This page covers the end-to-end workflow for producing a publishable email in Activator.
Who this is for
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Content Editors (primary)
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Designers/Brand Designers only when building or maintaining templates/layouts
Step 1 — Create or duplicate
📷 Screenshot to add — A1: Dashboard with "Create new" dropdown expanded
Capture the Dashboard with the Create new button clicked and the dropdown expanded so "New email" is visible. Crop tight to the button + dropdown. Replace this panel with the image.
Create
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Go to the Dashboard
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Click Create new → Email
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Fill in mandatory metadata (if prompted)
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Select a Design System
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Select a template
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Click Create
📷 Screenshot to add — A2: Email metadata wizard (step 1 of create flow)
Capture the create wizard at the metadata step, showing the mandatory fields (Email name, Product, Country, Language). Replace this panel with the image.
📷 Screenshot to add — A3: Design System selection step
Capture the Design System selection step of the create wizard with at least 2–3 Design System cards visible. Replace this panel with the image.
📷 Screenshot to add — A4: Template selection step
Capture the template selection step with 2–3 template cards visible. Replace this panel with the image.
Duplicate
Use duplication when you’re creating a new version, market variant, or campaign variant of an existing email.
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Locate the email on the Dashboard
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Click Duplicate
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Update metadata if prompted
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Confirm duplication
Step 2 — Build the email structure
📷 Screenshot to add — A5: Editor view of a freshly-created email
Capture the Editor view of a newly-created email with the layout canvas in the centre and the right-hand panel visible. This is the "you're now in the editor" landing state. Replace this panel with the image.
Emails are assembled from reusable building blocks. Depending on your setup, you may use:
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Layouts (structure blocks)
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Helpers (layout + prefilled content)
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Email fragments (reusable blocks stored and maintained separately)
Typical pattern:
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Insert layouts/helpers/fragments into the canvas
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Remove any sections you don’t need
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Reorder sections to match your intended flow
Tip
Get the structure right before you start polishing text. It avoids rewriting copy when layout changes.
Step 3 — Fill in content
Text
Edit text fields directly on the canvas. Use formatting only where necessary.
Links and buttons
Set URLs in the element’s Settings. Always validate links in Preview mode.
Images
Insert images from your Media sources (Design System assets, DAM assets, or local uploads depending on tenant rules). Always set alt text where available.
Tokens (personalization)
Use tokens for personalization (recipient, rep, territory, etc.) when supported.
Modular content (if enabled)
If your tenant uses modular/approved content blocks, link them to layout placeholders where supported.
Step 4 — Preview and test
📷 Screenshot to add — A6: Test panel / send-test dialog (optional)
Capture the Test panel or the send-test dialog with the recipient field visible. Optional but useful — helps readers connect "test the email" with the actual UI. Replace this panel with the image.
Preview inside Activator to validate structure and responsiveness. Then test in real email clients using:
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Test send from Activator (if enabled)
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Your organization’s pre-deployment testing tool (recommended)
Step 5 — Publish
Publishing pushes the current email output to your DAM (Vault/Aprimo/etc.). Your approval workflow happens in the DAM.
Where to go next
📋 Capture notes for whoever's doing the screenshots
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Browser zoom at 100%, 1440×900 viewport is the sweet spot for Confluence rendering
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Crop tight to the UI element being demonstrated — full-browser captures waste space
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Avoid tenant-specific brand/product names; use a neutral test tenant or blur where needed
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Save with descriptive filenames using this page's ID, e.g.
3413737610-A1-create-button.png -
Replace each "📷 Screenshot to add" panel above with the corresponding image. The labels (A1, A2, …) match the panel anchors.