Writing a Message
The compose page is where you write your email, format it, and add images or tables before sending. Drafts save automatically as you work.
Subject
The subject line is the first thing recipients see and has the biggest impact on whether they open your email. The colored bar below the field shows how long your subject is — green is comfortable, amber is getting long, red means it may get truncated on mobile.
Preheader
The preheader is the preview text that appears next to or below your subject in most inbox apps. If you leave it blank, recipients will see the first words of your message instead. A well-written preheader reinforces your subject and gives people a reason to open.
Message body
Type your message directly into the editor. The toolbar above gives you formatting tools:
- Headings & paragraph styles — Structure your message with clear headings so it's easier to scan.
- Bold, italic, strikethrough — Standard text emphasis. Keyboard shortcuts work too.
- Font size — The dropdown shows the current size under your cursor. Select text to change just that portion, or click into any paragraph to see its size.
- Alignment — Left, center, or right align any paragraph or image.
- Links — Select text and click the link icon to turn it into a clickable link.
- Quote & Callout block — A dropdown with two options. Blockquote formats the current paragraph as an indented quote with a left border. Callout block wraps content in a highlighted box with a colored background — useful for notices, tips, or anything you want to stand out. See the Callout Block section below.
- Lists — Bulleted or numbered lists with nested indentation.
- Images — Insert an image from your computer. See the Images article for details.
- YouTube video — Paste a YouTube link to insert a clickable thumbnail. Recipients click the image and the video opens in their browser. No video is attached to the email.
- Tables — Insert a table. See the Tables article for details.
- Divider — Insert a horizontal rule to visually separate sections of your message.
- Clear formatting — Remove inline styles from the selected text, returning it to default paragraph styling.
Callout block
A callout block is a highlighted box that draws attention to a piece of content — a notice, tip, announcement, or anything you want to stand out from the surrounding text. The callout option sits inside the same dropdown as the quote tool because both serve a similar purpose; the difference is that a callout has a solid background color and preset text color designed to stay readable in email.
To insert a callout block, open the quote dropdown in the toolbar and choose Callout Block. A modal opens with a color palette and a live preview. Select a color scheme and click Insert. The callout is inserted at the cursor position as an email-safe table structure, so it renders consistently across all major email clients.
If you select text before opening the modal, that text is wrapped inside the new callout block. If nothing is selected, an empty callout is inserted and the cursor is placed inside it so you can start typing immediately.
To change the color of an existing callout, hover over it. A pencil icon appears in the top-left corner — click it to reopen the color picker, choose a new scheme, and click Update.
Eight color schemes are available:
- Gray — light gray background, dark text
- Blue — light blue background, dark navy text (default)
- Green — light green background, dark green text
- Yellow — light yellow background, dark amber text
- Red — light red background, dark red text
- Purple — light purple background, deep purple text
- Navy — dark navy background, light text
- Orange — light orange background, dark orange text
YouTube video
Click the video icon in the toolbar to insert a YouTube video into your message. Paste any YouTube link — standard watch URLs, short youtu.be links, and Shorts all work. GroupPost fetches the video thumbnail automatically and displays it with a play button overlay.
When a recipient clicks the thumbnail, the video opens on YouTube in their browser. Nothing is embedded or attached to the email itself, so there is no impact on deliverability.
Full-width toggle
By default, your message renders at 640 pixels wide — the safe email standard. The full-width toggle lets you use the entire editor area for larger layouts, up to 800 pixels. Keep in mind wider messages may display a horizontal scrollbar in some email clients on narrow screens.
Autosave & drafts
Your message saves automatically every 30 seconds while you're working. You can also click Save draft at any time to save immediately. Drafts stay in your account until you delete them, so you can come back and finish later.
Continue to send
When your message is ready, click Continue. Formtabulous runs a quick link check and opens the preview panel where you can review how your message looks on desktop and mobile before choosing recipients and sending. See Sending Your Message for what happens next.
The Proactive Coach
As you write, the Coach panel on the right (or a badge on narrow screens) gives you live feedback — spam triggers, accessibility issues, reading level, and more. It's optional guidance, not a gatekeeper. See Proactive Coach for what each section checks.
Keyboard shortcuts
- Ctrl/Cmd + B — Bold
- Ctrl/Cmd + I — Italic
- Ctrl/Cmd + K — Add link to selection
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + L/C/R — Align left, center, or right
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V — Paste as plain text (bypasses formatting cleanup)