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Custom Building Blocks and App Blocks

Rachael Norris
Rachael Norris
  • Updated

Custom Building Blocks and App Blocks can be used to save repeatable content or to add custom Spektrix content into your emails. You can easily drag and drop Custom Building Blocks and App blocks to add this content into your Dotdigital emails.

Spektrix provides Custom Building Blocks and App Blocks which can be used to add powerful liquid script functionality to your emails without having to write the code yourself.

This article details all of the available Spektrix blocks and how to create your own to save content you want to use again.
 

What are Custom Building Blocks?

You can create Custom Building Blocks to save and repeat elements in your Dotdigital emails.

For example, if you always set up Dynamic Content for your Members in your newsletter, you may want to save it as a Custom Building Block to easily and quickly replicate it again in the future.

Other examples of ways you might use Custom Building blocks include:

  • An unsubscribe and manage Contact Preferences section
  • A branded header menu with links to your What’s On, Membership and Donate pages
  • A Donation ask Dynamic Content block
     

Spektrix Blocks

There are two types of Blocks that we use to provide custom content you can use in your Dotdigital emails.

  • Custom Building Blocks: Spektrix Custom Building Blocks are pre-made, editable blocks you can add to your emails. You can rearrange the content within them and apply your own styling.
  • App Blocks: Pre-made custom code blocks which add Spektrix integrated functions to your emails. You cannot edit the layout or styling within App Blocks. Any content within App Blocks will follow the email style settings.

Spektrix-provided Custom Building Blocks and App Blocks can be used to add powerful liquid script functionality to your Dotdigital emails without having to write the code yourself.
 

How to add a Custom Building Block to your email

To add a Custom Building Block to your email, follow the steps below.

  1. In the Dotdigital Easy Editor, go to the Build menu > Custom building blocks
  2. Find the Custom Building Block you want to add - it may be within a folder.

  3. Drag and drop the Custom Building Block into the body of your email:

 

Spektrix Custom Building Blocks

The available Spektrix Custom Building Blocks are:

Supplementary Events Upsell Block

The Supplementary Events Upsell Block can be added to your Pre-Event Email to direct your customers to a Subsite Supplementary Events page filtered by date.

To use this block in your Pre-Event Emails, you will need to:

  • Use a Spektrix Subsite
  • Set up Supplementary Events
  • Use the Pre Event Liquid Header in your Pre-Event Email
  • Set up the Subsite Subdomain Data Field

  • Create a new Instance Attribute as a checkbox and visible in the API, named exactly:

    dotdigitalPreEventSupplementaryUpsell
     

  • Apply this Attribute to Instances where you’d like to display the Upsell Block in the Pre-Event email.
  • Add the Supplementary Events Upsell Block to your email and customise the block with your organisation’s Supplementary Event information.

To customise the Supplementary Events Upsell Block, you will need to replace the text and upload an image. You can also update the button text and apply any other custom content and styling elements.

When the customer clicks the button, they’ll be directed to Supplementary Events page on your Subsite which displays Supplementary Events with the same date as the Instance.

For more information about using the Supplementary Events Upsell Block, read the Building Post-Purchase Upsells recipe on the Community.

WARNING: The Pre-Event Liquid Header App Block must always appear first in the email for the Supplementary Events Block to function.

 

How to create a Custom Building Block

To save content as a Custom Building Block, follow the steps below:

  1. Use a column block to group the content so that it is all contained within one block.
     

  2. Drag and drop the block into the Custom Building Blocks panel in the menu on the left.

     

  3. Enter a recognisable name for the block. This helps you, or your colleagues, to identify the block to use again in future.
     
  4. Click Save

Once saved, your block will be available under the Custom Building Blocks section and ready for you to use in future emails.

TIP: We strongly recommend using folders for your Custom Building Blocks to keep them organised.

 

Editing a Custom Building Block

To edit a Custom Building Block:

  1. Select the block name and then click the Properties icon.

  2. To rename a block, enter a new value in the Block name field.
  3. To change where a block is stored, expand the Parent folder drop-down menu and select a folder.
  4. Click Save to confirm any changes.
     

Spektrix App Blocks

Spektrix pre-made App Blocks can be added to your emails to power extra functionality in your emails.

App Blocks can be found in the EasyEditor under the Build tab on the menu on the left and below the images dropdown:

To add an App Block into your email, drag and drop the block from the menu on the left into the body of your email.

The available Spektrix App Blocks are:

Pre Event Liquid Header

The Pre Event Liquid Header powers the Liquid Script for Pre- and Post-Event emails.

The Pre Event Liquid Header is included by default in the Pre-Event Email Template or can be added to your existing Pre- and Post-Event email campaigns to enable Liquid Script and the preview function.

To learn more about how to add the Pre Event Liquid Header to your Pre or Post-Event Email, read Custom Pre- and Post-Event Emails.

You will need to add a Liquid Script to the top of your email before adding the header.

  1. Drag and drop a Liquid Markup block into the top of your email:

  2. Paste in the following code:

    {% assign spektrix_instance_id = '$INSTANCEID$' %}
     

  3. Click Apply:

  4. Drag and drop the Pre Event Liquid Header App Block directly below the Liquid Markup.

Once added to your email, you can click the block and enter an Instance ID to allow you to preview the email for a specific Instance.

Legacy Data Fields (e.g @EVENTNAME@) do not appear in preview. However, they will still function once the email is delivered.

Entering a Test Instance ID will not affect your Pre- and Post-Event Emails when they are delivered.
 

Tickets Block and Seat Summary Block

You can add the Tickets Block or the Seat Summary Block to your existing Pre-Event Email to include your customers tickets. The Tickets Block can also be found in the Pre-Event Email Template.

The Ticket Block can also display other ticket information such as seat names and Attributes.

To use the Ticket or Seat Summary Blocks in your Pre-Event Emails, you will need to activate Order Syncing between your Spektrix and Dotdigital systems.

REMINDER: The Ticket Block can only be added to a Pre-Event email where the Pre Event Liquid Header block is already configured at the top of the email.

  • Tickets Block: The Tickets Block can be configured to display tickets as grouped or ungrouped. In grouped mode, a scannable QR code for each ticket barcode is visible but there is only one set of Add to Wallet buttons for Digital Passes. When ungrouped, each ticket barcode is visible and there is a set of Add to Wallet buttons for Digital Passes per ticket.
  • Seat Summary: The Seat Summary Block displays a single card and a scannable QR code which represents every ticket in the customer’s Order. Seat details are summarised, for example, 2 seats M12-13.

  • Ticket Block

    To add the Ticket Block to your Pre-Event Email:

    1. Ensure your email includes the Pre/Post Event Header App Block and the Liquid Markup at the top of the email.
    2. In the Dotdigital EasyEditor, under the Build menu, find the Spektrix Pre/Post Event Emails folder.
    3. Drag and drop either the Ticket Block or the Ticket Summary Block into the body of your email. It must sit below the Pre/Post Event Header.
    4. Click into the Block to configure the settings:
      • Logo image URL: To add an optional logo at the top of the ticket block, enter the URL of a PNG or JPEG image which is already hosted elsewhere online. This image will be displayed at a maximum of 170 x 80 px.
      • Card background: Enter a hex code to set a colour for the background of the ticket block.
      • Divider colour: Enter a hex code to set the colour of the divider which appears below the optional logo.
      • Text colour: Enter a hex code to set the text colour of the ticket details.
      • Show card border: Set to true to add a border around each ticket.
      • Border colour: If you choose to add a border, enter a hex code to set the colour.
      • Show labels: Set to true to add a label which precedes the ticket information for Venue, Entry, Seat Ticket Type and Order ID. Without a label the data will display alone, for example, A2 instead of Seat: A2.
      • Pass links: Choose Grouped (one set of pass links), Ungrouped (Pass links repeated per ticket) or hide pass links.
      • Date format: Delete the default date format from the box to choose a different date format.
      • Time format: Delete the default time format to choose between 12 hour (2:30 PM) or 24 hour (14:30) display.
      • Ticket Content: Check the boxes against each of the pieces of information you want to include. This data is dynamically generated from the data in your Spektrix system :
        • Show QR Code: In the Ticket Block, a scannable QR code will be displayed per ticket.
        • Show Ticket Text 1: Set up an Event Attribute named “Ticket Text 1” to add extra custom information to your ticket block.
        • Show event name: The name of the Event.
        • Show Ticket Text 2: Set up an Event Attribute named “Ticket Text 2” to add extra custom information to your ticket block.
        • Show date and time: The date and time of the Instance.
        • Show venue: The Venue name in Spektrix.
        • Show Seating Plan name: The name of your Seating Plan in Spektrix.
        • Show door text: If you have a Seat Attribute named “Door” this will display the Attribute value.
        • Show Seating Plan area: The Area Name within the Seating Plan for each ticket.
        • Show Seat info: Information applied to the seat using an Info Overlay.
        • Show ticket type: The Ticket Type of each ticket. For example, Adult or Concession.
        • Show ticket price: The price of each ticket.
        • Show order ID: The Order ID for each ticket will be displayed. If the customer has tickets for the same Instance from multiple Orders, each Order ID will display against each ticket.
      • Ticket Divider (Ticket Block only): Choose Show to add a dotted line divider between each ticket.
      • Style content: Click the Style Content button to update the style of the Block. The font size and colour of the text is set in the global style content for the email.
    5. Click Apply to save your changes.
    6. You can preview the Block by clicking the Preview button from the menu bar at the top. When in preview, click the Personalisation icon and then enter the email address or name of a customer with tickets for the same Instance you have set in the Pre/Post Header as the Test Instance ID.

      This will allow you to view the Pre-Event email with ticket information.

  • Seat Summary

    To add the Seat Summary to your Pre-Event Email:

    1. Ensure your email includes the Pre/Post Event Header App Block and the Liquid Markup at the top of the email.
    2. In the Dotdigital EasyEditor, under the Build menu, find the Spektrix Pre/Post Event Emails folder.
    3. Drag and drop the Ticket Summary Block into the body of your email. It must sit below the Pre/Post Event Header.
    4. Click into the Block to configure the settings:
      • Logo Image URL: To add a logo at the top of the ticket block, enter the URL of a PNG or JPEG image which is already hosted elsewhere online. This image will be displayed at a maximum of 170 x 80 px.
      • Card background: Enter a hex code to set a colour for the background of the block.
      • Divider colour: Enter a hex code to set the colour of the divider which appears below the optional logo.
      • Field text colour: Enter a hex code to set the text colour for the event and seat details.
      • Show card border: Set to true to add a border around each ticket.
      • Border Colour: Enter a hex code to set a colour for the border.
      • Show labels: Set to true to add a label which precedes the ticket information for Venue, Entry, Seat and Ticket Type. Without a label the data will display alone, for example, A2 instead of Seat: A2.
      • Date format: Delete the default date format from the box to choose a different date format.
      • Time format: Delete the default time format to choose between 12 hour (2:30 PM) or 24 hour (14:30) display.
      • Seat Summary Content: Check the boxes against each of the pieces of information you want to include. This data is dynamically generated from the data in your Spektrix system:
        • Show Ticket Text 1: Set up an Event Attribute named “Ticket Text 1” to add extra custom information to your ticket block.
        • Show event name: The name of the Event.
        • Show Ticket Text 2: Set up an Event Attribute named “Ticket Text 2” to add extra custom information to your ticket block.
        • Show date and time: The date and time of the Instance.
        • Show venue: The Venue name in Spektrix.
        • Show Seating Plan name: The name of your Seating Plan in Spektrix.
        • Show door text: If you have a Seat Attribute named “Door” this will display the Attribute value.
        • Show Seating Plan area: The Area Name within the Seating Plan for each ticket.
        • Show Seat Ranges: Display Seat Names as a group. For example, “2 seats: M14-15”.
        • Show Seat info: Information applied to the seats using an Info Overlay.
        • Show ticket type: The Ticket Type of each ticket. For example, Adult or Concession.
        • Show ticket price: The price of each ticket including commission.
      • Ticket Divider (Ticket Block only): Choose Show to add a dotted line divider between each ticket.
      • Style content: Click the Style Content button to update the style of the Block. The font size and colour of the text is set in the global style content for the email.
    5. Click Apply to save your changes.
    6. You can preview the Block by clicking the Preview button from the menu bar at the top. When in preview, click the Personalisation icon and then enter the email address or name of a customer with tickets for the same Instance you have set in the Pre/Post Header as the Test Instance ID.