Newsletter: Builder

How do you open the builder?

In Newsletter, click Create Newsletter, then either pick a template or choose Start without template - see Newsletter: Template Selection. The builder opens with the newsletter's name at the top left. That name is a clickable field and it is internal, so your contacts never see it. Beside it a Draft badge shows the state, and Cancel and Save sit at the top right.

What does the canvas on the left show?

The canvas shows the newsletter as it reaches the contact, so you are reading your own campaign rather than a form. Each block is one message, numbered Message 1, Message 2 and so on, with a green header and a chat icon.

Every message is delivered as a separate WhatsApp message. A three-message newsletter arrives as three messages, which is why the sequence is worth reading top to bottom before you send it.

• Add message - the button below a message; adds the next one to the sequence.
• Drag handle - grab it to reorder messages by drag and drop.
• Delete - at the top right of a block; removes that message.

Message content is visible directly on the canvas, including the quick replies and the connections between messages.

What goes into a single message?

Select a message and the panel on the right opens Message content.

1. Internal message title - a name for the message that only you see.
2. Content - the main text field, with a formatting bar for bold, italic, strikethrough, monospace and emoji.
3. Variables - inserts a placeholder that is filled per contact when the message goes out.

On Message 1 the panel also carries a Start note, "This is the first message that will be sent", so the entry point of the sequence is never in doubt.

What is behind Advanced content?

Advanced content is a toggle that adds three optional parts to the message:

• Media - an image, a video or a PDF, uploaded by drag and drop or by clicking the field. The accepted formats are JPG, JPEG, PNG, MP4 and PDF.
• Headline - an optional heading above the message text.
• Footer - optional text below it, for example the note on how to stop receiving messages.

Headline and footer are what make a message look structured rather than typed in a hurry, and the footer is the natural place for the opt-out line.

What can a button do?

Interactions is the second toggle. It offers Buttons, plus Await reply and Auto-send as alternatives to buttons. Buttons come in three kinds, and quick replies are the ones with logic attached:

• Quick replies - Button text is the label, Leads to picks which of your messages follows when the button is tapped, Labels assigns labels to the contact on click, and Change opt-in level changes their opt-in status on click. A drag handle reorders the buttons and the delete icon removes one.
• Links - Button text plus a URL, with the same optional Leads to and Labels.
• Phone number - Button text plus a country code and the number.

Leads to is what turns several messages into a sequence instead of a list: the button decides which message comes next. And because a tap can set a label, the newsletter segments your audience while it runs - How labels work explains what those labels are good for afterwards.

Should a button really change someone's opt-in level?

It is the cleanest place to do it, because the contact acts first. A quick reply that raises the opt-in level records a decision the contact made by tapping, which is the shape consent is supposed to have. Opt-in levels covers the levels themselves, and collecting WhatsApp opt-ins the GDPR-compliant way covers the reasoning you need before you wire a consent change to a button.

When does the newsletter go out?

Not from the builder. Save keeps your work and the newsletter stays a Draft; Cancel leaves the builder. Sending is a separate step with its own panel, including test sends and scheduling - see Newsletter: Sending. Nothing reaches a contact until you complete that step, so you can leave a half-written newsletter open without risk.