Introducing Snippets

Email templates in Slate are called Snippets. 

Why not just call them email templates? In addition to Slate's insatiable appetite for quirky branding, the idea behind the name "Snippets" is to suggest that they aren't just useful for creating full email templates, but also for creating small, often-used chunks of text that will likely make their way into many emails. 

For example, you may eventually create Snippets detailing the following information:

• Directions for how to set up an online appointment with you
• A list of helpful links for applicants interested in your program
• A list of upcoming important admissions dates and deadlines

You can probably imagine emails where you might want to include some or all of the information listed above, and using Snippets makes that easy, because you can combine multiple Snippets into the same message. Below, we show you everything you need to know about Snippets.

Navigating to Snippets in Slate 

1. Hover over the Inbox icon in the top menu
2. Select Snippets
   
   

Tour of the Snippets page

1. New Snippet button: Select this button to start creating a new Snippet (more information on that below)
2. Edit Signature button: Select this button to set up or edit your email signature (check out UW-Madison's email signature best practices)
3. Search Snippets: If trying to find a specific Snippet in your list, you can search for it here by name and/or content in the email itself
4. Personal / Shared folders: Filter your list of Snippets by either Personal or Shared
   • Personal will contain the Snippets that only belong to you (not shared with anyone else)
   • Shared will contain a list of all the Snippets that are shared with you and the Snippets you have shared with others
5. List of Snippets: Listed in alphabetical order by default, but you can sort by the other columns as well. Notice that the last date the Snippet was updated is also listed here.
6. Folders: Do not create or use folders to organize your Snippets. Unfortunately, folders are not a private feature; instead, folders are shared with all users, meaning if you create a folder of Snippets, it is possible that another user could end up deleting your folder without your consent. So please do not use this feature. 

Creating and Editing a Snippet

1. Select New Snippet button
2. In the pop up window that shows, provide the following information (see screenshot below for example):
   • Status: Active (default; only set a Snippet as Inactive if you no longer want to use it)
   • Folder: none (default — again, avoid using this feature)
   • Name: a descriptive, memorable name
   • Method: Email (default)
   • Sharing: select if you wish to share this Snippet (you can share a Snippet at any time)
3. Create your Snippet message using the text editor provided.
4. Select Save

If later you want to edit the Snippet, you just have to simply select the Snippet in the list to open up the editor.

Adding Merge Fields to Your Snippets

1. Scroll down below the editor and select the Export button (as shown in the screenshot below).
   
   
   
2. In the window that pops up you will see a large list of merge fields you can merge into this email (as shown in the screenshot below). Below are some commonly used merge fields:
   • Preferred: This is the preferred name provided by the applicant in the application. If the applicant did not provide a preferred name, this merge field will bring in the applicant's first name.
   • Campus ID: This is the applicant's UW-Madison Campus ID.
   • Reference ID: This is the applicant's Slate ID, which can be used to look up the applicant in Slate. This merge field may be especially useful for Snippets that are commonly going to applicants who have yet to fully submit their applications, since they will not have a Campus ID yet.
     
     
3. Select the exports you wish to be available to use in the email, which will highlight in dark blue (as shown in the screenshot above) and then click the Continue button. These available exports will then be listed below the export button (as shown in the screenshot below).
   
   
   
   
4. Place your cursor in the text where you'd like the export to appear, and then select the double-bracket icon { } (highlighted in the screenshot below).
   
5. In the Merge Field pop up (shown in the screenshot below), select the merge field you'd like to use, and then select the OK button.  The merge field will now be in the Snippet.
   
   

Sharing a Snippet

If you'd like to share a Snippet with other colleagues, follow the directions below:

1. Indicate you would like to share the Snippet by either selecting the Set permissions upon saving box in a new Snippet you are creating, or by selecting the Edit Permissions link in a previously created Snippet
2. In the Edit Permissions window that pops up, select Add Grantee
3. In the type dropdown that appears, select User*
4. Type in the name of a Slate user you wish to have access to this Snippet 
   • Note: if you want access to this Snippet, you will need to add yourself as a user, so remember to add yourself if you wish to use it
5. Set the permissions for the user
   • Access Snippet: Select this box if you want the user to be able to use this Snippet in emails
   • Edit Snippet: Select this box if you want the user to be able to edit this Snippet template
6. Select Save.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 for any additional user you wish you add (including yourself if you wish to use the Snippet). Once you've selected all the users who should have access, select the Close button. The Snippet will now be found in the Shared folder (once a Snippet is shared, it is not considered "Personal" anymore, even if you created it).

*Please note: Only share your Snippets with specific users. Do not use the options to share with Role or Permission type; this will share your template with potentially hundreds of users in Slate.

Using Snippets in an Email

When writing an email to a single applicant, a list of your Snippets will be viewable on the right side of the Email editor, as highlighted in the screenshot below. 

To insert the Snippet into your email, follow these directions:

1. Place your cursor in the email where you'd like to insert the Snippet.
2. Search for the Snippet you'd like to insert either by scrolling to the correct Snippet (listed in alphabetical order) or using the Search Snippets search bar. You can search by the title of the Snippet or by the content within the Snippet.
3. Click on the Snippet you'd like to insert, which will immediately insert it into the email

You can then edit the text and add additional Snippets if you'd like!