The Newsletter Builder is a tool that allows you to construct reusable newsletter templates and create individual newsletters directly in WordPress, that are then sent out via SendGrid. You can easily include posts from your site in your newsletters – whether by curating specific posts, or sending out a list of recent posts or posts from a particular category.
It is highly recommended that you send a test newsletter to yourself before sending to your users, to ensure your newsletter is formatted as you expect. To do this, you can add yourself to a separate test List in SendGrid and send the newsletter to that newly created List.Newsletter Builder: Initial Setup
To get started with the Newsletter Builder, populate the general settings which appear in the footer of all newsletters you send. This is a one-time setup, unless you need to make changes to these items.
In your WordPress Admin, navigation to Newsletters > General Settings > expand Footer Settings. Fill in the fields that you want to include in the Footer:
Social networks: Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, YouTube
Footer Image: Typically your logo
Company Address Line 1 and 2 (required to comply with anti-spam laws!)
Note: The words “Our mailing address is:” automatically display above your address in the footer.
Save Changes.
Social networks: Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, YouTube
Footer Image: Typically your logo
Company Address Line 1 and 2 (required to comply with anti-spam laws!)
Note: The words “Our mailing address is:” automatically display above your address in the footer.
Note: The words “Our mailing address is:” automatically display above your address in the footer.
Save Changes.
ℹ️ Note: A “Manage Subscription Preferences” link is automatically added to the bottom of the Newsletter Footer to ensure compliance with anti-spam laws. This link directs the user to their My Account page on your site so they can edit their newsletter preferences as desired. At this time, there is no direct “Unsubscribe” link – this will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
Newsletter Builder: Template Creation
Next, construct the newsletter template(s) that you plan to reuse in the future for sending regular newsletters to your users. You can create as many templates as needed, based on the types of newsletters you typically send. Each template is a one-time setup, unless you need to make changes to the template.
In your WordPress Admin, navigate to Templates > Add New Post
Add title: Add an easily recognizable name for the template – this is for internal use only and does not display to end users.
Optional: Select Template Styles (in Template sidebar)
Background Color (default is white: #FEFEFE)
Link Color (default is blue: #0073AA)
Font Family (default is Arial)
The available fonts are all web/email-safe fonts that will display as expected in your sent emails in various email clients.
Build out newsletter template via the Block Inserter.
Newsletter Header
<whatever additional structural blocks are needed>
See below “Template Creation Tips” section for additional information on constructing your template.
Newsletter Footer
Publish
Add title: Add an easily recognizable name for the template – this is for internal use only and does not display to end users.
Optional: Select Template Styles (in Template sidebar)
Background Color (default is white: #FEFEFE)
Link Color (default is blue: #0073AA)
Font Family (default is Arial)
The available fonts are all web/email-safe fonts that will display as expected in your sent emails in various email clients.
Background Color (default is white: #FEFEFE)
Link Color (default is blue: #0073AA)
Font Family (default is Arial)
The available fonts are all web/email-safe fonts that will display as expected in your sent emails in various email clients.
The available fonts are all web/email-safe fonts that will display as expected in your sent emails in various email clients.
Build out newsletter template via the Block Inserter.
Newsletter Header
<whatever additional structural blocks are needed>
See below “Template Creation Tips” section for additional information on constructing your template.
Newsletter Footer
Newsletter Header
<whatever additional structural blocks are needed>
See below “Template Creation Tips” section for additional information on constructing your template.
See below “Template Creation Tips” section for additional information on constructing your template.
Newsletter Footer
Publish
In your WordPress Admin, navigate to Newsletters > Email Types > Add Another Email Type
Fill in Label field (easily recognizable name of Email Type that typically corresponds 1:1 with your templates)
Image: Upload an image that will be used as the Header image in the newsletter
Under “Templates” check off the corresponding Template
Select “From Name” from dropdown
Note: These emails are pulled in directly from your SendGrid account – they are the authorized “single senders” in your account.
Save Changes.
Fill in Label field (easily recognizable name of Email Type that typically corresponds 1:1 with your templates)
Image: Upload an image that will be used as the Header image in the newsletter
Under “Templates” check off the corresponding Template
Select “From Name” from dropdown
Note: These emails are pulled in directly from your SendGrid account – they are the authorized “single senders” in your account.
Note: These emails are pulled in directly from your SendGrid account – they are the authorized “single senders” in your account.
Save Changes.
ℹ️ Note: There is often a 1:1 relationship between Email Type and Template, but you can have multiple Templates assigned to the same Email Type if desired. This allows you to reuse the same Header across templates.
Newsletter Builder: Template Creation Tips
Review the following tips for ease of future newsletter creation – while the specific content of your newsletters may drastically change with each newsletter you send, having a consistent template structure can drastically reduce the amount of design rework that is required going forward.
Include “Divider” and “Spacer” blocks directly in your template so you don’t need to manually add these blocks into every individual newsletter you send.
Once you have settled on a height and color for your “Divider” block and a height for your “Spacer” block, you can duplicate them and easily add them into various spots in your template – allowing you to create a consistent layout throughout your template.
How To: In the Block Inserter “List View”, click the kebab menu (3 vertical dots) to the right of your Divider/Spacer block and click “Duplicate”. Move the block to the desired location in the list.
Once you have settled on a height and color for your “Divider” block and a height for your “Spacer” block, you can duplicate them and easily add them into various spots in your template – allowing you to create a consistent layout throughout your template.
How To: In the Block Inserter “List View”, click the kebab menu (3 vertical dots) to the right of your Divider/Spacer block and click “Duplicate”. Move the block to the desired location in the list.
How To: In the Block Inserter “List View”, click the kebab menu (3 vertical dots) to the right of your Divider/Spacer block and click “Duplicate”. Move the block to the desired location in the list.
Most blocks have no default spacing added to the top/bottom, so use “Spacer” blocks throughout your template to ensure things look as you expect.
Supplement your Newsletter footer with additional information.
Add a “Newsletter Paragraph” block above your “Newsletter Footer” that contains Copyright information, along with any information you want to include about why the user is receiving the newsletter. You may also choose to include a way to sign up for the newsletter if the person had it sent to them by someone else.
Add a “Newsletter Paragraph” block above your “Newsletter Footer” that contains Copyright information, along with any information you want to include about why the user is receiving the newsletter. You may also choose to include a way to sign up for the newsletter if the person had it sent to them by someone else.
The “Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, and “Newsletter Paragraph” blocks all can have their text color adjusted and the “Newsletter Button” block can have its text and background color adjusted. Text color adjustments apply to all of the content within the block and cannot be applied to specific words within the block.
How To: In the Blocker Inserter “List View”, click the parent block (“Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, “Newsletter Paragraph”, or “Newsletter Button”). In the Block settings sidebar, select your desired Color from the color picker or enter a specific Hex Code in directly.
How To: In the Blocker Inserter “List View”, click the parent block (“Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, “Newsletter Paragraph”, or “Newsletter Button”). In the Block settings sidebar, select your desired Color from the color picker or enter a specific Hex Code in directly.
There are additional formatting options available on the “Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, “Newsletter Paragraph”, and “Newsletter Button” blocks. To view/adjust these options, click the block in the editor to view what is available in the quick edit menu which pops up above the block or in the Block settings sidebar.
Please note: The following quick edit text formatting options do NOT work:
Highlight, Inline image, Justify, Keyboard Input, Language
Please note: The following quick edit text formatting options do NOT work:
Highlight, Inline image, Justify, Keyboard Input, Language
Highlight, Inline image, Justify, Keyboard Input, Language
Newsletter Builder: Template Creation Tips – Post Blocks
There are three Newsletter specific blocks which allow you to easily insert post content from your site. Placing them into your Newsletter Template allows you to streamline the newsletter creation process going forward.
Newsletter Single Post
This block allows you to curate a single post in your newsletter.
It contains a large featured image, the post headline, the post byline, the post excerpt (if available, else it’s the first few sentences of the post), and a Read More button.
It contains a large featured image, the post headline, the post byline, the post excerpt (if available, else it’s the first few sentences of the post), and a Read More button.
It is not recommended to curate the post within the template itself.
Two Up Newsletter Post
This block allows you to curate two posts in your newsletter.
It contains two posts that display side by side on desktop and in a single column on mobile.
It has all the same elements as the Newsletter Single Post block.
It contains two posts that display side by side on desktop and in a single column on mobile.
It has all the same elements as the Newsletter Single Post block.
It is not recommended to curate the posts within the template itself.
Latest Posts
This block allows you to include a list of posts in your newsletter.
By default, a list of the five most recent post headlines displays, but you can add images, excerpts, dates, filter posts by category and/or author, and change the number of posts in the list.
By default, a list of the five most recent post headlines displays, but you can add images, excerpts, dates, filter posts by category and/or author, and change the number of posts in the list.
It is recommended that you configure the block settings within the template itself to streamline the newsletter creation process in the future.
After inserting this block, open up the block sidebar to review and adjust the settings as desired. All settings are optional.
Post content: Toggle this on and then click the radio button next to “Excerpt” to include the post’s excerpt. You can also set the max number of words that you want to display.
If you haven’t entered anything in the Excerpt field on the post, the max number of words you’ve selected will be pulled from the beginning of the post content display instead and will end with “…” in the email.
Post meta:
Display post date: This includes the date the post was published underneath the post headline.
Featured image: Toggle this on.
Resolution:
Select Resolution = Medium if you choose to align the images to the left or right.
Select Resolution = Large if you choose to align the images to the center.
Image alignment: Select Left, Center, or Right.
Toggle on “Add link to featured image”
This is highly recommended if you are including images in the post list, as this will allow users to click on the image to be brought directly to the post.
Sorting and filtering:
Order by: Select an option from the dropdown to change how the posts in the list are ordered. The default is Newest to Oldest.
Categories: Enter in the name of a category, or categories, that you want the post list to be filtered on. Only posts within those categories will display in the list.
Author: Select an author from the dropdown that you want the post list to be filtered on. Only posts from that author will display in the list.
Note: This list currently ONLY contains actual WordPress User accounts, not users who may have a byline on your site. All bylines will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
Number of items: Adjust the number of posts that you want to appear in the list – the slider goes from 1-100, but keep in mind that the majority of email clients will cut content off at some point. We recommend between 1-10 posts for most newsletters.
Post content: Toggle this on and then click the radio button next to “Excerpt” to include the post’s excerpt. You can also set the max number of words that you want to display.
If you haven’t entered anything in the Excerpt field on the post, the max number of words you’ve selected will be pulled from the beginning of the post content display instead and will end with “…” in the email.
If you haven’t entered anything in the Excerpt field on the post, the max number of words you’ve selected will be pulled from the beginning of the post content display instead and will end with “…” in the email.
Post meta:
Display post date: This includes the date the post was published underneath the post headline.
Display post date: This includes the date the post was published underneath the post headline.
Featured image: Toggle this on.
Resolution:
Select Resolution = Medium if you choose to align the images to the left or right.
Select Resolution = Large if you choose to align the images to the center.
Image alignment: Select Left, Center, or Right.
Toggle on “Add link to featured image”
This is highly recommended if you are including images in the post list, as this will allow users to click on the image to be brought directly to the post.
Resolution:
Select Resolution = Medium if you choose to align the images to the left or right.
Select Resolution = Large if you choose to align the images to the center.
Select Resolution = Medium if you choose to align the images to the left or right.
Select Resolution = Large if you choose to align the images to the center.
Image alignment: Select Left, Center, or Right.
Toggle on “Add link to featured image”
This is highly recommended if you are including images in the post list, as this will allow users to click on the image to be brought directly to the post.
This is highly recommended if you are including images in the post list, as this will allow users to click on the image to be brought directly to the post.
Sorting and filtering:
Order by: Select an option from the dropdown to change how the posts in the list are ordered. The default is Newest to Oldest.
Categories: Enter in the name of a category, or categories, that you want the post list to be filtered on. Only posts within those categories will display in the list.
Author: Select an author from the dropdown that you want the post list to be filtered on. Only posts from that author will display in the list.
Note: This list currently ONLY contains actual WordPress User accounts, not users who may have a byline on your site. All bylines will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
Number of items: Adjust the number of posts that you want to appear in the list – the slider goes from 1-100, but keep in mind that the majority of email clients will cut content off at some point. We recommend between 1-10 posts for most newsletters.
Order by: Select an option from the dropdown to change how the posts in the list are ordered. The default is Newest to Oldest.
Categories: Enter in the name of a category, or categories, that you want the post list to be filtered on. Only posts within those categories will display in the list.
Author: Select an author from the dropdown that you want the post list to be filtered on. Only posts from that author will display in the list.
Note: This list currently ONLY contains actual WordPress User accounts, not users who may have a byline on your site. All bylines will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
Note: This list currently ONLY contains actual WordPress User accounts, not users who may have a byline on your site. All bylines will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
Number of items: Adjust the number of posts that you want to appear in the list – the slider goes from 1-100, but keep in mind that the majority of email clients will cut content off at some point. We recommend between 1-10 posts for most newsletters.
IMPORTANT: The following settings in this block should NOT be used:
Post Content: Show Full post
Post Meta: Display author name
Featured image:
Width/height manual inputs
Width/height percentage selections
Resolution = Thumbnail
Image Alignment: None
Post Content: Show Full post
Post Meta: Display author name
Featured image:
Width/height manual inputs
Width/height percentage selections
Resolution = Thumbnail
Image Alignment: None
Width/height manual inputs
Width/height percentage selections
Resolution = Thumbnail
Image Alignment: None
Newsletter Builder: Newsletter Creation
Once your one-time setup items are complete, you can now create your individual newsletters to send to your users.
In your WordPress Admin, navigation to Newsletters > Add New Post
Add title: Add a Title to the Newsletter (this displays in SendGrid also) – this is for internal use only and does not display to end users.
Select Header Type: This is the Email Type of the newsletter you plan to send. Once selected, the “Select Template” and “From Name” fields should populate based on your selection.
Subject: Enter in a Subject for your newsletter
Preview Text: Enter in preview text for your newsletter (this is the short summary text that typically displays below/after the subject line in email inboxes)
Email list: Select the email list(s) you want to send this newsletter to.
Note: These email lists are pulled in directly from your SendGrid account – they are the “Lists” which display on your Contacts List page.
At this time only Lists are available; segments will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
You can select multiple lists, if needed.
Suppression Group: Select the suppression group (also called an “unsubscribe group” in portions of the SendGrid dashboard) containing contacts who have unsubscribed from this list. The typical convention is to name the unsubscribe group the same thing as the list itself.
Edit Newsletter Contents as desired
See below “Newsletter Creation Tips” section for additional information on creating your newsletter
Publish
Clicking “Publish” sends the newsletter out right away.
Once published, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin and will also appear in SendGrid.
OR Schedule
Optionally, you can schedule your newsletter to be sent out at a particular time, just as you would schedule a post.
How To: Click the word “Immediately” next to Publish in the Newsletter sidebar and select the date/time from the date picker. Click “Schedule…” which takes the place of the Publish button.
Once scheduled, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin as a Scheduled post, and won’t appear in SendGrid until the scheduled time arrives.
Add title: Add a Title to the Newsletter (this displays in SendGrid also) – this is for internal use only and does not display to end users.
Select Header Type: This is the Email Type of the newsletter you plan to send. Once selected, the “Select Template” and “From Name” fields should populate based on your selection.
Subject: Enter in a Subject for your newsletter
Preview Text: Enter in preview text for your newsletter (this is the short summary text that typically displays below/after the subject line in email inboxes)
Email list: Select the email list(s) you want to send this newsletter to.
Note: These email lists are pulled in directly from your SendGrid account – they are the “Lists” which display on your Contacts List page.
At this time only Lists are available; segments will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
You can select multiple lists, if needed.
Note: These email lists are pulled in directly from your SendGrid account – they are the “Lists” which display on your Contacts List page.
At this time only Lists are available; segments will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
You can select multiple lists, if needed.
Suppression Group: Select the suppression group (also called an “unsubscribe group” in portions of the SendGrid dashboard) containing contacts who have unsubscribed from this list. The typical convention is to name the unsubscribe group the same thing as the list itself.
Edit Newsletter Contents as desired
See below “Newsletter Creation Tips” section for additional information on creating your newsletter
See below “Newsletter Creation Tips” section for additional information on creating your newsletter
Publish
Clicking “Publish” sends the newsletter out right away.
Once published, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin and will also appear in SendGrid.
Clicking “Publish” sends the newsletter out right away.
Once published, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin and will also appear in SendGrid.
OR Schedule
Optionally, you can schedule your newsletter to be sent out at a particular time, just as you would schedule a post.
How To: Click the word “Immediately” next to Publish in the Newsletter sidebar and select the date/time from the date picker. Click “Schedule…” which takes the place of the Publish button.
Once scheduled, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin as a Scheduled post, and won’t appear in SendGrid until the scheduled time arrives.
Optionally, you can schedule your newsletter to be sent out at a particular time, just as you would schedule a post.
How To: Click the word “Immediately” next to Publish in the Newsletter sidebar and select the date/time from the date picker. Click “Schedule…” which takes the place of the Publish button.
Once scheduled, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin as a Scheduled post, and won’t appear in SendGrid until the scheduled time arrives.
ℹ️ Note: Once published, it takes about 1-2 minutes for the newsletter to go from WordPress to SendGrid to your inbox.
Newsletter Builder: Newsletter Creation Tips
Review the following tips for creating your individual newsletter:
The “Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, and “Newsletter Paragraph” blocks all can have their text color adjusted and the “Newsletter Button” block can have its text and background color adjusted. Text color adjustments apply to all of the content within the block and cannot be applied to specific words within the block.
How To: In the Blocker Inserter “List View”, click the parent block (“Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, “Newsletter Paragraph”, or “Newsletter Button”). In the Block settings sidebar, select your desired Color from the color picker or enter a specific Hex Code in directly.
How To: In the Blocker Inserter “List View”, click the parent block (“Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, “Newsletter Paragraph”, or “Newsletter Button”). In the Block settings sidebar, select your desired Color from the color picker or enter a specific Hex Code in directly.
There are additional formatting options available on the “Newsletter Heading”, “Newsletter List”, “Newsletter Paragraph”, and “Newsletter Button” blocks. To view/adjust these options, click the block in the editor to view what is available in the quick edit menu which pops up above the block or in the Block settings sidebar.
Please note: The following quick edit text formatting options do NOT work:
Highlight, Inline image, Justify, Keyboard Input, Language
Please note: The following quick edit text formatting options do NOT work:
Highlight, Inline image, Justify, Keyboard Input, Language
Highlight, Inline image, Justify, Keyboard Input, Language
It is not currently possible to place an image NEXT to text. This will be available in a future update of the newsletter builder.
Email Newsletter formatting can be very unforgiving. If you copy/paste text from another source (such as a Word document) into WordPress, formatting can sometimes be copied over along with the content. It is advised that you remove this formatting, as not all formatting which is allowable in a Word document or on your site, will display as expected in an email.Newsletter Builder: Newsletter Creation Tips – Post Blocks
Newsletter Single Post and Two Up Newsletter Post
You can curate specific posts for these blocks by clicking the “Select” button and then search for the post via the Post Picker modal which pops up. To change your curated post, click the red “X” in the top right corner of the post.
Once you have selected a post, you can override all aspects of the post: image, title, byline, and except. You can also edit the text of the “Read More” button which displays.
You can curate specific posts for these blocks by clicking the “Select” button and then search for the post via the Post Picker modal which pops up. To change your curated post, click the red “X” in the top right corner of the post.
Once you have selected a post, you can override all aspects of the post: image, title, byline, and except. You can also edit the text of the “Read More” button which displays.
Latest Posts
You have likely configured this block within the template itself, but you can make changes to any of the configuration settings in the block sidebar within the newsletter if needed. Please refer to the above section about the Latest Post block for a full overview of block settings, including what settings to avoid using.
You have likely configured this block within the template itself, but you can make changes to any of the configuration settings in the block sidebar within the newsletter if needed. Please refer to the above section about the Latest Post block for a full overview of block settings, including what settings to avoid using.
Newsletter Builder: Single Article Send
The Newsletter Builder also provides the ability to quickly send out a single article to your users – consider using this for breaking news, big site updates, or other content you want your users to quickly get directly in their inbox. You can do this when a post is being published/scheduled, or after a post has already been published.
Newsletter Builder: Single Article Send Template
Create a new Email Type & corresponding Template specifically for Single Article Sends (or perhaps more than one, depending on what type of content you plan to send in this manner).
In your template, the following blocks must be included:
Newsletter Header
Newsletter Single Post
Newsletter Footer
Include any desired styling as well. For full email type/template creation instructions, refer to the above “Template Creation” steps.
Newsletter Builder: Single Article Send Newsletter
Once you’ve created your Single Send Email Type & Template, do the following to send an individual article to your users.
In the post editor of the post you wish to send to your users, click the envelope (Newsletter) icon in the top right corner (directly to the right of the blue Publish/Update button).
In the Newsletter sidebar
Select the “Header Type” (this is the Email type you want to use for the individual post)
Select the “Template”
Ensure the proper “From Name” is selected
Edit the “Subject” field as desired (the title of the post appears by default, but can be changed, if needed)
Edit the “Preview Text” field as desired (this is the short summary text that typically displays below/after the subject line in email inboxes)
Select the Email List(s) you want to send this newsletter to.
Check off “Send Newsletter on Publish/Update”
Note: This option is grayed out if any required newsletter settings are missing – check for any red messages underneath “Newsletter Validation” if this is the case.
Select the “Header Type” (this is the Email type you want to use for the individual post)
Select the “Template”
Ensure the proper “From Name” is selected
Edit the “Subject” field as desired (the title of the post appears by default, but can be changed, if needed)
Edit the “Preview Text” field as desired (this is the short summary text that typically displays below/after the subject line in email inboxes)
Select the Email List(s) you want to send this newsletter to.
Check off “Send Newsletter on Publish/Update”
Note: This option is grayed out if any required newsletter settings are missing – check for any red messages underneath “Newsletter Validation” if this is the case.
Note: This option is grayed out if any required newsletter settings are missing – check for any red messages underneath “Newsletter Validation” if this is the case.
Optional, but recommended: In the Post sidebar, enter in an Excerpt which will display in the email itself.
Note: If you don’t enter anything here, the first few sentences of the post content will display instead and will be cut off with a […] in the email.
Note: If you don’t enter anything here, the first few sentences of the post content will display instead and will be cut off with a […] in the email.
Optional, but recommended: In the Post sidebar, ensure your post has a Featured Image which will display in the email itself.
Note: If you don’t add a featured image, no image will be displayed in the email for the post.
Note: If you don’t add a featured image, no image will be displayed in the email for the post.
Click Publish/Update when ready.
Once published, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin and will also appear in SendGrid – the title of the newsletter will be prefaced by “Breaking News” in these locations.
Note: The single sends functionality also works when scheduling a post to be published.
Once published, your newsletter will appear in the “Newsletters” list in the WordPress Admin and will also appear in SendGrid – the title of the newsletter will be prefaced by “Breaking News” in these locations.
Note: The single sends functionality also works when scheduling a post to be published.