Content Sources

Content sources let you load a list of contents, such as the products in your online shop or the posts on your blog, and then insert them into your emails and landing pages without copying them by hand. You can upload a file with the contents or enter a URL from which they are retrieved periodically and automatically.

By default, each content uses its image, title, summary, description, link, author and date. If your source includes other data of its own, such as the price of a product or the dates of a course, you can also choose which of them to show and how.

In this article:

• Access to the functionality
  • Features by plan
• Content sources
  • Create a content source
  • Compatible formats
  • Edit a content source
  • Choose the content fields
  • Delete a content source
• Include a content source from the editor
  • Change the contents of a row

Access to the functionality

You can access content sources from the "Integrations" option in the main side menu. In "Integrations", select "Content Sources" in the top menu.

Features by plan

The following table shows what each user can do depending on their plan.

Content sources are limited in two ways.

• Number of content sources. How many different sources you can create and set up.
• Number of contents. The maximum number of contents retrieved from each source. If a source has 50 contents and your plan allows 10, only the first 10 will be available.

Content sources

This section shows a list of your content sources, where you can manage them.

Create a content source

To add a new content source, click the "New Source" button. A popup will open where you can choose how to add the contents.

• From URL. You enter a URL that we will call periodically and automatically to retrieve the contents. What it returns must be an RSS/ATOM feed (XML) or a JSON list.
• Upload file. You upload a file with the contents you want to have available in the editor. It is a static source. The format must also be an RSS/ATOM feed (XML) or a JSON list.

Depending on the option you choose, enter a name to identify the source and the URL, or select the file with the contents.

When you click "Create", the source is created and you go to its edit view, where you can check whether valid contents have been found.

If the number of contents found is not 0, they have been retrieved correctly. If it is 0, one of these problems has occurred.

• The contents could not be retrieved from the URL, or the uploaded file is empty.
• The contents do not have a valid format.
• The contents have a valid format but the list is empty.

When there is a problem retrieving the contents, a warning appears in the edit view and in the list of sources, next to the date and time of the last reload.

Compatible formats

You can provide the contents of a source in two different formats.

RSS/ATOM feed (XML)

If you have a website, such as a blog or an online shop, with an RSS or ATOM feed, just enter its URL to access the contents it describes.

JSON list

If you do not have an RSS or ATOM feed, you can set up an address that returns a JSON list of your contents, such as the products in your online shop, in response to GET requests. To recognise each piece of data, the JSON must use these keys.

• title. The title of the content.
• author. The name of the person who created the content.
• published. The date the content was created.
• summary. The summary of the content. It can be HTML.
• content. The long description of the content. It can be HTML.
• link. The link to find out more about the content.
• id. A unique identifier that tells each content apart from the others.

If your contents include other keys, you can also use them by choosing the content fields.

Click here to see an example of valid contents in this format.

Where the image of each content comes from

The image of each content is looked for in this order.

1. The image the feed itself assigns to the content, for example in the media:content, image enclosure or itunes:image tags.
2. The first image in the summary or the description, if they are HTML.
3. The thumbnail of the content (media:thumbnail), if there is no other.

If none is found, a generic image is shown.

Edit a content source

In the list, click the name of the source you want to edit, or select "Edit" in its menu.

The edit view shows the information of the source on the left, and how many contents it has and when they were last reloaded on the right. Below, you choose the content fields. To save any change, click the "Save" button at the top.

Preview

Click "Preview" to check the contents found. A popup will open with the image, title, summary and link of each content. If you use custom fields, the preview shows the first field you chose of each type.

Reload contents (only for URL)

If you entered a URL, the contents are reloaded automatically every 8 hours. If you need to reload them right away, click "Reload".

Update source

If the source is a URL, you can change its name and the URL. If you uploaded a file, you can change its name and upload a new file. When you click "Save", the contents of the source are reloaded.

Contents do not add up. Only the ones the source has at that moment are available. If you uploaded a file with 10 contents and then upload another one with 5, only those 5 will be available.

In the same way, if you change the URL and it returns different contents, the previous ones can no longer be inserted into your designs. The ones you had already included in a design stay in it.

Choose the content fields

In the "Content fields" box you decide which data from your contents can be shown in your emails and how.

• Default fields. The image, title, summary, description, link, author and date are used. It is the usual option and you do not need to set anything up.
• Custom fields. You choose which data to use. It is useful when your source includes data of its own, such as the price of a product, the length of a podcast or the start and end dates of a course.

When you choose custom fields, a table appears with all the data your contents include and an example of each one. Tick the ones you want to use and choose in "Display as" how each one will appear in the email.

• Title. It is shown as the title of the content.
• Text. It is shown as a paragraph.
• Image. It is shown as an image. The data must be the address of an image.
• Link. It is shown as a button that leads to that address.

The "Content image" data is the image found in each content, the same one used with the default fields.

If a field you have chosen stops coming in the contents, you will see it marked in the table as "It is not included in the contents" and the source will show a warning. While it is missing, the source will not appear in the editor to add new contents. The emails where you have already used it do not change. To use it again, remove that field from the selection or wait for it to come back in the source.

Delete a content source

In the list, open the menu of the source you want to delete and choose "Delete". Once deleted, you can no longer choose it from the editor, but the contents you have already added to your emails and landing pages stay.

Include a content source from the editor

You can include your sources in any of your emails and landing pages. In the editor, go to the "Content" tab and drag the "Content Source" element into your design.

Click the "Select content" button. A popup will open with all your sources that have at least one content. Choose one and click "Next".

Next, choose the contents you want to add, the orientation, the image aspect ratio and the fields shown for each content. When you confirm, the contents appear in your design.

Choosing contents

• You can choose up to 15 contents at once.
• If they do not fit in one row, new rows with the same design are added, one below the other. They all form a single block and are edited together.
• In "Contents per row" you choose how many contents are shown in each row.

Orientation of each content

There are three orientations. They apply to each content in the row.

• Vertical (1 column). The fields of each content are stacked in a single column. It allows 1 to 4 contents per row.
• Horizontal (2 columns). Each content takes up two columns, with its fields split between left and right. It allows 1 or 2 contents per row.
• Horizontal (4 columns). Each content takes up the whole row, with its fields split into up to four columns. It is useful to show a lot of data for each content, as in a list of courses or products. It shows one content per row.

Image aspect ratio

When the images of your contents have different shapes, the columns of a row end up with different heights. To avoid this, in "Image aspect ratio" you can choose a common ratio. All the images are adjusted to it without being distorted.

• Original. Each image keeps its shape. This is the default option.
• Panoramic (3:1). For very wide images, such as a 600x200 pixel header.
• Landscape (16:9). The usual shape of news photos and videos.
• Classic (3:2). The shape of many photos taken with a camera.
• Square (1:1). Useful for products or portraits.

To adjust it, each image is cropped from the centre, so it may lose part of its edges. If an image is smaller than the space it takes up, it will look less sharp. If an image cannot be adjusted, it is shown as it is.

Visible fields

Depending on the orientation, you choose which fields are shown in each column. By default, the image, title, summary and link with a button appear. If the source uses custom fields, the fields you chose in the source appear here.

Change the contents of a row

To change the contents a row shows, select it in the editor and click "Select content" again. This time you choose the contents and the image aspect ratio, because the orientation and the fields are the ones the row already has. When you confirm, the row is updated with the new contents and keeps the design you gave it.

• Colours, font sizes, margins and image widths are kept.
• If you chose an image aspect ratio, it appears already selected and the images of the new contents are adjusted to it.
• The texts or elements you added to the row by hand are not touched.
• If you choose more contents than fit, new rows with the same design are added to the block.

Filters and crops you apply with the image editor are saved in that specific image, so they are not carried over to the image of another content. If you need them, apply them again after changing the content.