Building an email template
Learn how to build, customize, preview, and publish an email template using Pulse's block-based email builder.
April 20, 2026
Whether you started from a blank template or clicked "Use Template" on a starter layout, you'll land in the same place: the email builder. This is a block-based editor, meaning you build your email by dragging pre-made pieces onto a canvas, rather than writing code or fighting with a rigid layout.
The top bar
At the top, you'll find:
- The template name and a DRAFT status, with a save indicator such as "Saved" confirming your work isn't lost
- Your subject line field, which defaults to something like "New message from your store" until you change it
- View toggles for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile, so you can check how your email looks on each before sending
- Undo and Redo
- Save, Send test (sends a live test to yourself), Quality (a dropdown for checking common email issues), and Publish
The left panel: Blocks, Layouts, Variables, Saved
Four tabs organize everything you can add to your email.
Blocks
This is where your actual content pieces live, organized into categories. Under Content, you'll find:
- Header — a large email heading
- Text — a rich copy block for paragraphs
- Button — a call-to-action button
- Image — a linked image with a caption
Under Layout, you'll find structural pieces like Columns, letting you split a section into two or three side-by-side columns. A search bar, "Search blocks...", helps you find a specific block quickly once the list grows.
Layouts
Pre-built section layouts that provide larger structural starting points beyond individual blocks.
Variables
This is where dynamic, personalized content comes in. These placeholders are replaced with real data, such as a contact's name or a live product price, when the email actually sends.
Saved
Blocks or sections you've saved for reuse across different templates.
The canvas
The middle of the screen is your Editing canvas, where you actually build the email by dragging blocks in.
Zoom controls including Fit, percentage, and +/- let you adjust your view.
If you're starting completely fresh, you'll see: "Start building your email, drag blocks here or begin with a professionally designed layout," along with Browse templates and Build from scratch buttons, plus an Import HTML link if you'd rather bring in code you already have.
The right panel: Brand settings
This panel controls styling that applies across your entire email, described as "Global email defaults."
A helpful note clarifies: "These styles apply across the entire email. Select a block to edit its individual settings," meaning this panel is for overall consistency, while clicking an individual block lets you override styling just for that piece.
Under Typography & colors, you can set:
- Font family — for example,
Inter, Arial, sans-serif - Background color — with both a color swatch and a hex code field, such as
#eef2f7 - Body background color — such as
#ffffff - Link color — such as
#2563eb - Body width — a slider controlling how wide your email's content area is, defaulting to 600, a common safe width for email clients
A practical way to build your first template
Rather than starting from a completely blank canvas, click Browse templates and start from whichever starter layout is closest to what you're trying to build. For example, use a Welcome Email starter for a welcome message or a Newsletter starter for a digest.
From there, swap out the Header, Text, and Image blocks with your own content, adjust your Brand settings once so they carry across future templates too, and always use Send test to check how it actually looks in an inbox before hitting Publish.