, Payment received, Invoice overdue
Estimates	Estimate sent to client, Estimate accepted (staff), Changes requested (staff)
Contracts	Contract sign request
File transfers	Transfer ready (files shared), Upload request, Upload complete, Transfer expiring, Verification code
Forms & onboarding	Onboarding — start your intake, Form auto-reply, Form — finish later link

The first notification you tick also decides which sample data Preview and Send test use.

Default template

Turn on Default template to send the notifications you ticked with this template automatically. Ticking a notification without turning this on doesn't change what's sent.

Keep one default per notification. A notification with no default template of your own uses ClientCove's built-in design.

Logo

• Site-wide email logo — used by every template that doesn't set its own. It has its own Save button, separate from the template's Save
• Use a different logo for this template — overrides the site-wide logo for this template only
• Logo placement — above the content box, or inside it

Preview

The Preview tab shows the finished email filled with sample data from your most recent matching record — for example, your latest invoice for an invoice template. Anything without data stays as its {{tag}}.

• Pick which notification's sample data to use
• Switch between Desktop and Mobile width
• Open in a new window to see it on its own
• Send test from here too

Send Test

Send test emails the template to you so you can see it in a real inbox:

1. Click Send test in the toolbar or on the Preview tab
2. The address defaults to your account email — change it if you like
3. Click Send test

The test always uses the saved version of the template, so the designer saves any unsaved changes first.

A test in one inbox shows you one email app's rendering. Email apps differ a lot — what looks right in Gmail can break in Outlook — so forward the test to other accounts, check on your phone, and try dark mode before relying on a new design.

Saving and Undo

• Save commits the template. A dot on the button means there are unsaved changes
• Undo / Redo cover every change in Build: adding, deleting, moving and editing blocks
• There's no auto-save. If you try to leave with unsaved changes, your browser warns you

Nothing changes in the emails your portal sends until you save.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use Cmd on a Mac and Ctrl on Windows.

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + S	Save
Cmd/Ctrl + Z	Undo
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z (or Cmd/Ctrl + Y)	Redo
Cmd/Ctrl + P	Open Preview
Esc	Deselect the block
Delete / Backspace	Delete the selected block (a notice offers Undo)
Cmd/Ctrl + D	Duplicate the selected block
Alt + ↑ / ↓	Move the selected block up or down

Block shortcuts work in Build when you're not typing in a field.