Library — Content Blocks

A Content Block is a piece of content that is created in the Library and can be used and reused in different messages. Typical examples are

• The footer of a message with information and contact details that should be displayed in the same way in every message
• Disclaimers and legal text blocks
• Logos
• Branded dividers

These are Content Blocks you want to add to multiple messages sent for the same organization.

Content Blocks can be used in source mode, WYSIWYG mode, and responsive designs for:

• email messages
• email templates
• pages

You can find more information on using these Content Blocks in content in this topic.

When accessing the Content Blocks section, a Start page is available giving an overview of all existing Content Blocks. The Start page presents information on the name, description, labels and usage of the Content Block.
Content Blocks are stored in folders and follow the same folder structure and management as for the other chapters. (More details on folder management can be found here.)

Note: Users with read-only rights for Content Blocks are able to view the Content Blocks but without the ability to make any changes. On the start page, an eye icon provides viewing access to the Content Block, where a message informs users they don't have permission to alter it.

From the Library Start page, Content Blocks can be edited, duplicated, moved and deleted.

A Content Block can be available for multiple organizations or only for the organization in which it has been created. The usage tells you how many times this content block has been used in messages.

Content Blocks can be deleted from the dashboard. However, if the Content Block is used in a message, the user is alerted and a list of all messages using the content block is displayed for the organizations the user has access to.

Note: When the Content Block is used in messages for organizations the user has no access to, an alert is displayed informing that the Content Block is used in other organizations, without specifying where it is used.
Also, when the Content Block is used in messages residing in folders the user has no access to, these messages will not be listed.

For example, when the Content Block is used in 3 messages, and the user only has access to 1 of those messages, the name of that message and the organization it's used in are shown, and for the other 2 messages an alert is shown:

 

In this chapter:

• Create a Content Block
• View/Edit existing Content Blocks
• Add Personalization
• Add Links
  • Data-link attribute for tracking purposes
  • href attribute to indicate the target
  • Unsubscribe and Analytics attributes for reporting
  • Interest Tags attributes for interest tracking
• Add SG-Tags
• Use Multiple Languages (SG:lang tag)
• Using Variables (SG:VAR tag)
• Using custom CSS

 

Create a Content Block

1. To create a new Content Block, do one of the followingr:

• at the top-right in the Library chapter, click the New ⌄ drop-down arrow, and select Content Block.
• from the Library fly-out menu on the left, click the New ⌄ drop-down arrow, and select Content Block.
  
  
  
• at the top-right in the Library chapter, click the New button. On the next screen, click Create Content Block.

2. The properties page is displayed and shows by default the Basic Fields.

3. You can switch to All Fields to display all of them (basic and additional fields).

4. Complete the required fields (marked with an asterisk):

• Name — The Name field can contain any value. Enter a clear name for the Content Block so it's easy to use and find.

• Folder Path — Select the folder where the Content Block is stored. Click the 3 dots at the right to access the folder selector.
  The folder path can never be empty. By default, the folder is selected from where you started to create the Content Block.

• ID — Upon creation of the Content Block, the ID is automatically filled out based on the name entered for the Content Block. However, a different value can be entered at this point. While editing an existing Content Block, the ID field is read-only if the Content Block is used in a message.

  Note: The ID field can only contain alphanumeric characters, underscores and dashes. No special characters are allowed.

• Organizations — It's possible to indicate if the Content Block should be available for use in other organizations as well. By default, the current organization is selected. Others can be added. Click the + icon to add additional organizations.

5. Additionally, complete any of the optional fields:

• Description — You can enter a description to for example explain what the Content Block contains and what its intended use is.

• Labels — You can assign one or more asset labels to the Content Block. A drop-down list is available with a list of all labels (These labels are configured in the Admin configuration section of Engage).
  Users with the proper access permissions can also create new labels here by typing the new label value in the field.

6. When done setting up the Content Block properties, click Create.

7. The Content Block is created, and the Source tab is shown.

8. Next, fill out the actual content of the Content Block. This is done by typing HTML source code in the editor (including an auto-complete function while typing for ease of use). You can also copy-paste HTML code in the source code editor.

Auto-complete examples:

The HTML code in this section can contain complex nested HTML blocks or a small HTML block, such as a single table, footer content, a section with texts and images, etc.
Emojis can be used, as can personalization fields and Data Selection fields.

The HTML syntax must be valid (validation of your HTML code is applied).

Example of a validation error:
Opening and closing tags should correspond, which is not the case here:

Hovering over the error icon on the left shows a tooltip with the error message:

9. When done adding the HTML content to your Content Block, click Save.

Note: Saving the Content Block can also be done by using CTRL+S.

The Content Block is added to the Start Page.
The Start Page presents an overview of all existing Content Blocks and their usage.
You can perform a search to locate any Content Block.

 

View/Edit existing Content Blocks

You can view and edit existing Content Blocks by accessing them through the Content Blocks start page in the Library chapter (or by using the fly-out menu on the left).

When viewing/editing an existing Content Block:

• The Properties > General tab provides all settings entered on creation of the Content Block.
  When the Content Block is not locked, these can be edited here (except for the ID field which becomes read-only once the Content Block is used in a message).

  

• The Properties > Usage tab provides an overview of all messages (and their organization) in which the Content Block is being used.

  

• On the Source tab, you can add/edit HTML code, identical to creating a new Content Block (as mentioned above).
  

Example of a Content Block that's being used in a message:
On the Content Blocks start page, you can see that the first Content Block is being used once:

Clicking on that Content Block and navigating to Properties > Usage, shows the message (and organization) the Content Block is currently being used in:

In Properties > General, the ID field is read-only:

On the Source tab, the HTML code can still be edited:

 

Locked Content Blocks

When another user created/edited a Content Block, that Content Block becomes locked for other users:

• A read-only badge is shown on top.
• A message is visible at the top-right : The content is locked by [user]. Unlock to edit.
• Editing the HTML source code isn't possible. A read-only tooltip is shown when trying to do so.

• The fields on the Properties tab are read-only.

Clicking the Unlock to edit link removes the lock and allows you to edit the Content Block (as mentioned above).

Note: The user is notified when they have no access to certain linked content. See this section for more info.

 

Add Personalization

Emojis, Personalization fields and Data Selection fields can be added to the Content Block.

• Emojis can be selected by clicking on Insert emoji which shows a popup pane.

  

  • At the top of the emoji selector, you can navigate through categories to see the available emojis in the selected category.
    The selectable emojis are visible in the middle section. Clicking an emoji inserts it in the Content Block at the location of the mouse cursor (or where it was last active).
    At the bottom, the most recently used emojis are shown, as a quick way to re-use them.
    

  • You can search for specific emojis.
    

  • You can select the skin tone of an emoji.
    

    Note: The skin tone only applies to the People and body category.
    

• Personalization fields and Data Selection fields can be entered manually.

  Examples:
  <tr>This email was sent to: [%[MASTER.MAIL]%]</tr>
  <p>[%year(sysdate())%]</p>

Note: When the Content Block is used in a message, validation is performed to check if the used personalization fields match the available fields of the lists in the message itself.

Fields from the Audience List

When using fields in a Content Block, you must make sure these fields also exist in the Audience List used in the message.

Example: If the Content Block uses a personalization field [%[MASTER.NAME]%], this field must also exist in the Audience List of the message.

Fields from a Data Selection

Fields from a Data Selection can be used in a Content Block which it then used in a Repeater or outside of the Repeater.

Outside of the Repeater

When using Data Selection fields in a Content Block that will be used outside of a Repeater, the following syntax needs to be used:

[%itemValue('DS_Name', ROWNUMBER, 'Field_Name' )%] where

• DS_Name references the name of the Data Selection configured in the message
• ROWNUMBER references the exact record to choose from the Data Selection
• Field_Name references the field in the Data Selection that must be displayed

Note: In this case, the Content Block can only be used in messages that include the referenced Data Selection in their properties.

In a Repeater

When Data Selection fields are used in a Content Block and that Content Block is added to the Repeater in the message, the properties of the Repeater apply (eg. number of columns), and the number of times to display and what data will be shown depends on the Data Selection definition for the Repeater.

To be able to use Data Selection fields in the Content Block you must make sure that:

1. The Data Selection List selected as the source of the Data Selection contains the fields used in the Content Block.
2. The fields in the Data Selection definition are exposed for personalization in the Repeater.
3. The Content Block is added to a Repeater using the Data Selection that has those fields defined.

Example: Use the IMAGE_URL in the Data Selection and display it. The following syntax is used in the Content Block:
[%itemValue( 'IMAGE_URL' )%]
Example code:

Note: The syntax used does not contain any reference to a Repeater or Data Selection. Hence this Content Block can be used in ANY Repeater with ANY Data Selection that features the referenced field.

 

Add Links

Links can be added to the Content Block as well. Depending on the syntax used, links will be tracked or not when used in a message.

Data-link attribute for tracking purposes

To create a tracked link, add the data-link attribute to the syntax and provide a name for it.

Example: 
<a href="" data-link="Website">
In the below example, it looks like the following:


When the Content Block is used in the message, the link appears on the right, in the Links panel.

Note: Use of the anchor # tag in a data-link attribute is not permitted.

When a Content Block with links is added to a message, the tracked links will be listed on the Links tab of the message. The name given to the data-link attribute is the one displayed on the Links tab when the Content Block is used in a message. If the same Content Block is used multiple times in the same message, distinct links will be created for each time the Content Block is used. This allows you to track which Content Block generates the most interaction.

Technical note:
In a Content Block, it is possible to reference links using the name of the Link instead of the ID.
For example, for the following tracked link in the Content Block <a href="http://www.google.be" data-link="my_url">ClickMe</a>
you can use [%link('my_url')%] in any link expression used in the Content Block (ex. [%concat(link('my_url'), '&context=', urlencode([VARIABLE.URL]))%] )
Note that this only applies for expressions added to the Content Block itself, not to the message. You can use the name of links defined in the Content Block as well as the name of links defined in the message.

Because the tracked links are displayed multiple times, this can lead to confusion. Therefore, tracked links can be given an alias, so there is a clear distinction between them, which is especially useful in reporting. This alias is assigned when editing the properties of the Content Block link in the message.
In the Links section, click the pencil icon next to the link to display the Properties dialog and define an alias.

The alias and the name of the link are displayed in the Links overview:

Note: In case the link points to an existing journey, it is possible to pass parameters to the Input Component of that journey. This can be done directly in the query string:
<a href="sgmc://journey/123/456?c=subscribe&canal=email" data-link="SMC-journey">Click here</a>
It is also possible to pass expressions:
<a href="sgmc://journey/123/456?c=subscribe&canal=[%[PREFERENCES.PREFERRED_CHANNEL]%]" data-link="SMC-journey">Click here</a>

When no data-link attribute is added, the link is an ordinary hyperlink. It will not be displayed on the Links tab when used in a message and it cannot be edited once used in the message.

 

href attribute to indicate the target

In addition, when the href attribute is filled out, the link target is not editable when the Content Block is used in a message. On the other hand, when no href attribute is defined for the link in the Content Block, the user will be able to define the actual target in the properties of the link when used in a message. The target can be an external URL, a page in an existing journey or the target can be defined in the journey. (You can find more information on the use of Content Blocks in this topic. )

Example: The Content Block contains one pre-configured hyperlink where the HREF attribute is filled out and one without the HREF attribute. They will both be listed in the Links section of the message. The second hyperlink will be configurable.


If we add the same Content Block twice, a second section is added with the links in the second Content Block. Although the same Content Block is added to the message, the configurable links can be configured differently.

When the Content Block link points to a specific journey in Campaign or in Engage, parameters can be passed on in the Content Block. The following syntax must be used and will only work when used in Content Blocks:

Example of links to journeys:
<a href="sgmc://journey/123/456" data-link="SMC-journey">Link to Marigold Engage journey</a>
<a href="sgmc://campaign/123/456" data-link="Campaign-journey">Link to Campaignjourney</a>

Example of links with parameters:
<a href="sgmc://campaign/123/456?USERNAME=Andrew" data-link="Campaign-journey-param">Link to Campaignjourney</a>

In all examples above, the indicator 123 refers to the Journey ID and the indicator 456 to the Component ID.

When you want to add the web version link to the Content Block, the following syntax is used.

<a href="LINK(0)" style="text-decoration:none;color:#0000aa;">web version</a>

where LINK(0) always refers to the default web version link created in every message. This link is non-editable.

 

Unsubscribe and Analytics attributes for reporting

If the link in the Content Block is used as an unsubscribe link, you can add an attribute to the link so that this link will not be included in reporting. The syntax is as following:

Example:
<a href="sgmc://journey/123/456" data-link="Unsubscribe" unsubscribe-link="true">link to Unsubscribe journey</a>

Technical note: If a link is flagged as an unsubscribe link, this results in the following behavior:
The Unsubscribe link is separated from the other links in reporting to ensure a dedicated metric that provides information on the number of customers who have clicked it.
Unsubscribe links are also available as a separate event in the Segment Builder. This lets you create segments that take account of the actions on an Unsubscribe link.
Clicks on Unsubscribe links will not be taken into account when calculating the winner of an AB test on a message.

On the other hand, tagging a link in the Content Block will allow it to be included when trackers are activated on your environment. The syntax is as following:

Example:
<a href="https://acc3.emsecure.local/shop/default.aspx?CATIDL2=47" data-link="Home_Cat_NL_BE" analytics-link="Home Electronics"> Electronica </a>

Note: It is possible to use expressions in the analytics-link attribute.

More information on the use of Content Blocks with links can be found in this topic.

 

Interest Tags attributes for interest tracking

When creating a Content Block with links, you can now tag these links with Interest Tags as well. This is done in the following manner:

The attribute interest-tags-link is added to the link tag. The tags are separated by a comma.

Technical note: Note that the Interest tags used in the Content Block should correspond to the tags in the Tag List linked to the Audience List for which the content is being created.

When this Content Block is used in a message, the links used in the Content Block are listed and when opening a link, the different Interest tags set for the link are shown:

 

Add SG-Tags

Note: Content Blocks support the use of SG tags. Remember that SG tags are Marigold Engage-specific HTML tags that allow configuration of the layout and content through a properties panel and make it language dependent. When these tags are added and the Content Block is used in a message, the user will be able to configure these SG tags directly in the message. This means that the same Content Block used multiple times in the same message or in different messages can have different content for these SG tags. This can typically be used to create multilingual content.

The following tags can be added:

• <sg:content id="" />
• <sg:button id="" />
• <sg:image id="" />
• <sg:text id="" />
• <sg:barcode id="" />
• <sg:video id="" />

Example: We have a Content Block with three SG tags. When this Content Block is used in a message, the SG tags will be listed and the user can edit the content. A preview of the SG tag is shown. If the SG tag has content defined in it, that will be displayed in the preview. If no content has been defined yet, an icon is displayed with the name of the SG component.

In addition, the following sg tag can be added: <sg:head id="" />.

An <sg:head> tag will place all of its content in the <head> HTML section of your message in which the Content Block will be used later on, and is for example used to define <style> tags or <script> tags with certain content.

This sg tag is treated differently from the others, as all sg:head tags will be rendered at the bottom of the head-section in the message. When multiple sg : head tags have been detected, in a single Content Block or multiple Content Blocks, they are all rendered sequentially. The order of the Content Blocks in the message determines the order in which they are rendered.

Example of <sg:head> usage:
We have three Content Blocks (in the Library chapter of Engage).
- A first Content Block CB_style_h1_and_h2_tags, containing an sg:head tag with styling for h1 and h2 headers.

- A second Content Block CB_div_with_styling_applied, containing a div with id="heading" and h1 and h2 elements as child elements, and specific styling for these h1 and h2 tags in the heading id parent tag (+ styling for other elements not used right now).

- A third Content Block CB_background_CSS, containing an sg:head tag with styling for the background of the entire message.


In the message (in the Content chapter of Engage), the three Content Blocks are added.

Additionally, a Text component is added in which text is styled as h1 heading, h2 heading, and paragraph text.

When previewing the message, the applied sg:head stylings become visible :
- The pink background-color for h1, and the dotted red border for h2 are visible for all h1 and h2 headers, outside and within the div with id="heading" (sg:head styling coming from the first Content Block CB_style_h1_and_h2_tags).
- The h1 and h2 headers within the div with id="heading" have additional styling applied, such as the font-style, text-shadow and padding (sg:head styling coming from the second Content Block CB_div_with_styling_applied).
- The entire message has a beige background color (sg:head styling coming from the third Content Block CB_background_CSS).

For some SG tags used in Content Blocks, you can set any style option through attributes in the tag.

Example: <sg:image id="my_img" alt="alternative text" style="width:100px" />

The following attributes are supported for the following SG tags:

SG:image	src — the source of the image href — the image link alt — alternative text style — style options such as width
SG:button	href — the button link text — button text style — style options such as width
SG:content	style — style options such as width
SG:video	poster — Image to be shown when the video is downloading or until the user clicks the play button src — The source of the video href — The video link img — The fallback image style — Style options such as width
SG:spacer	style — Style options such as width
SG:barcode	barcodetype — The type of barcode. You can choose from Ean-13, Code39, Code128 or QR value — What will be encoded to generate the barcode (example: "mailto:support@somecompany.com") Personalization can be included as well, e.g. "https://discount.shop/basket.asp?visitor=[% MASTER.ID %]" alt — The text to be displayed if the selected barcode cannot be shown. orientation — It defines the barcode orientation on the page. You can choose between: Normal, Turn 90 Left, Turn 90 Right and Turn 180. fontsize — The font of the barcode text in pixels width — The width of the barcode in pixels height — The height of the barcode in pixels borderwidth — The width of the border in pixels version — Only for QR codes. The selected version defines the overall dimensions of the symbol. A value from 1 to 40 is expected errorcorrectionlevel — Only for QR codes (More details here) style — Alignment (Left, Right, Center)

Note: When you set an attribute on an SG component in the Content Block, it becomes read-only when the Content Block is used in the message. Changes to the style options in the Content Blocks will be reflected in the messages using these Content Blocks.

More information on the use of Content Blocks with SG-tags can be found in this topic.

 

Use Multiple Languages (SG:lang tag)

Content Blocks are generally non-editable when used in a message, except for SG tags and editable links. These can be modified once the Content Block is added to the message.

By using the following syntax, you can make the content of a non-editable Content Block language dependent:

<sg:lang value="EN">…</sg:lang>
<sg:lang value="NL" >…</sg:lang>

Example of a Content Block using the SG:lang tag:

Note that these SG tags can only contain HTML. You cannot include other SG tags in an SG:lang tag.

Note: Ensure that the language code used in these SG tags corresponds to the language codes used for the organization. Consult your system administrator to obtain these language codes.

Note: If the message has a language code that is not included in the Content Block, no content will be rendered.

Language tags can also be used inside other SG tags. This lets you set language-specific attributes for these SG tags. Only the attributes specific to the user's language will be rendered.

Note: Language-specific attributes have priority over generic attribute values.

The following attributes can be set as language-dependent:

• Images — src, href, alt
• Buttons — text, href

Example for an image:
<sg:image id="my_img" style="width:100px">
<sg:lang value="nl" alt="De zon" />
<sg:lang value="fr" alt="Le Soleil" />
</sg:image>

Example for content:
<sg:content id="content-1">
<sg:lang value="NL">Nederlandse content</sg:lang>
<sg:lang value="EN">English content</sg:lang>
</sg:content>

Where value is the language code that needs to correspond to the language of the message in which the Content Block is used.

More information on the use of Content Blocks with multiple languages can be found in this topic.

 

Using Variables (SG:VAR tag)

Content in a Content Block can be made dependent on a variable. Variables are used in templates, giving a level of flexibility when this template is used in a journey. You can then fill out this variable and influence the final look and feel of the content.

Example: I want a multi-functional button, but must be able to adapt the size and the alignment. In this case, you can create a Content Block for the button and have two variables defined for the color and the alignment.

 

A template variable exists on template level and when used in a Content Block, the value selected for the variable applies to all Content Blocks in the template using that variable.

To use an existing template variable in the Content Block the following syntax is used.

[%[VARIABLE.Name]%]

Example: <sg:conditional id="social" expression="all(eq([VARIABLE.Social], 'true'))">

All content added in between these sg:conditional tags will be dependent on the value that you enter for the variable.

 

A local variable is defined and used in the Content Block.

To use a local variable in a Content Block that does not yet exist in the template, the following SG syntax is used:

<sg:var name="" type="" value="" alias="" description="" />

You can set :

• a name
• the type of the variable. This defines the type of value that is expected for the variable and the way it is displayed in the interface: a text variable will only allow to enter textual values, a color variable displays a color selector, a boolean variable displays a check box.
• the default value (optional) for this variable. When used in a content, the default value is automatically applied.
• an alias (optional). This is used in the variable field in the Content Block properties. If no alias is provided, the name of the variable is used.
• a description (optional). This is displayed below the variable field in the Content Block properties.

<sg:var name="MyText" type="Text" value="mytext" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="Mycolor" type="Color" value="#0000FF" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="MyName" type="Number" value="75" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="MyBoolean" type="Boolean" value="TRUE" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="MyDecimal" type="Decimal" value="0,01" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="MyDateTime" type="Datetime" value="2019-10-17 10:00" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="MyDate" type="Date" value="2019-10-17" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="MyTime" type="Time" value="10:00" alias="my_alias" description="my_description" />

<sg:var name="My_image" type="image" value="" />

Example:
On the left, the Content Block created in the Library chapter, contains 3 variables of type boolean, text, and color.
On the right, when using the Content Block in a message, the properties window displays all 3 variables (boolean as a toggle, text as a text field, color as a color picker), with their alias and description.

Additionally, with sg:option you can define different possible variable values to choose from:

<sg:var name="MyValues" type="text" value="option2">
<sg:option value="option1">Option 1</sg:option>
<sg:option value="option2">Option 2</sg:option>
</sg:var>

Example 1:
Have a look at this example, where the color (that will be used later on as background color of the template header) is stored as a variable with 2 possible options:


Using the Content Block in a template, the color variable is listed in the Content Block component properties. The 2 color options are displayed, which can be toggled.


In the style dialog of the template header, adding 'background-color: [color variable name]' as custom style, applies the selected option of the sg:var color variable in the Content Block as background color to the message header (which is currently purple).


Switching to the other color option in the Content Block component properties (to green), automatically updates the template header color.


The same way, in every section of the template where the variable is used, the color will be adapted to the selected value in the Content Block.

Example 2:
A variable of type image is added to the Content Block and used in an image tag:


In the message, an image can be selected for this variable:

Note: Local variables are defined in the Content Block, and for each Content Block added to the template, the variable value needs to be defined. This means that although the same Content Block can be used multiple times, they can all look differently.
When template variables are used in a Content Block, this value is defined only once when using it in the template and applied to all Content Blocks using that variable.

More information on the use of Content Blocks with variables can be found in this topic.

Example : Using global variables

 

Using custom CSS

Note: From Version 5.21 the data-head attribute is no longer supported and needs to be replaced with the sg:head tag.

Content Blocks can also contain custom style definitions, contained within <style> tags. When the sg:head tag is detected, those styles are then correctly placed in the message <head> section.

Example:
<sg:head>
<style type="text/css">
.custom-css-class {
background-color: #000000;
color: #ffffff;
}
</style>
</sg:head>

When used in the Content Block, the style of the content is adapted.
<p class="custom-css-class">
This is a paragraph.
</p>

 

Note: Engage specific SG-tags (eg. sg:var, sg:image, ...) are only supported in Content Blocks created in the Library and upon importing HTML messages via the email creation API. Currently, they are not supported for use when importing HTML for messages, templates and pages through the Engage interface.
Link attributes (eg. data-link, unsubscribe-link, ...) on the other side, are supported in Content Blocks created in the Library as well as through HTML imports.

 

Examples :
- Introduction to Content Blocks

This course gives an introduction to the Content Blocks feature with a simple formatted text example.

- Using Content Blocks in Headers and Footers

This Content Blocks course goes deeper into the use of images, tracked links, and the use of SG Tags to define basic variables.