Create Emails

Overview

Every email you send starts with a template. SentinMail gives you two ways to create them:

Mode	Best For
Visual Builder	Drag-and-drop design — no HTML needed
Basic	Writing HTML directly for full control

Create a Template

Go to Templates

Navigate to Content → Templates and click Create Template.

Choose your mode

Visual Builder — a full-screen drag-and-drop editor with components, previews, and responsive design built in
Basic — a simple form where you write your own HTML

Tip

Choose the Visual Builder for marketing emails. Use Basic mode for simple transactional emails or if you already have HTML from another tool.

Pick a starter (Visual Builder only)

If you chose the Visual Builder, you can optionally start from a starter template — browse the gallery of pre-built designs or start from scratch.

Starter templates include layouts for newsletters, announcements, product updates, and more. Premium templates are marked with a lock icon and require a paid plan.

Set template details

Enter the basics:

Name — internal name for your reference (e.g., "March Newsletter")
Subject — the email subject line recipients will see
Type — Marketing, Transactional, or Notification

Click Create to open the editor.

The Visual Email Builder

The builder is a full-screen editor with three panels:

Panel	Purpose
Left	Component picker — drag elements onto the canvas
Center	Canvas — your email layout, what you see is what they get
Right	Properties — customize the selected element's settings

Building Your Email

Add structure

Start by dragging Row components onto the canvas. Rows can have 1-4 columns to create your layout.

Add content

Drag content components into your rows:

Text — headings, paragraphs, styled text (powered by a rich text editor)
Image — upload or pick from your media library
Button — call-to-action buttons with customizable style and link
Divider — horizontal separators
Spacer — vertical spacing
Social — social media icon links

Customize

Click any element to edit its properties in the right panel — colors, fonts, padding, alignment, borders, and more.

Preview and save

Use the Preview button to see your email in desktop and mobile views. Click Save when you're happy.

Info

The builder uses MJML under the hood, which means your emails are automatically responsive and render consistently across Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and other clients.

Builder Tips

Undo/Redo — made a mistake? Use the undo/redo buttons in the toolbar
Zoom — zoom in and out for detailed work or an overview
Dark/Light mode — the builder supports both themes

Personalization with Variables

Make your emails personal using [[variable]] syntax in subjects and body content. Variables are replaced with real subscriber data when the email is sent.

Built-in Variables

Variable	Replaced With
`[[email]]`	Subscriber's email address
`[[first_name]]`	Subscriber's first name
`[[last_name]]`	Subscriber's last name
`[[unsubscribe_url]]`	One-click unsubscribe link
`[[view_in_browser_url]]`	View email in browser link

Custom Variables

Any extra field on a subscriber record is available as a variable. If a subscriber has company: "Acme", you can use [[company]] in your template.

Conditionals

Show content based on whether a variable exists:

Code

txt

1[[#if coupon_code]]
2  Use code [[coupon_code]] for 20% off!
3[[#else]]
4  Check out our latest deals.
5[[/if]]

Loops

Iterate over list data:

Code

txt

1[[#each items]]
2  <li>[[this]]</li>
3[[/each]]

Tip

In the Visual Builder, use the Merge Tags button to insert variables without remembering the syntax.

Saved Blocks (Paid Plans)

Saved blocks are reusable email components. Create a footer, header, or CTA section once and reuse it across all your templates.

Save a block — in the builder, select a row or component and click Save Block
Insert a block — find your saved blocks in the left panel's component picker
Manage blocks — go to Content → Saved Blocks to browse, search, and delete blocks

Media Library (Paid Plans)

Upload and manage images for your emails in one place.

Go to Content → Media to:

Upload files — click the upload button or drag and drop
Browse your library — search by filename, see thumbnails with dimensions and file sizes
Copy URLs — click any image to copy its URL for use in templates
Delete files — hover over a file and click the delete button

Note

You can also upload images directly in the Visual Builder — they're automatically added to your media library.

Template Versioning (Paid Plans)

SentinMail automatically saves a version snapshot of your template every 5 edits. You can also create manual snapshots before making big changes.

View history — open a template and check its version list
Restore — click any version to restore your template to that point
Label — give important versions a descriptive name (e.g., "Before holiday redesign")

Documentation