Learn about App block EasyEditor extensions and how to manage them in your account.
Overview
App blocks are additional blocks that you can add to EasyEditor to pull content from other platforms and applications into your email campaigns, landing pages, and forms, without having to alter any code.
App blocks are added to your account as account-scoped insight data collections, which are automatically translated into drag-and-drop building blocks in EasyEditor. The exact method to add a particular block to your account differs depending on which application’s block you are adding, but generally it’s a straightforward process of adding your Dotdigital API credentials into your account with the partner software.
To learn more, check out the article Create an API user.
Full details for each type of app block can be found in the corresponding articles.
Deleting EasyEditor extension insight data
It is only possible to delete an insight data collection for an EasyEditor App block if it is not in use in any email campaigns.
Manage your App blocks
To manage the settings for any App blocks you have added to your account:
- Go to Settings (â‹®) > Account > EasyEditor extensions.
This page displays any app block groups you have added to your account, along with the insight data collection name they belong to, the number of blocks in the group, and whether any of the blocks have errors.
Errors with an app block normally need to be resolved by the third party who created the block.
To view an insight data collection for an extension, select the collection name. - To view the available App blocks in a group, select the group name.
This page displays the block name, status - whether enabled or disabled, last modified date, and any errors. It also shows which editors the block can be used in; email, Pages and forms or both.
To enable or disable multiple blocks, select the checkboxes for the blocks, then expand the MORE ACTIONS drop-down menu and select Enable app block or Disable app block. Disabled App blocks do not appear in EasyEditor.
You can also delete App blocks from here. To do this, select the checkbox for an app block, then select DELETE. You see a popover asking you to confirm the action. Select DELETE again.
Deleting or disabling App blocks
There are no data dependencies in place to prevent you from deleting or disabling individual App blocks. If you delete or disable an app block that is in use:
- You cannot publish a page or form with a deleted or disabled app block added to it. A deleted or disabled app block in use on an already published page or form does not display.
- A warning appears on the campaign summary page and campaign preview if you have included a deleted or disabled app block. Deleted or disabled App blocks no longer display in a recipient’s inbox.
- To see details of an individual app block, select the name. This opens a side panel which displays data about the block, and allows you to enable or disable the block. To do this, switch the Status toggle to Enabled or Disabled, then select APPLY.
The side panel also displays a description of the app block, and, where it exists, contains links to any additional documentation.
App blocks in EasyEditor
Enabled App blocks appear in EasyEditor on the Build tab of the left side menu. Each app block group that you have added to your account has its own drop-down in EasyEditor which contains the individual blocks within that group.
To add a block to your email campaign, page, or form, drag and drop it to the required position on the design canvas. A side panel opens with information about the block you have added.
App blocks can only be placed on the base canvas, they can’t be placed inside other blocks such as columns or dynamic content blocks. You can place App blocks inside base Container blocks in the Pages and forms EasyEditor.
For some blocks you must complete some data input - for example, adding a data field placeholder to include a contact email address in the app block, or providing a Product ID.
You can’t apply the app block and close the side panel until this data input is complete. Hover over the tooltip for more information on the data required.
The individual documentation for different App blocks gives more information on any data inputs required. To learn more, check out the EasyEditor extensions section of the Help Centre.
Once you’ve completed the setup for the block, select APPLY.
App block styles
If an app block has been designed to be compatible with the EasyEditor styles manager, you can edit the styles for the block content using this tool. To do this:
1. Expand the Utilities drop-down menu.
2. Select Manage all styles.
3. Select Edit next to App block styles.
To learn more about using the Style manager, check out the section Choose and manage styles.