The advanced email editor is an enhancement to the emailing function in BoldTrail that allows you to design beautiful HTML emails without needing to know HTML. The best part is that you can choose from pre-designed templates that you can customize to your exact needs, saving a huge amount of time and energy.

To access the advanced editor to send a one-off email, click on any email button within BoldTrail to open the basic email composer.

Click on the 'Advanced Editor' toggle that appears on the right-hand side.

Click 'Yes' to confirm that you do not want to save or send anything you may have typed into the basic editor.

Please Note: When changing from the Basic to the Advanced Editor you will lose whatever content you have added.

Each item that you see in the editor is selectable and can be modified. Here are a few tips on how to interact with the UI to help you make modifications.
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To select an element, hover over a space where only that element can be selected. You will see a 'move' icon in the element that you can click on to select it.
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For example, you can select a row by mousing over to the outer edge and clicking and holding the mouse button to drag it up or down.
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Once the element is selected you can delete it or duplicate it.
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Additionally, over to the right, you can now access the element's properties. This is how you modify the style, spacing, color, etc.
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Notes:

The content area is visible when you first open the editor. It's the section (or sections) in the middle depending on what the 'layout' of the row is.

The content area is the only container into which you can put any of the content elements you see in the content tab.

If you want to arrange that content in a particular way, you need to insert a row with a content area layout that you're looking for.
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Generally speaking, the default width of the area into which you can put content is a safe size for designing layouts that will complement both mobile devices and desktops equally. Additionally, you won't want to make that area wider so that you can fit more things, as it will have more content to stack on a mobile device, meaning lots of scrolling for your reader.
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That recommended default size of 500px you can see when you click on the settings tab of the advanced editor. This size is adjustable to accommodate unique needs, but it does not need to be changed by most of us. By and large, you can leave it at the default size and let the elements arrange themselves on the device.
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To see how your layout is working out there is a preview button on the editor.
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This renders a preview of what the email will look like on a desktop computer.
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At the upper right, you can see what it looks like on mobile using the switch:
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If you have inset elements like videos or images, put the inset element on the left-hand side of the page to make it appear first, or put it on the right side of the page to have it appear after your primary content.

The look and feel of your email can be set using the 'Settings' tab where you saw the content width setting.

Using these settings you don't have to change the properties of each element or container individually.
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The background color changes the background of all the space that extends past the content area on desktops. The content area background color changes the content area background. If you choose a dark content area background color, you'll need to lighten the color of your text.

On the mobile layout, you would not see blue bars at the edges, only the white content area. You can make any row any color as needed.
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First, select the row, and then change the properties in the right hand panel.
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To add text to an email, you need an available content area space to drag the text item to from the content tab.
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Once that text block is added, click on it to bring up the text editing controls.
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Merge Tags

Merge tags are available to bring in dynamic content for your message.

All of the merge tags pertain to the most direct information. For example, 'Lender' is the Lender that contact is shared with. The only variable for merge tags has to do with listings. If you want to insert info about a listing, you need to add the MLS ID of that listing so it knows which property to show the info for.
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Email Signatures

To add an email signature to your email, there is a merge tag '{agent_signature}' which will import your email signature from your profile settings.
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Unsubscribe Link

To add an unsubscribe link to your email, there is a merge tag '{unsubscribe_url}' which will automatically add an 'unsubscribe' button for your contacts.
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List of Supported Merge Tags

Please Note: Some merge tags such as the tags that reference a listing will require you to enter a listing ID into the appropriate field before sending your message, so BoldTrailknows which listing to pull information on.

Please Note: Lead information pulls directly from the contact profile.

{first_name}

{first_lastname}

{full_name}

{primary_call}

{email}

{site_url} - Agent's subdomain/website

{site_url_as_link} - Will display a link to the lead's profile in BoldTrail

{lead_location} - Contact's preferred location. Set by contact's listing views, or set by alerts

{lead_address}

{unsubscribe_url}

{last_property_view}

Please Note: This information pulls from the Agent Profile. For more information on setting up your profile click here.

{agent_first_name}

{agent_last_name}

{agent_full_name}

{agent_avatar}

{agent_cell_phone}

{smart_number}

{agent_primary_call}

{agent_email}

{agent_site_url}

{agent_signature}

{agent_testimonial_link}

{agent_facebook_link}

{agent_instagram_link}

{agent_linkedin_link}

{agent_twitter_link}

{agent_youtube_link}

Please Note: This information will be for the Lender linked to the specific contact.

To learn more about getting your Lender involved with BoldTrail, click here.

{lender_first_name}

{lender_last_name}

{lender_full_name}

{lender_avatar}

{lender_cell_phone}

{lender_primary_call}

{lender_email}

{lender_signature}

Please Note: This is the information stored in the Office profile. Admins - to learn more about setting up the Office profile click here.

{office_phone}

{office_fax}

{office_address}

{office_city}

{office_state}

Please Note: This is the information stored in the Team profile. Admins - to learn more about setting up the Team profile click here.

{team_name}

{team_photo}

{team_phone}

{team_email}

{team_website}

{team_testimonial_link}

{team_facebook_link}

{team_instagram_link}

{team_twitter_link}

{team_youtube_link}
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Please Note: When using listing merge tags you must input the MLS ID into the designated spot above the content box.

{listing_address}

{listing_address_street}

{listing_price}

{listing_beds}

{listing_baths}

{listing_sqft}

{listing_description}

{listing_property_type}

{listing_thumbnail}

{listing_image}

Emojis

Add emojis using the smiley face icon.

Before an image can be uploaded, you have to drop an image placeholder from the content toolbox over to a content area placeholder.
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After adding the image placeholder, images are uploaded for the first time by dragging and dropping them into the placeholder.

After an image is uploaded once, it's stored in an online storage folder where you can access it again in the future, to use on other emails/templates. You cannot replace an existing image with an image you have not uploaded previously. You must delete the image you added from the email builder, then drag a new image placeholder and then drag the new image into that placeholder to do so.
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The online storage where your previously uploaded images are is accessed by clicking 'Browse' on the image placeholder...
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...or if an image is already loaded, in the properties panel on the right-hand side after the image is selected in the editor.

The location of your stored images should display when you attempt to browse/change image. If it does not, navigate to your personal images folder.
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Click the Home Icon
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Then click the folder with your name.

All images you have uploaded will be there.
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Remember, you cannot add new images to this folder directly, you must drag them onto the image placeholder the first time.

Images should be sized to match the content area width of the email. By default, this is 500px wide. If you upload a 500px wide image, it will be automatically re-sized if necessary if the 'Auto width' switch is enabled (shown below).

If you turn off the auto width, you can set the width manually using the slider shown above. If you don't want the image to be tiny on mobile view, you can select the 'full width on mobile' option in the image properties.
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Using the preview function, you can confirm that the email looks good in mobile format with that option enabled. You can use the preview as often as needed.

Inside Real Estate has partnered with BombBomb to bring you CORE Video. Every user now has access to the basic version of CORE Video powered by BombBomb at no cost. For more information on CORE Video Powered by BombBomb click here.

To add a video, all you need is the youtube video URL or a Vimeo video URL of your video.
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In the content toolbox, drag the video to a content area location.
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Once the video is added content box, click the add a video button to paste your URL.

Paste the video URL into the 'Video URL' field in the content properties panel.
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Adding the URL will reveal some additional options.
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Please Note: If you do not see a preview of the thumbnail image please make sure the video you're using is not marked as private or unlisted. The video must be public in order to be viewed.

To add custom HTML to your Advanced emails drag the HTML content box to the email body. Once that HTML block is added, click on it to bring up the editing controls.

For more information on HTML content, click here.

Please Note: HTML support is not offered by Inside Real Estate. You'll want to be confident in your HTML coding to use this Advanced Editor option.

Dynamic means data-driven. So, BoldTrail will use the info from your profile, your office, and/or an MLS number to pull in the relevant data for your email.
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The only time you need to specify anything is if you're sending some dynamic content or merge tag that has to do with a listing, in which case you'll specify the MLS ID at the top of the message.
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This example email includes the 'Listing Address' merge tag in a text field at the top. Then a separator was added from the content toolbox. And, then added an additional text area with the 'listing description' merge tag as well.
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Now, if you want to add some of the images from the listing to this, add a row, and drag a 'Dynamic Content' tile from the content toolbox. Then, set it to the listing image collage.
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Now all the content in this email is going to rely on an MLS ID. Since you can't preview dynamic information, it's recommended to send yourself a test using the button at the top of the editor after entering the required MLS ID.
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If the MLS ID is entered correctly you should be able to see all of the dynamic information.

Listed below are examples of what the various dynamic content items look like when rendered.

Schedule A Showing Button

View Listing Button

Agent Header

Triple Listing Image - Collage

Triple Listing Image - Row

Agent & Office Photo

Office Photo

Agent Photo

Similar Properties

Main Listing Image

One of the absolute best things about the advanced email template editor is the ability for you to utilize or create templates to use over and over again. Couple that with the dynamic content options and you can rapidly deploy professional emails to your offices or teams, or just create an arsenal for yourself!

Templates are accessed via 'Search Templates' at the top right of the editor.

There are two template types.

- The basic (pencil) icon denotes a basic template. Clicking on a basic template while on the advanced editor will wipe out everything in your advanced editor and load the basic editor with the selected template.
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- The advanced (masonry tile) icon denotes an advanced template. Choosing an advanced template will overwrite anything you have entered into the advanced editor.
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The built-in BoldTrail templates that you can search for are:

Feel free to type out any of those template names to load it into the editor!

You can create your own templates and even base them off of the templates built into the editor, but to do so you must head straight to the template editor where you create canned responses.
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Once you're on the template creator, click on the advanced editor button at the top right.

If you want to base your customized template off of one of BoldTrail's built-in templates for the editor, you must first find out the name of the template you want to copy.

Then, in the interface where templates are managed, search for the advanced template by name. There will not be an icon to denote it's an advanced template. When you find it, click 'Clone'.

Once you click clone, it will load the advanced editor right away for you to customize, and give it your own unique name.
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If you create an email by clicking the email button on a contact or anywhere else, you won't have the option to save what you create as a template. Create your templates first, then you can use them over and over again just like Basic Email templates!

If you have any trouble or questions when using the Advanced Email Editor, please reach out to Support via the blue chat bubble to the right or by emailing support@insiderealestate.com!

(Keywords: email, advanced, email editor, advanced editor)