Churches often have branding and communication guidelines to be followed. These include color schemes, fonts, logos, header content, footer content and other style guidelines. Additionally, the CSS in the created communication templates may not handle options that are not already in the template without significant work (like a four-column format on a mobile device). The church Communications Teams should have some ability to design templates that keep the use of those templates within the guidelines. Also, most users want a simplified experience when using a template, like filling in the blanks, and not having to designing their own emails (which would need to be tested and approved on multiple email clients). Templates simplify the creation process for users and options can lead to confusion or misuse.

Here are some of the options we would envision:

• Ability to have header and footer in the template not editable by the end user. While this may simply be an issue with the Preview version, at present the header and footer can be removed and completely
  replaced. Content outside of the drop zones in the template should not be able to be deleted in the Wizard.
• Blocks (Title, Image, RSVP, etc.) should be able to be enabled/disabled per template depending on the intended usage of the template.
• Blocks (RSVP in particular) should be able to be secured to users who can use the features. They can be sent without an associated group/RSVP occurrence and not work as expected. Some people in the organization do not have rights to the groups that have this functionality, so having access to the widget may be counterproductive.
• Content Blocks should be able to be limited to only use the blocks already in the template – prevent new blocks from being added. (for non ADMIN staff)
• Starter Sections should be able to be turned on/off. Additionally, starter sections or categories should be able to be secured to certain teams/security roles. There may be ministry specific starter sections, and the list may get long. Search is helpful, but limiting the options to only the ones the user needs is better.
• Font lists should be able to be edited to the fonts used by the organization.
• Sub-sections of the Styles menu should be able to be disabled. If the template is intended for a single consistent purpose and already styled accordingly, changes by the end-user may be counterproductive.
• The only “undo” available if changes are made to a template and not adopted is to revert to the template, which may lose work in progress. If an “undo” is not available, limiting options avoids experimentation with no path back to the intended template usage and format.