Template Editor Features

The Template Editor is provided as a convenience to CommTrak users who wish to make minor content changes to existing, professionally designed HTML templates, or create basic HTML templates.

The editor is not intended to provide the sophisticated tools required to design and create complex HTML documents.

Without sufficient knowledge of HTML design, existing templates can be unintentionally modified, causing undesirable results. It is recommended that the HTML template editor is only used by those who are confident in making changes to HTML.

HTML Editor Features

The HTML Template Editor is used for creating and modifying the HTML templates that are used in:

  • Email Templates (e.g. Customer, Jobs, Workflow)
  • Email Signatures
  • Ticket Auto-Replies
  • CT-Sign Templates
  • Email-Marketing
  • Basic Quote Templates

For each of the above areas of CommTrak the HTML editor includes standard features, as follows:

Formatting Toolbar

The formatting toolbar includes standard text-editing features, such as Bold, Italic, Bullet Point, etc. Hovering the mouse over any icon in the toolbar displays a pop-up tip.

In addition to the standard formatting tools, the toolbar includes an Image icon, which can be used for inserting images or modifying the properties of existing images in the HTML template.

Please refer to the article CommTrak Image Library for further information about how to manage and use images in HTML templates.

Legend

This section lists the placeholder codes that can be used in the text of the HTML template.

For example, in a customer email template, if the placeholder text %YOUR COMPANY NAME% is used in the template text, the placeholder will be replaced with the name of your company when the email is sent.

The placeholder text can be copied and pasted into the template, but please refer to Pasting Content, below, to see important notes relating to the copying and pasting of text into the HTML editor.

The available placeholders will vary depending upon the context of the template that is being edited. For example, when editing a Job email template, the placeholder %JOB ID% will be available, and when editing a Ticket email template, the placeholder %TICKET ID% will be available, etc.

Editing Window

The Editing Window is a standard text editor, into which text can be entered, modified, or deleted.

The text can be formatted by selecting text, and clicking on the required formatting tool in the formatting toolbar.

Pasting Content

Text content can be pasted into the text editor, but this feature is restricted for security reasons; without the restrictions, web-browser code could be introduced into the template, either intentionally, or unintentionally.

When pasting text content into the browser by right-clicking and selecting Paste, a pop-up window will be presented into which the text can be pasted. Clicking will paste the text into the HTML editor. Alternatively, using the standard keyboard shortcut (i.e. Ctrl / Cmd + V), text may be pasted directly into the editor window and will automatically be converted to plain text.

Spell Check

When an unrecognised word is entered into the editing window, it will be highlighted with a red, wavy underline.

To access the browser's spell-check feature, hold the Ctrl key (Cmd on a Mac), and right-click the misspelled word.

Using Images

Depending upon the template that is being edited, images may be inserted into the HTML template from the image library, by clicking the Image icon on the formatting toolbar:

The Image Properties pop-up window will be displayed; clicking  in the pop-up window presents a list of available images for insertion into the HTML template. New images can be uploaded to the image library by clicking  in the pop-up window.

Once the required image has been located or uploaded, clicking the image name will insert it into the Image Properties window where the image properties (e.g. size, borders, alignment, etc.) can be edited as required.

Clicking  inserts the image into the HTML template.

Images cannot be pasted into the HTML editor window; they must be inserted using the features detailed above.

Viewing / Editing HTML Source Code

The source code for the HTML can be viewed and edited by clicking  in the formatting toolbar.

Typically, this feature is used for making minor changes to HTML code, for copying HTML code for use in other templates, or for pasting existing HTML code into the template.

The source-editing feature should only be used by those who are competent in the creation and editing of HTML code.

Previewing a Template

HTML templates can be previewed in the following manner:

Email Templates / Quotes

Click , located below the template editor window. The template will be emailed to the currently-logged-in user, so that it can be viewed in an email client (e.g. Outlook).

CT-Sign Templates

In Settings > CT-Sign Settings, select the required template and click , located below the Main Template section. The CT-Sign document will be displayed in a pop-up browser window.

Copying and Pasting HTML Templates

It is strongly advised that HTML templates are not created in Microsoft Word and copied into the HTML editor or Source editor. Although Microsoft Word can produce HTML code, the resulting output contains formatting codes that do not reproduce satisfactorily in standard HTML editors.