The email editor is a drag-and-drop, block-based builder — think of your email as a stack of blocks you can add, reorder, and style, rather than a Word-style document.
Layout
Canvas (left) — the email itself, shown as it will actually render
Inspector (right) — settings for whatever block you've got selected
Toolbar (top) — switches views and holds Save
The toolbar
Edit — the visual builder (default view)
Preview — shows the email as it will look, filled in with sample client/agent data
HTML — the raw HTML behind the email. If you edit the HTML directly and switch back to Edit, AdvantaCRM tries to convert your changes back into visual blocks.
JSON — the underlying design file. You won't need this for normal editing.
Also on the toolbar: Save, a toggle to preview at desktop vs. mobile width, and a toggle to show/hide the inspector panel.
Subject line
The subject line sits above the editor, separate from the email body. It supports merge tags too — see Merge Tags.
Building the email
Click the + that appears between blocks to add a new one.
Click any block to select it — the inspector switches to show that block's settings.
Click the outer canvas background (not a block) to adjust overall layout — backdrop color, canvas color, canvas border, and default font.
Available blocks
Heading
Text — rich text, with bold/italic/underline, lists, and links
Button — a label and a URL
Image — upload a file or paste a URL
Avatar — a circular or square photo
Divider
Spacer
HTML — paste in a custom code snippet
Columns — 2 or 3 columns side by side
Container — groups other blocks together
Footer — an agency-style contact footer
Footer vs. signature: The Footer block is disabled if you already have a saved email signature — your signature is used instead. See Merge Tags for how the signature tag works.
Styling a block: Styles vs. Inspect
Once a block is selected, the inspector has two tabs:
Styles — visual settings for that block: colors, font family and size, alignment, padding, and (for buttons) width, size, and shape
Inspect — the block's actual content. For a Text block, this is the rich-text editor itself; for a Button, it's the label text and URL
Most blocks also have an Insert merge tag button right in the inspector, so you can personalize the content as you build — see Merge Tags.
What gets saved
Every template saves two things:
Design — the block layout, so you can reopen and keep editing it visually
HTML — the actual email that gets sent
You don't need to think about this while building — it's just what makes the visual editor and the HTML tab stay in sync.