CONTACT USBack to MinistryPlatform Site
Your Knowledge Base has moved to the new Help Center.  Check out the release notes for details. And don't forget to update your bookmarks and in-house documentation before May 28.

HTML Templates

 
We highly recommend using the Template Editor Tool to create beautiful communication templates. It's much faster and easier, and the tool even has AI components that generate text and images for you. Try it out!

 

Sometimes you may want to create a Template that is more than simply body content (e.g., ministry branding). In this case, you could use HTML to create Templates that included image headers and specific footers, providing ministry personnel with a consistent look and feel for their communications.

Creating an HTML Template

  1. Go to Communications > Templates.
  2. Click New:
    • Complete the Template Name and Subject Text fields.
    • In the Body HTML field, click the HTML button on the field toolbar. This opens the HTML Source Editor in a separate dialog.
    • Type or paste your HTML directly into this window and click Update.
    • Provide From/Reply To Contacts.
    • Set Active to True.
  3. Click Save and Close.

Best Practices

Inline Styles
Many email clients, including Microsoft Outlook, do not support styles defined in the head element. For this reason and others, move all styles to the body and content rather than using a style element in the head.
 
Check out these articles on the subject. Responsive email templates can be a real pain!
These services take your html and give you an inline version:
Using HTML From Other Editors—The Easiest Way

If you use another editor to create your HTML (for example, MailChimp):

  1. Create the desired content in the editor.
  2. Copy the HTML.
  3. Communications > Template Editor Tool
  4. Add the HTML content type
  5. Paste the copied HTML into the HTML panel that opens in the right side of the tool
  6. Save
Using HTML From Other Editors—The Easy Way
  1. Create the desired content in the editor.
  2. Copy the HTML.
  3. Open the Template record in the Platform.
  4. In the Body HTML field, click the HTML button to open the HTML Source Editor.
  5. Paste the HTML.
  6. Click the HTML button again to switch back to the regular view.
  7. Update any other needed content or fields.
  8. Click Save.

Sample Template

If you find it easier to edit HTML than to create it from scratch, here is a sample HTML you can use to get started.

<table border="0" width="542">
  <tbody>
  <tr width="542">
    <td><img src="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5844506/ThinkMinistry/KQWT-02.jpg" border="0" 
    alt="alternate text goes here and will show on hover or if image is unavailable" /></a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr width="542">
    <td>
      <p>Dear [Nickname],</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <div><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial;">
      <hr />
      </span></div>
      <p>tel 999.999.9999 | fax 999.999.9999 | <a href="mailto:info@yourchurch.org">info@yourchurch.org</a> 
      <br />To discontinue receiving these e-mails send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:info@yourchurch.org">info@yourchurch.org</a>. 
      <br />Please indicate whether you want to opt out of all church communication or just e-mails on this topic.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>