Enhanced Email Editor

Overview

Editing emails will open in an external web browser window using one of the supported web browsers.  You need to have one of the three supported web browsers (listed below) installed on your system to edit emails in Gnosis.
 

A video introduction to editing emails in the Enhanced Email Editor is available here:

Supported Browsers

The email editor supports only the following browsers for editing emails as these are the only products that allow Gnosis to control their operation. (links below provide a location to download the browser if you do not already have one installed):

• Google Chrome Browser
• Microsoft Edge - (Only version 83 or later - linked here - will work)
• Brave Web Browser

NOTE: You do not need to have any of these browsers set as your "primary browser". You will not be forced to use one of these browsers for your regular browsing, you will just need to have it installed on your system so that Gnosis can use it. 

If you wish to change your primary browser, you can do so as follows (on Windows 10): 

1. On your computer, click the Start menu
2. Click Settings Settings.
3. Open your default apps:
4. Click System or Apps and then Default apps.
5. At the bottom, under "Web browser," click your current browser
6. In the "Choose an app" window, select your desired new browser.

Opening the Email Editor

When you launch an email editing session, the email editor will open a new window using one of the supported browsers listed above.  If you do not have a supported browser installed, Gnosis will not allow you to edit email messages or email templates.

A narrow, floating field-list window will also open to the left of the browser edit window, allowing you to copy and paste fields into the email being edited. Double-clicking on any field will copy it. If you attempt to close the floating-field-list window, you will also be prompted to save your work prior to closing your edit session.
 

The Email Editor Function Bar

Across the editor at the top is a collection of controls and status information for your edit session:

1. The Save button will save your work back to Gnosis
2. The Show/Hide Preview button will open the preview overlay to view the layout sized for desktop and mobile devices.
3. The Show/Hide Structure button adds thin dotted lines around each row and column in your layout so that you can easily see how the layout is structured.
4. The Last Saved and Last Backup times show when your work was last saved to Gnosis and when the three-minute auto-backup last ran.  You can see a history of saves and backups by pressing the Show/Hide History button.
5. The Show/Hide History button will show and hide a side-panel that lists all of the past saves and auto-backups both in your current and in past editing sessions for the email being edited.  History will only go back as far as July 4th, 2020.
6. The Open BeeFree Template File button allows you to import a "BeeFree formatted" template file from a designer that uses the BeeFree Email editor template standard.
7. The Help Button opens a video instruction on how to use the basics of the email editor.
    

Saving Your work

The "Save" button in the top left-hand corner of the edit window will save your email design back into Gnosis and remain open in the browser.  Additionally, your work will be auto-backed-up every 3 minutes if changes are detected after the last save or backup.  This will allow you to recover to almost any point in time in your current or previous editing sessions.  The time of last save and time of the last backup are displayed in the top bar of the browser window.

Viewing & Restoring Previous Versions

Clicking on the View/Hide History button at the top of the edit window will show/hide an edit history list on the left-hand side of your browser. 

 

Sessions that were saved using the Save button are shown with the description "(Saved)" after the save time whereas all other entries represent auto-backups.

To view a history session, click on the desired time link.  The selected version will be displayed in preview mode and the header bar will be replaced with two buttons:

Choosing "Restore This Version" will take the version being viewed and copy it to become the current version being edited.  Choosing "Back to Latest Version" - or closing the preview window - will return you to the latest version being edited.

PLEASE NOTE:  Both Save and Auto-Backup history is maintained for the last six editing sessions or 30 days (whichever is longer). Beyond that, only "Save" history is kept and is retained for a minimum of 6 months, always keeping at least the last 6 saves.
 

Finishing Your Edit Session

When you have concluded your editing session, press the "Save" button if you wish to save your work, and then close the edit session by closing either the browser window or the field list window to return to the edited item in Gnosis.

Locked Sessions

We have added locking to communications items to prevent more than one person from editing the same item simultaneously thereby potentially overwriting someone else's work.  If someone is editing a communications item, a padlock icon will appear to the right of the item being edited in the communications item list within each category:

Hovering over the padlock icon will reveal details of the person that has the item open and when they opened it.  A Gnosis Administrator will still be able to open the item after responding to the warning that force-closing another session may cause the person editing to lose work.