Section properties dialogs

The respective section properties dialogs are opened via the contextual menu:

  • Right-click the section in the Resources pane and choose Properties.

Email section properties

For information about Email sections, see: Email templates.

Properties tab

The properties for an Email section are minimal and contain the following options:

  • Name: Enter the name of the Section in the Email Context. This has no effect on output.

  • CSS mode: In the Designer, CSS files can be used to style email templates (see Styling templates with CSS files) but eventually, the formatting must be applied in a different way since email clients do not read CSS files. This property determines if and how the styles in linked CSS files are applied to the output.

    • Write CSS to <head> section: The content of linked style sheet files is copied to <style> elements in the <head> of the HTML. (This is also known as "embedded CSS".) With this option email gets sent faster; however, email clients may not support <style> elements in the <head>.
      This is the recommended setting, and the default setting for new templates.

    • Apply CSS properties to elements: The relevant CSS properties are copied to the <style> attribute of the various HTML elements.
      This is the default setting for templates made with OL Connect versions prior to 2020.1.

    • Do not inline styles: No styles are copied from linked CSS style sheets. It is assumed that you format elements locally or use a CSS inliner tool.

    Note: It can't be guaranteed that content will look the same in all email clients, particularly when it comes to older client versions, so it is recommended to always test and validate the output. See: Testing Email output for different email clients.

  • Evaluate Handlebars expressions: If this option is enabled for a section, dragging data fields to the editor will insert Handlebars expressions instead of placeholders and scripts. See Variable data in the text.
    To prevent issues, the section cannot be edited in Preview mode when this option is enabled.

  • The Meta Information group lists all <meta> tags that will be added to the header of the email. See Meta information.

  • When the option Append plain-text copy of the HTML is checked, a plain-text version of the HTML is added to each email that is sent. With new templates this option is checked by default.

Includes tab

This tab lists the style sheets that can be applied to the email section when producing the output. Style sheets are loaded in the order shown, and styles in later style sheets overwrite earlier ones when the same selector is used. (See Includes dialog and Styling templates with CSS files.)

Attachments tab

The Attachments tab lets you select files and delete attachments. For more information, see: Email attachments.

Print section properties

For information about Print sections, see: Print sections.

Properties

  • Section group:

    • Name: The name of the section.

    • Minimum number of pages: The default minimum number of pages is 1. If content is too long to fit on one page, overflow will automatically appear on the next page. Changing the minimum number of pages can be useful when you want certain content to appear on a specific page.

    • Evaluate Handlebars expressions: If this option is enabled for a section, Handlebars expressions will be evaluated using the current record in Preview mode and when the output is generated. In Design mode, dragging data fields to the editor will insert Handlebars expressions instead of placeholders and scripts. See Variable data in the text.
      To prevent issues, the section cannot be edited in Preview mode when this option is enabled.

      Note: This setting also affects the Master Page with which a Print section is used.

    These properties can be used in a Control Script; see the topic Control Scripts and the page about the section object: section.

For an explanation of other settings on the Properties tab, see Page settings: size, margins and bleed.

Includes Tab

The Includes tab defines which style sheets and JavaScript files should be applied to the section when generating output, and in which order; see Includes dialog.
For more information about stylesheets, see Styling templates with CSS files.
For more information about using JavaScript, see Using JavaScript.

Finishing tab

This tab defines finishing options for this section when it is printed. For an explanation of all Binding and Hole making options, see Finishing options.

Sheet Configuration tab

The Sheet Configuration tab defines how different Print context sections output on different Media (see Media) and using different Master Pages (see Master Pages). For an explanation of all settings on this tab, see Sheet Configuration dialog.

Background tab

This tab defines the background of the current Print section; see Using a PDF file or other image as background.

Numbering tab

The Numbering tab defines how page numbers are configured in the current Print section; see Configuring page numbers.

Web Section Properties

The Web section properties define some of the web page properties, especially details appearing in the header.
For information about Web sections, see Web pages.

Properties tab

  • Name, Page title, Shortcut icon: See Setting the title, meta data and a shortcut icon.
  • Evaluate Handlebars expressions: If this option is enabled for a section, dragging data fields to the editor will insert Handlebars expressions instead of placeholders and scripts. See Variable data in the text.
    To prevent issues, the section cannot be edited in Preview mode when this option is enabled.

Includes Tab

The Includes tab defines which style sheets and JavaScript files should be included in the section when generating output, and in which order; see Includes dialog.
For more information about stylesheets, see Styling templates with CSS files.
For more information about using JavaScript, see Using JavaScript.

Arrange Sections

The Arrange dialog is used to change the order of sections within a context. This can have an effect on how they are outputted. See: Print sections, Email templates and Web pages.

To access the Arrange dialog, on the Resources pane, right-click on any section or the context containing them, and click Arrange.

  • Name: Displays the name of each section within the context.

  • Move Up: Click to move the currently selected section up one position.

  • Move Down: Click to move the currently selected section down one position.