Templates

The use of templates is an effective method of streamlining the message creation process. In the Templates section of DCE, you are able to create, edit, and manage message templates so they can be used later on in Messaging and Interactive Campaigns.

To access the Templates section, select its icon from the Navigation sidebar on the left.

Overview

The first time the Templates section is reached, it will look something as the screenshot below.

It has two distinct areas. At the top there are four options that you can exercise when manipulating templates:

Search in Templates
Sort templates visibility by
Categories
New Template

The area underneath it, is where the templates will be displayed as they are created in the platform, as shown in the example below. Notice the arrangement of the templates in the screenshot, arrays of templates of the same type, stack on top of each other, in essence forming a template's matrix. As templates are created they will be positioned within the matrix in their corresponding array in the next available position.

Search in Templates allows you to look up specific Templates by name.

Sort templates visibility by allows you to pick templates according to their type. DCE provides as many types of messaging delivery channels or Interactive Campaigns options are available, The list includes what is shown in the following figure:

Selecting a type from the Sort templates visibility by dropdown will result in a display of only Templates of that type.

Manage Categories

The Categories dropdown box will initially display the Manage Categories option by itself.

Selecting it will take you to the section where you can begin defining categories for your templates.

As your templates are being created, they can be classified according to your own needs: tailor-made categories you have selected to use with templates. The process of creating categories is:

Select the Category dropdown box.
Start creating a category by entering its name in the New Category Name box
As the Category Name is entered the Add Category button is enabled and it is selected once the category name is entered to finalize the creation.
Repeat the sequence from step 2 to add as many categories as needed.

A Sample Manage Categories table is shown in the following screenshot. At the far right of each table entry, there are two action icons, edit and trash can, to give those two options to act upon.

Previewing, Editing, and Deleting

If you wish to preview, make a change, or delete an existing Template, you can hover over each template which turns it grey to display three action icons: the eye, edit, and trash can icons.

Upon clicking the eye icon, a preview screen of the template appears with multiple facilities, depending on the messaging or campaign type selected.

The other two icon actions are self-evident. The edit and trash can icons, allow you to edit the template or delete it.

If the edit icon is selected, DCE will open the template section for that particular template type with its current content so that it can be modified accordingly.

If the trash can icon is selected, DCE will display the following confirmation dialog box.

In the picture below, the left side shows a preview for “standard” type messaging (SMS, Email, Push notifications), and to its right, a preview version for interactive campaigns.

Again, under the eye icon, the possible actions within the preview window are dependent on the template type, where the “standard” versions offer the possibility to modify basic information such as:

• Sender
• Personalized fields,
• Clone or Edit the template
• And a closeup preview of the template’s content

For the Interactive Campaign templates, the available facilities are:

• A QR code, that when scanned with a phone, provides for a real-life experience of the Template’s functionality.
• An emulated phone screen that can also recreate the Template’s functionality.
• A Clone button to create a template based on the one being previewed
• An edit button that will take you to the template creation process, the subject matter of the content within this section.

New Template

To start creating templates in DCE, select the New Template button located at the top and far right of the main panel of the Templates section.

The following links will take you to the specifics of how to create each type of template.