Creating stationary without the placeholder component?

Options
Michael Murphy 2
Michael Murphy 2 ✭
Ancient Membership First Reply
in Blackbaud Luminate Online® & Blackbaud TeamRaiser® Discussions

Anyone know how to either build stationary WITHOUT the placeholder component, or how to make it invisable (since it seems to be required)? I am building a responsive stationary, and then placing in custom HTML for the email content, so I have no need for the placeholder component or the info it drops in. Thanks in advance.

Tagged:

Comments

  • Brian Mucha
    Brian Mucha ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic

    I suppose you could put html comment tags around the placeholder.

  • Michael Murphy 2
    Michael Murphy 2 ✭
    Ancient Membership First Reply
    Brian Mucha:

    I suppose you could put html comment tags around the placeholder.

    Hmmm? Good idea. I'll try that. I wonder if that will satisfy the requirement condition?



    michael murphy

    creative director / partner

    upstart | advertising + design

    p: 917.721.7422 | e: mm@upstartstudio.com

    www.upstartstudio.com
  • Brian Mucha
    Brian Mucha ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Michael Murphy:
    Hmmm? Good idea. I'll try that. I wonder if that will satisfy the requirement condition?



    michael murphy

    creative director / partner

    upstart | advertising + design

    p: 917.721.7422 | e: mm@upstartstudio.com

    www.upstartstudio.com

    Well, it should make the content invisible in the email.

     

    I'm not so sure I would go down this route. If you are hiding the placeholder and putting your content in the stationary, then you're going to have to make a different stationary for each email you send.

     

    I have had a design that needed more then one content placeholder, as there was content was in more than one spot - a main area and a sidebar. There is no way to do that either, so we went a different route and made a blank stationary and put all the html - including the layout - in the message.

  • Kent Gilliam
    Kent Gilliam Blackbaud Employee
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Brian Mucha:

    Well, it should make the content invisible in the email.

     

    I'm not so sure I would go down this route. If you are hiding the placeholder and putting your content in the stationary, then you're going to have to make a different stationary for each email you send.

     

    I have had a design that needed more then one content placeholder, as there was content was in more than one spot - a main area and a sidebar. There is no way to do that either, so we went a different route and made a blank stationary and put all the html - including the layout - in the message.

    I agree with Brian. If you don't go with the Placeholder then you essentially have to begin managing email content in the Stationary tool. I would consider using the standard stationary design and using Pagebuilder to render content. 

     

    Kent

  • Michael Murphy 2
    Michael Murphy 2 ✭
    Ancient Membership First Reply

    Agreed. The only content I'm putting in the stationary is the common elements (header, footer). I'm placing the placeholder there as well, only because it's required. I'm then using that template when creating auto responders and placing the rest of the HTML content at that point. So, one stationary should work for all (I hope).

  • Michael Murphy 2
    Michael Murphy 2 ✭
    Ancient Membership First Reply
    Michael Murphy:

    Agreed. The only content I'm putting in the stationary is the common elements (header, footer). I'm placing the placeholder there as well, only because it's required. I'm then using that template when creating auto responders and placing the rest of the HTML content at that point. So, one stationary should work for all (I hope).

    By "template", I mean stationary.
  • Michael Murphy 2
    Michael Murphy 2 ✭
    Ancient Membership First Reply
    Kent Gilliam:

    I agree with Brian. If you don't go with the Placeholder then you essentially have to begin managing email content in the Stationary tool. I would consider using the standard stationary design and using Pagebuilder to render content. 

     

    Kent

    Can anyone direct me to the best place to learn about the placeholder component? I have only been able to find a vague descroption of what it does, but nothing about how it works and how to attach it to the desired content.

  • Kent Gilliam
    Kent Gilliam Blackbaud Employee
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Michael Murphy:

    Can anyone direct me to the best place to learn about the placeholder component? I have only been able to find a vague descroption of what it does, but nothing about how it works and how to attach it to the desired content.

    There's not really much to it. It's only an element that you place in things like Stationary and Pagewrapper that then house the content. It's basically a block that says, "when content is built to be used in this item then put it here." There's really not a "use" of the placeholder other than this. 

     

    Kent

  • Michael Murphy 2
    Michael Murphy 2 ✭
    Ancient Membership First Reply
    Kent Gilliam:

    There's not really much to it. It's only an element that you place in things like Stationary and Pagewrapper that then house the content. It's basically a block that says, "when content is built to be used in this item then put it here." There's really not a "use" of the placeholder other than this. 

     

    Kent

    I have seen it essentially "pull" content from another location. If that is what I am seeing, then I guess I'm asking "How is it being 'pointed' to that specific content?"

  • Kent Gilliam
    Kent Gilliam Blackbaud Employee
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Michael Murphy:

    I have seen it essentially "pull" content from another location. If that is what I am seeing, then I guess I'm asking "How is it being 'pointed' to that specific content?"

    Techinically the Placeholder isn't pulling content from another location. That function is typically done by placing an S51 tag or some sort of conditional that renders content from another area into the spot where the placeholder is. Here is info about the S51 tag, which is what I think you're really wanting to use.

     

    https://secure2.convio.net/customer/luminate_online/v10/s-tags/Help/S-Tags_Left.htm#CSHID=1000|StartTopic=S-Tags%2FWhat_Are_S_Tags.htm|SkinName=Default

     

    Kent

  • Brian Mucha
    Brian Mucha ✭
    Ancient Membership Facilitator 4 Name Dropper Photogenic
    Michael Murphy:

    Can anyone direct me to the best place to learn about the placeholder component? I have only been able to find a vague descroption of what it does, but nothing about how it works and how to attach it to the desired content.

    In Luminate an email has two components. The first is the Stationary. This is bascially a reusable skin. The stationary holds all the common elements such as header, footer, logos, etc.

     

    Then later on, an email message is composed which provides the actual content - all the text and perhaps a few images. When composing that email, we can choose which stationary the message will use.

     

    The content of your message takes the place of the placeholder component. That's why when previewing your stationary during it's design phase the placeholder fills with greeked text. Its just showing you what your stationary might look like with some yet to be created content in place.

     

    So it is selecting the stationary from the email message than associates the two, and this how the desired content is attached.

Categories