Email Templates
Email templates are the foundation of every email you send through concorbit. A template defines the design, layout, and content of your email. Once created, a template can be reused across multiple campaigns, duplicated for variations, or customised with merge fields so each recipient sees personalised content.
How Templates Work
Each template stores two things:
Builder state: The structured JSON representation of your template sections. This is what the visual editor loads when you re-open a template for editing.
Rendered HTML: The table-based HTML email document generated from your builder sections. This is what recipients see in their inbox.
When you save a template, concorbit renders the builder sections into a complete HTML email document with full cross-client compatibility (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Yahoo, and mobile clients).
Template Categories
Every template belongs to one of four categories:
| Category | Use case |
|---|---|
| General | Catch-all for templates that do not fit another category |
| Marketing | Promotional emails, newsletters, product announcements |
| Transactional | Order confirmations, receipts, account notifications |
| Notification | Internal alerts, status updates, reminders |
Categories help you organise your template library. You can filter templates by category on the Templates page.
Creating a Template
From Scratch
Navigate to Email > Templates.
Click New Template.
The template editor opens with an empty canvas.
Give your template a name (internal label, recipients do not see this) and a subject line.
Select a category.
Add sections to build your layout (see "Template Sections" below).
Click Save.
From a Starter Template
concorbit ships with pre-built starter templates for common email types. These give you a professional starting point that you can customise.
Navigate to Email > Templates.
In the starter templates section, browse the available designs.
Click a starter to create a new template from it.
concorbit creates a copy in your template library and opens it in the editor.
Customise the content, colours, and layout to match your brand.
Click Save.
Duplicating a Template
To create a variation of an existing template:
Open the template you want to duplicate.
Modify the sections as needed.
Save with a new name.
This is useful when you want to A/B test different designs or create seasonal variants of a standard template.
The Template Editor
The template editor is a visual, section-based builder. Rather than writing HTML, you compose your email from a library of pre-built section types and configure each one through a properties panel.
Editor Layout
The editor has three main areas:
Sections panel (left). Lists all sections in your template. Drag to reorder. Click to select a section for editing. Use the + button to add new sections.
Preview panel (centre). Shows a live HTML preview of your template. Updates in real time as you make changes.
Properties panel (right). Displays the editable properties of the currently selected section (text content, images, colours, padding, alignment, etc.).
Using the Editor on Canvas
The same three panels are available as canvas panels (Template Sections, Template Preview, Template Properties). You can drop them onto any canvas workspace for a fully integrated editing experience alongside your campaigns, lists, and analytics.
Template Sections
Sections are the building blocks of your template. Each section is a horizontal row in the email. concorbit provides the following section types:
Content Sections
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Header | Top banner with your logo or brand name. Typically the first section. |
| Hero | Large image or text block with a call-to-action button. Great for the main message. |
| Text | Rich text block powered by Tiptap. Supports headings, bold, italic, links, lists. |
| Image | Full-width or constrained image with optional alt text and link. |
| Image + Text | Two-column layout with an image on one side and text on the other. |
| Button | Standalone call-to-action button with configurable text, URL, colour, and size. |
| Card | Bordered content card with optional image, heading, and body text. |
| Columns | Multi-column layout for side-by-side content. |
| Feature Grid | Grid of feature cards, each with an icon, heading, and description. |
| Gallery | Image gallery with multiple images in a grid. |
| Video | Video thumbnail with play button linking to an external video URL. |
Structural Sections
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Divider | Horizontal line to visually separate content. |
| Spacer | Empty vertical space with configurable height. |
| HTML | Raw HTML block for advanced users who need custom markup. |
Brand Sections
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Social | Row of social media icon links (Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.). |
| Footer | Standard email footer with company info, unsubscribe link, and legal text. |
Section Properties
Every section has configurable properties:
Content: The section-specific content fields (text, images, URLs, button labels).
Padding: Vertical (top/bottom) and horizontal (left/right) padding in pixels. Defaults to 24px vertical, 32px horizontal.
Background colour: Per-section background colour override. If not set, the section inherits the template's content background colour from your brand kit.
Saving Sections to Your Library
You can save any configured section to your section library for reuse across templates:
Configure a section the way you want it.
Save it with a name.
When building future templates, insert saved sections from your library instead of starting from scratch.
This is useful for standardised elements like headers, footers, and social link bars.
Merge Fields and Personalisation Tokens
Merge fields let you insert dynamic, per-recipient content into your templates. They are written as double-brace tokens and resolved at send time.
Available Merge Fields
Contact Fields
| Token | Resolves to |
|---|---|
| {{contact.first_name}} | Contact's first name |
| {{contact.last_name}} | Contact's last name |
| {{contact.full_name}} | Contact's full name |
| {{contact.email}} | Contact's email address |
| {{contact.phone}} | Contact's phone number |
| {{contact.job_title}} | Contact's job title |
Company Fields
| Token | Resolves to |
|---|---|
| {{company.name}} | Company name |
| {{company.domain}} | Company domain |
| {{company.industry}} | Company industry |
| {{company.city}} | Company city |
Sender Fields
| Token | Resolves to |
|---|---|
| {{tenant.name}} | Your workspace/company name |
Date Fields
| Token | Resolves to |
|---|---|
| {{date.today}} | Today's date (e.g. "12 Apr 2026") |
| {{date.year}} | Current year (e.g. "2026") |
Using Merge Fields
You can type merge field tokens directly into any text content in the template editor. The merge field picker in the editor toolbar lets you browse and insert available fields without memorising the syntax.
Preview with Sample Data
When you preview a template, merge fields are resolved with sample data so you can see how the personalisation will look:
{{contact.first_name}}becomes "Jane"{{company.name}}becomes "Acme Ltd"{{tenant.name}}becomes your actual workspace name
Unresolved Fields
If a merge field references data that does not exist for a particular recipient (e.g. a contact without a job title), the field resolves to an empty string. The token is not displayed raw in the sent email.
Previewing Templates
In-Editor Preview
The centre panel of the template editor shows a live preview that updates as you edit sections. This preview uses sample merge field data.
HTML Preview
To see the rendered HTML as it will appear in an email client:
Open a template.
Click Preview.
A new browser tab opens with the rendered HTML, including sample merge field values.
Test Email
To see exactly how the template renders in a real inbox:
Open a template.
Click Send Test.
Enter an email address.
concorbit sends the template as a real email with "[TEST]" appended to the subject line and sample merge field data.
This is the most reliable way to check rendering across different email clients.
Managing Your Template Library
Searching and Filtering
On the Templates page:
Use the search bar to find templates by name or subject line.
Use the category filter to show only templates of a specific category.
Activating and Deactivating
Templates have an active/inactive toggle. Inactive templates do not appear in the template picker when creating a campaign. This lets you archive old templates without deleting them.
Deleting Templates
Deleting a template soft-deletes it (it can be recovered if needed). Deleted templates are removed from the templates list and cannot be used in new campaigns.
System Email Templates
concorbit includes platform-default templates for system emails (invoice sent, autopay confirmation, portal magic link, password reset, etc.). These appear in a separate "System emails" section on the Templates page.
Each system template shows whether your workspace is using the platform default or a custom override.
To customise a system template, open it and make your changes. concorbit creates a workspace-specific override, the platform default is not modified.
To revert to the platform default, delete your override.
Authentication emails (password reset) are documented in detail in Branded Password Reset Email, including the available merge fields and security model.
Best Practices for Email Design
Layout
Keep your email width at 600px (the default). Wider emails may cause horizontal scrolling on mobile.
Use a single-column layout for the main content. Multi-column layouts should be reserved for secondary content like feature grids.
Place your most important message and call-to-action above the fold.
Content
Keep subject lines under 50 characters for best display across clients.
Use merge fields for personalisation, emails with the recipient's name have higher engagement.
Include a clear, single call-to-action. Multiple competing CTAs reduce click-through rates.
Write concise copy. Most people scan emails rather than reading every word.
Images
Always set alt text on images. Many recipients have images blocked by default.
Use images to support your message, not to carry it. Critical information should be in text.
Keep total image weight under 1 MB for fast loading on mobile.
Footer
Always include a footer section with your company information and an unsubscribe link. This is both a legal requirement (GDPR, CAN-SPAM) and an expectation from recipients.
concorbit automatically adds an unsubscribe link to campaign emails if your template does not include one.
Testing
Always send a test email before launching a campaign.
Check rendering in at least one desktop client (Outlook, Gmail web) and one mobile client (iPhone, Android).
Verify that all links work and point to the correct URLs.
Confirm that merge fields are resolving correctly.
Brand Consistency
Your templates automatically inherit your workspace's brand colours, fonts, and logo from the brand kit. This ensures visual consistency across all emails.
Use the section-level background colour override sparingly, overriding brand colours in every section creates visual noise.