When you use a template in Eloqua, you can lock or unlock:

• the ability to change the layout (drag new content blocks to the canvas, rearrange the canvas and/or delete content blocks). 
• your email's style (background and canvas color, default font and CSS, among other details).
• each individual content block.

Note: Basic Marketing Users cannot create or manage templates. 

Creating a template

The easiest way to create a new template is to use an email you have already designed, tested and sent. For instance, send out the first issue of your newsletter, then make any tweaks and use that as a starting point.

Before you go any further, make sure the Email Settings are correct for this template. When a user creates an email based off this template, the new email's Sender Name, Sender Email Address, Reply-to Name and Reply-to Address will default to what you have set. (However, the Email Group, Subject Line and Preview Text will never be set by a template or automatically filled in.)

1. Once you have the email ready to become a template, select to File > Save As Template. 
   1. Title your template in the Name field. Adding the word "template" in your title will help you keep files straight.
   2. Add a description, if desired.
   3. Text to Display for Link and URL for Link are fields you should use if you want to link to an external source of directions. Otherwise, ignore.
   4. Make sure you save in your own templates folder. Do not save in the Email Template Root. You can find your folder by clicking the folder icon and navigating to your user group's folder, or click in the Location dropdown and start typing your user group name.
   5. Once your email has saved as a template, the Save as Template window will appear and you will be returned to your email (not your template). 

Managing your template

To make changes to your template, navigate to the Overview page in Emails by going to Assets > Emails.

1. Click on the purple button that says Manage Templates.
   
   
   
   
2. A Template Manager window will open. In that window, click All Files to find your templates folder. Don't forget you can toggle between list and thumbnail view by clicking the icons in the upper right corner.
   
   
   
   Note: This "All Files" view is not the same as the "All Files" view when you are looking for an email. In this window, you are looking at folders of templates, not emails.
   
   
3. Open your user group's folder and find your template. Double-click the file to select it. 
4. You can tell you are in a template, because the yellow box in the upper corner will say STANDARD instead of DRAFT or ACTIVE.
   
   
   
   
5. Once you are in your template, you can make changes to its layout, style and content. You may want to consider changing email-specific text with placeholder text and/or instructions for the user.
6. See the next section for details on how to protect the template.
   
   

Protecting your template

To keep users from making changes to parts (or all) of your template, you need to protect it. 

1. Navigate to your template's settings by clicking the gear in the control panel on the left.
   
   
   
   You will notice you do not have any of the normal email settings(Subject Line, Email Group, etc.). Instead, you have template-specific settings. 
   1. If you want to change your template's Sender Name and Address or Reply-to Name and Email Address, you will have to start over. These have to be set before you save the file as a template for the first time.
   2. You cannot specify an Email Group, Subject Line or Preview Text in a template, as these are usually set per email.
      
      
2. Click the toggle next to Protected Content. Your template's status will change from STANDARD to PROTECTED.
   
   
   
   
3. You can allow your template's user to change the style or design of the email by toggling Allow Changes to Style or Allow Changes to Design on or off. (You should not ever use Blocks.) In this example, the person who creates an email based off of this template will be able to edit the layout (add or delete content blocks and rearrange the canvas), but they cannot change the email's style (colors, fonts, alignment, etc.).
   
   
   
   
4. You can also lock or unlock each content block. When you click on any content block, you will see a Protected Option and you can choose to allow changes to content or not.
   
   
   
   
5.  If Allow Changes to Content is toggled off, users of this template will not be able to change the text, image or other details of your block. The template (and any emails created from it) will show a padlock icon in the upper left corner of the content block.
   
   
   
   
6. Once you have your template's settings, protections, design and style set, click the Save button.

Note that if you make changes to a template, any emails created before the change will not update. Only new emails created based off the template will be different.

Now you are ready to create an email based on your template!