Email Builder: Structures
Structures are the building blocks of your email layout. Before you can add any content, you need to place a structure on the canvas. A structure defines how many columns a row has, and content elements go inside those columns.
What structures do
A structure is a grid row. It determines how your content is divided horizontally, one column, two columns, three columns, and so on. The Email builder offers several predefined column layouts to choose from.
Structures are also what makes your email responsive. When your email is read on a mobile device, columns within the same structure stack vertically. This is important to keep in mind when designing: two images side by side in a two-column structure will appear one above the other on mobile.
Support tip For emails with articles that each have an image and text, use a separate structure for each article. That way each image and its text stack correctly on mobile, rather than all images appearing before all the text.
Adding a structure
1. Open the Structures panel in the left navigation.
2. Find the column layout you want.
3. Drag it onto the canvas. A blue indicator line shows where it will land.
4. Once placed, drag elements from the Elements panel into the columns.
Rearranging structures
To move a structure, grab the handlebar on its left side and drag it to the new position. A purple indicator line shows where it will land on release.
Structure settings
- Click any structure on the canvas to open its settings in the right panel. You can configure:
- Background colour for the structure.
- Padding inside the structure.
- Column widths for multi-column structures.
- Dynamic content rules, show or hide the structure for specific contacts based on conditions.
- Mobile-specific visibility, hide the structure entirely on mobile if needed.
Duplicating and deleting
Each structure has a small toolbar at its bottom right with icons to duplicate or delete it. Duplicating copies the structure and all its contents, useful when building a multi-article newsletter with the same layout repeated.
Pro tips
- Use single-column structures for your header and footer, and multi-column structures for content rows. This keeps header and footer text from wrapping awkwardly on mobile.
- If a section should be hidden on mobile, use the mobile visibility toggle in the structure settings rather than trying to manage it with padding or font size.
- Duplicate a structure to copy a styled row including all its element settings, faster than rebuilding from scratch.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Putting multiple articles in a single structure. If you have two articles side by side in a two-column structure and one article has a much longer text, the layout will look unbalanced. Use one structure per article.
- Using padding to simulate multiple structures. This makes the layout harder to edit and maintain. Each logical section of your email should be its own structure.
- Not previewing mobile view after building your layout. Mobile stacking behaviour can create unexpected results, always check the mobile toggle before sending.
Next steps
- See "Email builder: content elements" for all the element types you can place inside structures.
- See "Set up dynamic content" to use the structure-level dynamic content panel to personalise your email layout.