Work with the Message Editor

You can perform the following actions in the Message Editor:

  • To add an element to your message, click a location in the message then click the toolbar button. A dialog opens prompting you to enter the required settings.
  • To rearrange elements in the editor window, drag them with the mouse.
  • To see the settings for an element, hover over it. To reconfigure an element, double-click it and enter values into the dialog. To save changes, click OK.
  • To remove one or more elements in the editor, drag-select or click the elements, then press Backspace or Delete.
  • If you type plain text directly into the editor it will be converted to speech by the Nuance Vocalizer. The Text to speech element on the toolbar also converts text to speech, but it offers additional features, such as Say As and Barge-In. If you don't need those additional features, just type your text directly into the editor.
  • To close the editor, click SAVE AND CLOSE.
  • To cancel your changes, click x in the upper-right corner of the dialog.
  • You can paste content copied from a Microsoft Word document. Select a location in the message and use Ctrl+V to paste the content. When the Word Paste Detected dialog appears, click Clean to remove the formatting from the Word document, or click Keep to retain the formatting.
  • To copy HTML source code into an email message from an external source, click Code View (), paste the HTML source code into the window, then click Code View again. If you don’t click Code View again, your changes won’t be saved.
  • To toggle the editor between full-screen mode and normal mode, click Fullscreen (). Full-screen mode offers a much larger workspace. To save your changes, you must first exit full-screen mode, then click Save and Close.

The Message Editor has two toolbars: the Message toolbar and the Table toolbar. The Table toolbar is only for HTML messages.

When you open the Message Editor, the Table toolbar displays a subset of the buttons shown in the table. The message type (voice, SMS, text email, or HTML email) determines which buttons are displayed. To insert an element, click a location in the message body to specify where to insert it, and then click the button on the toolbar to insert it.

Button Element Description Used in
Undo Undoes the last operation. Active only when there is at least one operation to undo.
  • Voice
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
  • SMS
Redo Redoes the operation that was most recently undone. Active only when there is at least one operation to redo.
  • Voice
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
  • SMS
Fullscreen Toggles the editor between full-screen view and normal view,
  • Voice
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
  • SMS
Text to speech

Converts text to speech using the Nuance Vocalizer.

Value specifies the utterance to vocalize.

Say As specifies the type of information in the text string, such as address, date, currency, or name. Nuance Vocalizer generates the voice differently based on the selection. From the dropdown select the type of information in the string. Note that this option only appears in voice messages. Select the dtmf option to vocalize the text as DTMF tones. For details about the Say As selections, contact Nuance Professional Services.

Barge-In specifies whether the consumer can interrupt the message element. For details, see Barge-in settings.
  • Voice
Audio

Plays a prerecorded audio file, such as a .wav file, that has been uploaded as a prompt-type resource. This file could contain a voice prompt, sonic brand, or other sound.

For more about managing assets, such as .wav files, see Manage audio files.

Dynamic? specifies whether the audio file to be played is determined dynamically at runtime based on data element values.

  • To use a static prompt (one with a fixed filename), clear the check box and click the hamburger button (). This displays the Assets dialog box. To select a prompt from the tree, click Select Asset. You can also add an asset to the file tree by selecting a folder in the file tree, clicking Add Asset, and uploading the file from your local machine.
  • To use a dynamic prompt, select the check box and enter a value that resolves to a prompt asset ID, such as prompts_F_ENG_4_product_[PRODUCT_ID].wav. The element shown in square brackets resolves to its value at runtime. If the PRODUCT_ID element has the value of product1, then the above expression resolves to prompts_F_ENG_4_product_product1.wav.

Level specifies whether the file path is relative to Common or Client in the Resource service.

Barge-In specifies whether the consumer can interrupt the message element. For details, see Barge-in settings.
  • Voice
Pause

Inserts a pause in a message. You can make the generated speech sound more natural by adding pauses as needed.

milliseconds specifies the time of the pause in milliseconds.

  • Voice
DTMF tone

Specifies one or more DTMFClosed Dual Tone Multi Frequency, also called touch tones. values. These values are converted to audio tones by the Vocalizer.

Value specifies one or more DTMF values. Each value must be a digit from 0 through 9, a star (*) or pound (#).

Barge-In specifies whether the consumer can interrupt the message element. For details, see Barge-in settings.
  • Voice
Break Adds a break to an SMS message. The platform automatically attempts to split long SMS messages into multiple short messages. Use this element to control where splitting occurs.
  • SMS
Bold Sets the selected text to bold.
  • Email HTML
Italic Sets the selected text to italics.
  • Email HTML
Underline Sets the selected text to underlined.
  • Email HTML
Strikethrough Sets the selected text to strikethrough.
  • Email HTML
Subscript Sets the selected text to subscript.
  • Email HTML
Superscript Sets the selected text as superscript.
  • Email HTML
Font Family Sets the font family. (Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, etc.)
  • Email HTML
Font Size Sets the font size. (From 8 to 96)
  • Email HTML
Colors Sets the text or background color. Choose a color from the palette or enter an RGB triplet.
  • Email HTML
Paragraph Format Sets the paragraph style. Can be Normal, Heading 1 through Heading 4, or Code.
  • Email HTML
Align Sets the alignment of the text or image. Can be Left, Center, Right, or Justify.
  • Email HTML
Ordered List Inserts an ordered list. Can use letters or numbers.
  • Email HTML
Unordered List Inserts an unordered list with bullets. Bullets can be Default, Circle, Disc, or Square.
  • Email HTML
Decrease indent Decreases the indent level by one.
  • Email HTML
Increase indent Increases the indent level by one.
  • Email HTML
Special Characters Inserts characters from special character sets, including Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Math, and Currency.
  • SMS
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
Insert Horizontal Line Inserts a horizontal line.
  • Email HTML
Select All Selects all text and elements in the window.
  • Voice
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
  • SMS
Clear formatting Clears all formatting for the selected text.
  • Email HTML
Code View

Displays the HTML source code for the entire message window. Click to toggle between rendered view and code view.

Note: To save any changes made in code view, you must toggle back to rendered view.

  • Email HTML
  • Email text
Insert HTML Link Inserts a standard HTML link into an email message. Enter the URL and link text. To force the link to open in a new tab, select the Open in new tab check box. This link is not tracked.
  • Email HTML
Insert Table Adds a table. For details editing tables, see Use the following buttons to edit HTML tables in email messages..
  • Email HTML
Insert Image Inserts an image. Enter the URL of the image.
  • Email HTML
Variable

Inserts a variable. This is a field in an input file or realtime data request. At runtime, the value of the field is taken from the record and inserted here.

Use variable to personalize the message using fields from the input record. For example, you could use the variables to insert the consumer's first and last name in the message.

Variable specifies the name of the data element to use.

Say As specifies the type of information in the text string, such as address, date, currency, or name. Nuance Vocalizer generates the voice differently based on the selection. From the dropdown select the type of information in the string. Note that this option only appears in voice messages. Select the dtmf option to vocalize the text as DTMF tones. For details about the Say As selections, contact Nuance Professional Services.

Barge-In specifies whether the consumer can interrupt the message element. For details, see Barge-in settings.
  • Voice
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
  • SMS
Dynamic Link

Inserts a dynamic link. The link supports configurable link text or an image. The URL supports up to 50 dynamic elements, such as the consumer's name or account number.

Show Help: Toggle to show or hide inline help text in this dialog.

Section A: Configure Display Name/Image

Choose either a display name or an image for the link.

  • Display Name: Select either a field from the input data or enter the name in plain text.

  • Style Display Name: Optionally, select this to format the display name.

    • HTML Element: Select an HTML element from the dropdown list.

    • Element CSS Class: Enter one or more CSS class names to apply to the class attribute of the HTML element. Separate multiple class names using a space.

    • Element Inline CSS: Enter one or more inline CSS styles for the HTML element.

  • Clickable Image: Select to use a clickable image instead of a display name.

    • Image Id: Enter a display name to show in the Message Editor.

    • Image Source: Enter a valid URL for the hosted image file.

    • Style Image: Optionally, select this to format the image.

      • Element CSS Class: Enter one or more CSS class names to apply to the class attribute of the HTML element. Separate multiple class names using a space.

      • Element Inline CSS: Enter one or more inline CSS styles for the HTML element. Separate multiple styles using a semicolon.

Section B: Configure Dynamic Hyperlink

Adds up to 50 URL elements to the link. Each element must be one of three types: 

  • Encoded Element:Use for dynamic elements that should be converted to ASCII.

  • Raw Element: Use for dynamic elements that should not be converted to ASCII.

  • Static Element: Use for elements that should never change.

After you have finished adding elements to the URL, scroll down to find the following fields:

  • URL to Review: The URL to be used in the href attribute of the <a> HTML element. Use this to confirm that you have constructed the URL correctly.

  • Lock URL: Select after you have confirmed that URL to Review is correct.

  • Open URL in New Tab: Optionally, select this to specify that the link should open in a new browser tab.

  • Style URL: Optionally, select this to format the URL

    • Element CSS Class: Enter one or more CSS class names to apply to the class attribute of the <a>element. Separate multiple class names using a space.

    • Element Inline CSS: Enter one or more inline CSS styles for the <a>element. Separate multiple styles using a semicolon.

  • Email HTML
Insert link from Link Settings

Inserts a link previously defined in Link Settings. The button appears when at least one link has been defined in the Link Settings configuration group of the Email or SMS module. The link can be a web module link, resource service link, or external link. It can be a tracked or untracked link.

Value specifies the ID of an existing link. Select an ID from the dropdown list.

Format specifies how the link should be displayed in the message. Select one of the following options:

  • Text: The link is displayed as raw text.
  • Anchor: The link is displayed as HTML anchor text. Enter the Anchor Text to display.
  • Image The untracked link is displayed as an image. The image specified in Value is used.
  • Click-through Image The tracked link is displayed as a image. Select a Click-through Image URL from the dropdown.
  • Email text
  • Email HTML
  • SMS
Include Message

Inserts a previously defined message into the current message. You can include the same message for each record (static) or include a message determined by the value of the specified field in each record at runtime (dynamic).

This setting is only valid in Message on Demand projects. Before using this setting, you must define at least one message under Project Settings > Edit > Message on Demand > Messages.

  • To use a static message, clear the Dynamic check box and select a message from the Value dropdown.
  • To use a dynamic message, select the Dynamic check box then select a data field from the Value dropdown. Before using this option you must populate the specified field for each input record.

Barge-In specifies whether the consumer can interrupt the message element. For details, see Barge-in settings.

  
Raw HTML

Inserts raw HTML code. Use this to create dynamic HTML elements, such as links to an external website. The URL can include dynamic elements.

For example, you can combine a variable with two raw HTML elements to display a custom link in the HTML message. When clicked, this link opens the customer's account page:

Note: The Message Editor does not perform any validation of this code. Test your raw HTML elements thoroughly before using them in production messages.

Note: To insert HTML source code from another editor, do not use this tag.  Use Code View.

  • Email HTML

Use the following buttons to edit HTML tables in email messages.

Button Element Description Used in
Table header Adds or deletes the header row in the selected table.
  • Email HTML tables
Remove table Removes the selected table.
  • Email HTML tables
Row Adds or deletes a row at the current location in the table.
  • Email HTML tables
Column Adds or deletes a column at the current location in the table.
  • Email HTML tables
Table style Toggles the table borders between dashed and solid lines. Also toggles gray shading on alternate rows in the table.
  • Email HTML tables
Cell Splits or merges cells horizontally or vertically. Select one cell to split it. Select two adjacent cells to merge them.
  • Email HTML tables
Cell background Sets the color of the selected cell.
  • Email HTML tables
Vertical align Sets the vertical alignment of the selected cell. Select Top, Middle, or Bottom.
  • Email HTML tables
Horizontal align Sets the horizontal alignment of the selected cell. Select Left, Center, Right, or Justify.
  • Email HTML tables
Cell style Sets the borders of the selected cell to highlighted or thick style.
  • Email HTML tables