How to add, edit, and remove buttons in a Drag & Drop template in Act! Marketing Automation

Question: How do I add, edit, or remove buttons in my Drag & Drop template in Act!?

Product Details:

Product Family: Emarketing
Product: Act! Marketing Automation

Answer:

Adding a button to a template

From the Templates screen in Act! Marketing Automation, open the template you wish to add a button to
If you do not already have a row you’d like to add a button to, add one. For information about adding and managing rows, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

How to add, edit and remove rows using the Drag & Drop template editor in Act! Marketing Automation
If not already selected, on the right-hand side of the editor, click the Content tab
From the Content tab, click and drag the Button content block over the template layout

Note: A thick blue line with the words “Drag it here” will appear when you have dragged it over a place where you are able to drop it.
Drop the Button block in the desired row
Click the Save button

After you’ve added the Button block, a button will appear with text that reads “Button”. You can change this text by following the steps in the “Editing button text” section of this article.

Editing button text

In the template editor, click the button text you wish to edit to bring up the button text editor
Add or remove text in the Button as necessary, using the text formatting options to style your text as desired
When finished, click Save

Click to expand a list of available button text formatting options:

Font Family: Allows you to change the font style for the text in this buton. Choosing a font here will override the default font chosen in the Settings tab
Font Sizes: Allows you to change the font size for the text in this button
Bold: Allows you to make text bold
Italic: Allows you to make text italicized
Underline: Allows you to underline text.
Superscript: Allows you to format text so that it displays half a text character above regular text, like you would see in a footnote
Subscript: Allows you to format text so that it displays half a character below regular text, like you might see in chemistry when noting a chemical formula
Clear formatting: Clears the formatting of text and sets it back to default settings. For this to work, you must select the text you wish to clear the formatting from
Undo: Allows you to undo previous actions, starting with the most recent action
Redo: Allows reapply actions that you’ve undone in case you pressed undo too many times. This option is not available if you have pressed undo, and then started editing text again.
Left to Right: Selected by default, this setting allows you to specify that text is typed entered into the Text block from left to right. The cursor moves forward and stays on the right side of the line of text
Right to Left: Allows you to specify that text is entered from right to left. The cursor stays on the left side of the line of text. This is designed for entering text in languages that are meant to be read from the right to the left, unlike English, which is read from left to right.

Adding or editing button links

Adding button links - The following options are available when adding button links:

Open web page: Allows you to attach a link to the button so that when the button is clicked or tapped, a webpage will open. This page can be an external page, a link to a file, or even a special link, such as an Unsubscribe link, or a link to view the email in a browser
Send Email: Allows you to attach a link to the button so that when the button is clicked or tapped, a new e-mail composition window will open with the email address to send to automatically populated. If desired, this can also auto-populate a Subject and a message for the email
Make call: Allows you to attach a link to the button so that when the button is clicked or tapped on a compatible device, such as a mobile phone, the dialer will come up with your phone number already populated so that your recipients don’t have to manually dial it
Send SMS: Allows you to attach a link to the button so that when the button is clicked or tapped on a mobile phone, a new SMS message will open you’re your phone number automatically populated so that your recipients don’t have to manually enter it

For instructions on how to add/edit button links, click to expand sections below, depending on what type of link you intend to use:

Open Web Page

In the template editor, click the button you want to add a link to
In the Content tab, under the Action section, ensure “Open web page” is selected in the Link type drop-down
Depending on the source of your link, do one of the following:
- You want to use a link from an external source: paste your link in the Url field
- You want to use a special link: Click Special links, then choose the link type you want to use
- You want to link to a file: Click link file, locate the file you wish to link, then click the Insert button for that file
  
  Note: If no file currently exists, you can upload one. For more information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
  
  How to use the File Manager for a Drag & Drop template in Act! Marketing Automation
Click the Save button when you’re done

Send Email

In the template editor, click the button you want to add a link to
In the Content tab, under the Action section, select “Send Email” in the Link type drop-down
In the Mail to field, enter the email address you’d like to auto-populate when the button is clicked/tapped
In the Subject to field, if desired, enter the subject you’d like to auto-populate when the button is clicked/tapped
In the Body to field, if desired, enter the message you’d like to auto-populate when the button is clicked/tapped
Click the Save button when you’re done

Make Call

In the template editor, click the button you want to add a link to
In the Content tab, under the Action section, select “Make Call” in the Link type drop-down
In the Tel to field, enter the telephone number you’d like to auto-populate in the dialer when the button is clicked/tapped
Click the Save button when you’re done

Send SMS

In the template editor, click the button you want to add a link to
In the Content tab, under the Action section, select “Send SMS” in the Link type drop-down
In the Tel to field, enter the telephone number you’d like to auto-populate in an SMS message when the button is clicked/tapped
Click the Save button when you’re done

Editing button links:

In the template editor, click the image you want to edit
In the Content tab, under the Action section, edit the information as needed, using the same options available when adding a link to a button
Click the Save button when you're done

Editing button content properties and block options

Content properties for buttons allow you to change the way the button displays in the template. To change these properties:

In the template editor, click the button you wish to edit properties for
In the Content tab on the right, configure the properties as desired, then click Save

The following options are available:

Button options:

Auto Width: Enabled by default, this setting will automatically size the chosen button for you
Width (Slider bar): Available if Auto width is disabled. Allows you to slide a bar to size the button by percentage
Background color: Allows you to set the color you would like to use for the button
Text color: Allows you to change the color of the button text
Align: Allows you to align the button to the left, center, or right side of the template
Line height: If your button has multiple lines of text, this allows you to set the spacing between the lines
Border radius: Allows you to determine how rectangular or round the selected button is
Content padding: Allows you to set the spacing between the border of the button and the button text. This can be done proportionally on all sides at one time, or the padding for each side can be changed individually by ensuring that the “More options” setting is selected
Border: Allows you to set a colored solid, dotted, or dashed border around the button. The border can apply to all sides, or the border type and color for each side can be set individually by ensuring the “More options” setting is selected

Block options:

Padding: Allows you to set the spacing between the edges of the button and the edges of the row and/or column where the button exists. This can be done proportionally on all sides at one time, or the padding for each side can be changed individually by ensuring that the “More options” setting is selected
Hide on mobile: Allows you to keep the selected button block from appearing when someone views your template on a mobile device

Moving, duplicating, or deleting button blocks

Moving a button block: With the desired button block selected, click and hold the move icon and drag it to the new position
Duplicating a button block: With the desired button block selected, click the duplicate icon to insert a duplicate of the Text block below the original Text block
Deleting a button block:With the desired button block selected, click the trash can/delete icon read the warning stating that it cannot be undone, and if you’re sure, click Delete