AI Editor for emails

Pour :Administrateur

View of the 'AI email editor' page

The AI Editor – Email of Unisoft is an email template editor that works through conversation: you describe the email you want, the AI generates it before your eyes, you refine it through successive messages until you like it. No drag-and-drop of blocks, no technical settings — only natural language.

This page details how to use it day-to-day, the rules imposed by the AI (HTML structure compatible with Outlook/Gmail), the available variables, the sending of a test email and all the specifics to know.

ℹ

Availability

The AI Editor is in beta. The AI Editor selector when creating an email template is only visible in non-production environments (staging, test). If you don't see it in your backoffice, it's normal — your organization uses the classic editor for now. For an overview of the feature, see Understanding the AI Editor.

When to use it

The AI Editor – Email is particularly useful in these cases:

• You're starting a new template with no clear layout idea: a short prompt is enough to get a polished base.
• You have a simple brief ("Tishrei newsletter with image at top, two paragraphs and a button"): the AI produces in seconds what would take you 20 minutes by mouse.
• You want to test several ideas: the same brief can give three variants in three prompts — you keep the one you like via the history.

Conversely, if you have very specific HTML (template sent by a designer, pixel-perfect integration of a strict brand guideline), the classic editor remains more suitable: you paste your HTML and control it 100%.

Enable AI mode at creation

The AI Editor is chosen at the time of creation of an email template.

1. 1

   Open Email templates

   Go to /app/templates/email (entry My Email Templates in the admin sidebar).

2. 2

   Click Add a template

   Blue button at the top right. The add window opens.

3. 3

   Select AI Editor

   In the Editor type field, choose AI Editor instead of Classic Editor. This field is only visible in non-production environments during the beta.

4. 4

   Name the template

   Required field. Example: Monthly newsletter (Tishrei 5786) or Brit Mila invitation — David Cohen.

5. 5

   Leave the HTML field empty

   You can ignore the HTML code field — the AI will generate the HTML for you. If you still paste HTML, it will serve as a starting point that the AI can modify.

6. 6

   Validate

   Click on Validate. The template is created in the database and you are redirected to the AI Editor (route /editor/ai/email?id=[ID]).

⚠

Fixed choice

Once the template is created in AI Editor mode, it cannot be switched back to the classic editor (and vice versa). If you chose the wrong mode, delete the template and recreate it.

The interface in detail

The editor takes the whole screen: the backoffice sidebar is hidden during editing to give you space. It is divided into two panels:

Left panel – the conversation

From top to bottom:

• Header: AI avatar + template name (clickable for reference) + subtitle "Create your email by conversation".
• Variables bar: four buttons that copy a tag to the clipboard in one click (you then paste it in your prompt or directly in the HTML via a prompt):
  • {{nom}} — Recipient's last name
  • {{prenom}} — First name
  • {{prenomHE}} — Hebrew first name (if present in the contact profile)
  • {{mailing_unsubscribe}} — Unsubscribe link
• Images panel (collapsible): drag-and-drop area for your visuals. Click on the Images (N) header to expand it.
• Conversation history: your prompts (in black bubbles on the right) + the generation badges ("✅ Email generated — full HTML") + the AI summaries in English.
• Prompt field at the bottom: a textarea that grows up to 160 px in height, an arrow button to send (or Enter), and a square Stop button during generation if you want to interrupt.

Right panel – the preview

From left to right in the toolbar:

• Exit (red): returns to the Email templates page. Asks for confirmation if you have unsaved changes.
• Desktop / Mobile: toggles the rendering to fixed width 390 px (iPhone frame) to check responsiveness.
• Test: opens a window that lets you send a test email to the address of your choice (very useful to check the actual rendering in Gmail or Outlook, see below).
• Save: black if changes are pending, gray otherwise.
• ← →: navigation in the version history.
• History: opens a popup listing all generated versions with their timestamp and the start of the prompt that produced them.

Below, the preview iframe displays the rendering live. All clicked links open in a new tab (the editor intercepts clicks) — this avoids you leaving the editor by accidentally clicking on a button in the rendering.

Import images

The AI doesn't make images; you must provide your own visuals.

1. 1

   Open the Images panel

   Click on the Images (0) header in the left panel to expand it.

2. 2

   Import

   Drag and drop your files into the dotted area, or click on it to open the file picker. Accepted formats are all image formats (image/*).

3. 3

   Wait for upload

   A loading bar displays while the image is sent to Unisoft servers (validation, conversion, final URL).

4. 4

   Reference the image in a prompt

   Once imported, the image appears as a thumbnail in the panel. The AI can "see" it: you can write prompts like "Use the first image as a banner at the top of the email" or "Put the image I just imported in a centered card".

To remove an image, click the small black cross at the top right of its thumbnail.

★

Give context to your images

The AI sees the image but doesn't guess its role. Specify in your prompt what the visual is for: "The image is our rabbi Yossi Mizrahi, put it as a round portrait on the left" will give a better result than "Use the image".

Rules imposed by the AI (HTML structure)

The AI follows strict rules to ensure that emails display correctly in all email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, web and mobile). You don't need to know them to use them, but they explain certain limitations.

Rule	Why
HTML tables only for layout (no flexbox, no grid)	Outlook ignores modern CSS and would break any layout not based on tables.
Inline styles only (style="..." directly on the tag)	No <style> tag or external CSS file: Gmail removes or ignores them.
Fixed width 600 px, centered on a #f4f4f4 background	This is the standard width supported by all email clients.
System fonts only (Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif)	Web fonts (Google Fonts, etc.) are not loaded in emails.
Width/height of images in HTML attribute (width=, height=) in addition to CSS	Outlook ignores certain CSS image rules.
No JavaScript, no complex forms	Email clients block any script execution and most interactive forms.
No :hover or animations	Not supported by most email clients.

Mandatory structure: each generated email always contains 3 vertical blocks:

1. Header: colored banner at the top with the logo or organization name.
2. Body: main content on a white background.
3. Footer: bottom banner with legal mentions and the {{mailing_unsubscribe}} link (mandatory to comply with GDPR and anti-spam rules).

Available variables

You can insert into the email personalization variables that will be replaced when sending by the recipient contact's data.

Variable	Replaced by
{{prenom}}	The contact's first name (David)
{{nom}}	Their last name (Cohen)
{{prenomHE}}	Their Hebrew first name if it exists on the contact profile (דוד)
{{mailing_unsubscribe}}	The personalized unsubscribe link (required in footer)

Two ways to insert them:

• Click on the variable in the Variables bar → it is copied to the clipboard → you paste it in your prompt ("Start the email with Hello {{prenom}}").
• Ask the AI directly: "Personalize the beginning with the recipient's first name" — it will use {{prenom}} automatically.

⚠

The unsubscribe link is mandatory

All marketing emails must contain a clear and functional unsubscribe link (GDPR + anti-spam laws). The AI adds it by default in the footer, but if you ask it to rework the footer, make sure that {{mailing_unsubscribe}} is still there.

For the complete list of variables and the contexts where they apply, see Email template variables.

Multilingual: no automatic injection for emails

Unlike the AI Editor for web pages, email templates don't receive automatic injection of data-i18n keys at save time. One email template = one language.

ℹ

Difference with web pages

For public site CMS pages, Unisoft automatically adds data-i18n keys (auto_1, auto_2…) on each text, which then allows translating the page into multiple languages without touching the HTML. See AI Editor for web pages — automatic multilingual.

For email templates, this mechanism is not applied: the HTML is saved as-is, without preparation for translation. Practical consequence: if you want to send the same campaign in English and Hebrew, you must create two distinct templates, one per language. You can also ask the AI to produce a bilingual email in a single HTML (for example two columns side by side or two stacked blocks), but it's then a single template, sent in the same version to everyone.

Send a test email

The preview in the iframe gives a good idea of the rendering, but nothing beats a real send to check what your recipients will see — especially for Outlook which often has surprises.

1. 1

   Click on Test

   In the toolbar above the preview, click on the Test button (paper airplane icon).

2. 2

   Enter an address

   A window opens. Enter the address of your choice — yours, your management's, a test Outlook inbox…

3. 3

   Send

   Validate: the email goes out immediately with the current HTML (the version displayed on screen). The variables {{prenom}}, {{nom}} are not replaced in a test — you will see the raw tags. This is normal: at the actual send via a campaign, they will be substituted by the contact's data.

★

Test on multiple email clients

An email may display very well on Gmail and break on Outlook. If you regularly send campaigns, have at least one Gmail address and one Outlook on hand for your tests.

Prompting best practices

The AI produces what you ask of it. The more precise your request, the better the result.

Start with a general brief

Create a monthly newsletter for our community with:
- A burgundy-colored banner at the top with our name
- A central area for 3 paragraphs
- A featured card with image + "Learn more" button
- A sober footer with our contacts

The AI will produce a complete base. Then, you refine with small touches.

Refine with short messages

Put the top banner in navy blue instead

Add a signature with "The Beth David community team"

The button is too pale, make it bright orange

Each prompt regenerates a complete email, but since the AI has the current HTML in context, it only touches what you ask.

Examples of useful prompts for a community

• Holiday announcement: "Create an email to announce the Passover menu to the community, with the Seder time (Monday April 22 at 8:30 PM), the menu on a light background, and a Register for the meal button in a warm color".
• Donation reminder: "Sober email to remind about an unhonored donation pledge, kind tone, Pay online button at the bottom".
• Event invitation: "Invitation for a conference by rabbi Yossi Mizrahi on the parasha, Thursday 6:30 PM, image at top, location and map at bottom, I'm coming button".
• Holiday greetings: "Sober Rosh Hashanah greetings, golden background, elegant calligraphy, a single paragraph in Hebrew followed by its translation".
• Registration confirmation: "Transactional email to confirm a registration, warm tone, practical info (date, location, contact) in bold, team signature".

Set the tone

Specify in the prompt if you want something sober, warm, festive, institutional, modern, traditional. The AI adapts colors, margins and tone of the text.

Navigate the history

Each prompt produces a new history entry. Three buttons at the top right of the preview:

• ←: go back one version.
• →: go forward (if you had gone back).
• History: opens a popup with the complete list. Each entry displays the start of the prompt that generated it ("Put the banner in navy blue…") and its generation time.

ℹ

The history is local to your session

The history doesn't survive a page reload: it's a stack in memory during your editing. When you click Save, it's the current version (the one displayed) that is persisted. If you want to keep multiple variants, save at multiple times then duplicate the template to start from a frozen base and edit it in parallel.

Save and exit

The Save button changes appearance depending on state:

• Gray: no changes since the last save (or since opening if you haven't changed anything yet).
• Black: pending changes — a click saves them.

On save, the server:

1. Stores the current HTML and the list of imported images.
2. Regenerates the thumbnail: a PNG screenshot of the email rendering is produced server-side (via a headless browser) and used as cover image on the Email templates page.

If you try to exit the editor without saving (Exit button, tab closing, browser back), a confirmation displays to avoid involuntary loss.

Use the template in a campaign

Once saved, your template appears in the My Email Templates grid like any other template, with its generated thumbnail. You can then:

• Rename it (click on the title).
• Duplicate it (blue icon) to start from a base and create a variant.
• Reuse it in a campaign: on /app/messages/campagnes → Create a Campaign → Email channel → Email template field.

See Email templates for complete template management and Create a message campaign for the next steps.

Limitations to know

• Beta feature: visible only in non-production environments for now.
• No image generation by the AI: import your visuals via the Images panel.
• No switching AI Editor ↔ Classic Editor: the choice made at creation is fixed.
• No block-by-block editing in the UI: everything goes through the chat ("Change the button color") or by returning to a previous version via the History.
• No integrated multi-language support on the email side: one template = one language (see dedicated box above).
• Variables not substituted in the test: at test send, {{prenom}} remains displayed as-is. Substitution happens at actual send via a campaign.

Going further

• Understanding the AI Editor — transverse overview.
• Email templates — the management page (creation, duplication, renaming, deletion).
• Email template variables — exhaustive list by context.
• Create a message campaign — use the template in a bulk send.
• AI Editor for web pages — the equivalent variant for public site CMS pages.