Email templates

The goal of the email templates feature is to allow Outlook users to quickly insert blocks of text into email messages without having to type the same text over and over again. For example, if you work as a sales representative and you have to type the product payment terms over and over again for various customers, it would be a lot easier to simply define the payment terms as a text template and then to insert it into an email message with a single mouse click.

Email templates manager window can be opened with Email Templates button from Bells & Whistles toolbar. To use the templates see the controls in the email editor windows.

Organize

Having a big list of templates can make it difficult to find what you need. With categories the templates list can be organized in multiple lists for different purposes. Edit categories button opens the categories editor window:

Default category is created automatically and can't be removed. It's used as a destination for templates when you want to delete a category (Remove button) but want to keep the templates in it. After clicking Add button a new entry will be added to the categories list, type a name and press Enter to create a new category or press Esc key to cancel. Rename button makes the selected category name editable, after typing the new name press Enter to confirm it or Esc to cancel.

Most used templates can be placed at the top of the list in each category. To see only the templates in a category enable Filter by category option and select the category name. To reorder templates select one template and use Move up or Move down buttons.

Edit

Add or Modify buttons will open the email template editor window:

• Name: the template name.
• Category: select a category for the template.
• Format: each template can have two variants, one for plain text email (without formatting) and one from HTML emails (with formatting). Use Format dropdown list to switch between content formats. If the content from plain text is not provided then Bells & Whistles will automatically create if from the HTML format.
• Text: when the HTML format is selected the toolbar at the top of the editor includes the following commands:
  • Font: select one of the fonts installed on your computer.
  • Size: set the text size.
  • : bold text style.
  • : italic text style.
  • : underline text style.
  • : set text color.
  • : create an ordered (numbered) list.
  • : create an unordered (bullet) list.
  • : decrease indentation.
  • : increase indentation.
  • : align the content to Left, Center, Right or Justify.
  • : insert a horizontal separator line.
  • : create a link.
  • : insert an image.
  • : insert content from a HTML file.
• Embed remote images: images from online sources (websites) will be saved locally and included in the email when the template is used.
• Parameter: insert a placeholder in the template at the current cursor position. When the template is inserted Bells & Whistles will ask for the values to replace the parameters.
• Shortcut: assign a keyboard shortcut for the template. In email editor use the keyboard shortcut to insert the template without using the toolbar.
• When the template is inserted also set the following message fields: the email addresses set in To, CC, BCC and text in Subject will replace the values in the corresponding fields of the email. Enable Clear message fields if corresponding fields from above are empty option if you want to use the fields without values to clear the existing ones in the email.
• Attachments: the file(s) in the list will be attached to the email when the template is inserted. Use Add and Remove buttons to manage the files list.

When editing a template use Save copy button after changing at least the name or the category to create a copy instead of modifying the existing template.

Utilities

If you work in a team and want to share the templates with your colleagues Bells & Whistles can automatically import the templates from a file. To set it up after the initial templates are created export the settings to a file. This file should be stored on network share from where the other users can access it. On the computers where you want to import the templates automatically, enable Automatically import templates from this file option, click Browse and pick the file from the network share. When the Bells & Whistles detects a change in the file it will automatically import the templates. To update the templates after making the changes re-export the settings and overwrite the file on the network share.

For easier access to the toolbar when using the templates enable Message tab option to move the controls from Bells & Whistles toolbar to Message tab in email editor windows.