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Managing Shopify Messaging templates

You can create, customize, and manage email templates using Shopify Messaging. Shopify Messaging templates include sections such as text, buttons, and images, which you can customize in the Shopify Messaging editor to match your brand. You can also customize sections in your marketing automation emails using the Shopify Messaging editor.

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Template section types

You can customize the body content for your email marketing activities by adding, editing, or removing sections. Changes are saved only to the specific email marketing activity that you're editing.

Review the following tables to learn about customization options for each template section type:

Button

The attributes of a button section.
Editing options
  • Change font, size, corner styles (square, curved, rounded), fill (solid or outline), width (auto, narrow, wide), text color, background color, and alignment
  • Add a link
  • Edit section padding

Collection

You can add a collection section to your email template to highlight up to 9 collections in your marketing emails.

The attributes of a collection section.
Editing options
  • Up to 9 collections can be added to a section
  • Display button for collections, which is hidden by default
  • Edit the section layout, including number of columns, alignment, and padding (padding per element can't be adjusted)
  • Edit the background color of the section
  • Click an individual collection to update the title, image, button text, and alt text

Countdown

The attributes of a countdown section.
Editing options
  • Add an end date and end time
  • Add an optional URL
  • Customize font, text color, background color
  • Edit section padding

After you add an end date and time, a live countdown GIF automatically generates. There is built-in padding on the countdown GIF that can't be adjusted.

Custom Liquid

The attributes of a custom Liquid section.
Editing options
  • Customize image size and section size
  • Create custom buttons, multi-columned sections, side-by-side images, bulleted lists, and other dynamic content

You can input custom Liquid and HTML into the code editor.

The code that you enter can't exceed 50 kilobytes (KB) in size.

Learn more about the supported Liquid variables for Shopify Messaging.

Discount

The attributes of a discount section.
Editing options
  • Customize the text, font size, text color, and button
  • Edit section padding (padding per element can't be adjusted)

Discounts must be created in the admin before creating an email campaign. They can't be created or edited from the Shopify Messaging editor.

Express checkout

The attributes of an express checkout section.
Editing options
  • Customize the text, button, columns, image style, alignment, and background color layout
  • Edit section padding (padding per element can't be adjusted)
  • Select new product image (won't change the image in your product settings)

Only one product with one variant can be selected for this section.

If you have Shop Pay activated on your store, then both Buy with Shop Pay and the Check out now buttons display in the section by default. You can deselect the Shop Pay button to hide it, but the Check out now button can't be hidden.

You can edit only the button size and corner style of the Shop Pay button.

The attributes of a footer section.
Editing options
  • Customize the layout, font, text color, link color, background, and alignment
  • Edit section padding
  • Display store information and social media icons
  • The footer section can't be removed

The store address, shop name, and phone number can be customized by editing the text directly, or in your store settings. You can set up default footer settings in your template branding settings, or in your store settings.

Social media links can be added to your email directly, or in your store brand settings.

Gift card

The attributes of a gift card section.
Editing options
  • Customize with a new image, text, button, alignment, or background color
  • Edit section padding (padding per element can't be adjusted)
  • Can be hidden

Gift cards must be created in the admin before creating an email campaign. They can't be created or edited from the Shopify Messaging editor.

The attributes of a header section.
Editing options
  • Customize with store logo or store name, or change the font, text size, text color, text alignment, and background color
  • Edit section padding
  • Can be hidden

Image and GIF

The attributes of an image section.
Editing options
  • Edit section padding, image style, background color
  • Add alt text
  • Add a link

You can select an image or GIF from your Shopify files, or upload a new image or GIF.

Requirements
  • File size: maximum of 20 megabytes
  • Resolution: maximum of 20 megapixels
  • Aspect ratio: between 100:1 and 1:100
  • Supported file types: gif, jpg, or png

Image with text

The attributes of an image with text section.
Editing options
  • Customize the text, button, image style, position, alignment, and background color
  • Edit section padding
  • Add links to buttons
  • Hide or unhide text and buttons, but images must always be selected

Section padding will be optimized for mobile.

Multi-column

The attributes of a multi-column section.
Editing options
  • Customize the text, button, image style, position, alignment, and background color
  • Edit section padding and hide or display column spacing (padding per element can't be adjusted)
  • Add links to buttons
  • Hide or unhide images, text, and buttons, as long as one element remains visible

Product

When you add a Product section to your email template, you need to select one of the following options in the Product type section:

  • Dynamic: Automatically display your store's best selling or most recently added products as of the time the email is sent. Because products are automatically populated in Dynamic product sections, you can't manually adjust the products that display, or edit the product text or image that displays.
  • Static: Manually select the specific products that you want to display in your email.
The attributes of a product section.
Editing options
  • Customize the button, number of columns, image style, alignment, and background color
  • Customize text for static products
  • Edit section padding and hide or display column spacing (padding per element can't be adjusted)
  • Can be a multi-column layout to highlight products in different orientations
  • Select new product image for static products (won't change the image in your Product settings)
  • Up to 9 products can be added

Product prices can only be changed in the Products section of your admin, not in the Shopify Messaging editor.

Text

The attributes of a text section.
Editing options
  • Edit text
  • Change text font, color, weight, alignment, or apply italics
  • Add bulleted or numbered list
  • Add a link
  • Edit section padding
  • Use Shopify Magic to automatically generate email subject lines and body text

Changes to the text style are applied to the whole email. For example, when you set Heading 1 to use Times New Roman font, then all text with Heading 1 applied to it is displayed in Times New Roman.

The text of Price can't be changed. The price of a product has to be changed in the product itself.

You can add international characters to email subject lines and text. Email subject lines also support emojis.

Video

The attributes of a video section.
Editing options
  • Edit thumbnail image
  • Edit alt text
  • Update a video URL
  • Edit section padding

You can select a thumbnail image from your Shopify files, or upload a new image.

Requirements
  • Accepts YouTube or Vimeo links

Marketing automation section types

The following additional section types are available in the Shopify Messaging editor when you create a Shopify Messaging marketing automation.

Abandoned browse

Abandoned browse automation editing options and requirements table.
Editing options
  • Customize text, button, image style, alignment, and background color
  • Edit section padding (padding per element can't be adjusted)

The product that displays in the email will match the item that the customer viewed, but didn't add to their cart.

RequirementsYou can use this section only within an Abandoned browse automation, or when you create a custom workflow that uses the Shopify Messaging Send Marketing Email action.

Abandoned cart

Abandoned cart automation editing options and requirements table.
Editing options
  • Customize text, button, image style, width, alignment, and background color
  • Edit section padding and hide or display row spacing (padding per element can't be adjusted)

The products that display in the email will match the items that the customer left in their abandoned cart.

RequirementsYou can use this section only within an Abandoned cart automation, or when you create a custom workflow that uses the Shopify Messaging Send Marketing Email action.

Abandoned checkout

Abandoned checkout automation editing options and requirements table.
Editing options
  • Customize text, button, image style, width, alignment, and background color
  • Edit section padding and hide or display row spacing (padding per element can't be adjusted)

The products that display in the email will match the items that the customer left in their abandoned checkout.

RequirementsYou can use this section only within an Abandoned checkout automation, or when you create a custom workflow that uses the Shopify Messaging Send Marketing Email action.

Creating and managing Shopify Messaging templates

All emails that you create using Shopify Messaging can be edited and customized. You can save custom templates to use as a starting point for future campaigns.

Creating a custom template

You can create and save custom templates to use as a starting point for future campaigns. You can also create templates from the Shopify Messaging editor when creating an email marketing campaign or email marketing automation, or from the overview page.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click Templates.

  3. Click Create template.

  4. Select a template to customize.

  5. Name your template.

  6. In the Shopify Messaging template editor, edit your template. All changes are saved automatically.

  7. Click Done.

Using a custom template

You can use your custom templates for any future email marketing campaigns.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click Create campaign.

  3. Under Custom templates, select a template. After you select your template, follow the steps to create an email marketing campaign.

Edit, duplicate, or delete a custom template

If you need to change an existing template, then you can edit it from the Templates list in the Messaging app.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click Templates.

  3. Select the template that you want to manage.

  4. Click Horizontal menu, and then do one of the following actions:

  • Click Duplicate to duplicate the selected template.
  • Click Create email to create a marketing campaign from the selected template.
  • Click Delete to delete a template.

Change the template for an existing email marketing campaign

If you want to select a different template for an existing email marketing campaign draft, then you can change your template from within the Shopify Messaging editor. You can't change a template for a campaign after it's been sent.

After you select a new template, all of the content from the previous template is deleted.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click the campaign that you want to change the template for.

  3. Click Horizontal menu > Change template.

  4. Click Continue.

  5. Click the new template that you want to use, and then click Select.

  6. Fill in the content of your email.

  7. Do either of the following actions: