Rebel Insights

Using Mustache Syntax to Customize Mailchimp Templates

Using Mustache Syntax to Customize Mailchimp Templates

RebelMouse has many ways that we can help to simplify your newsletter campaign workflow. Our integration with Mailchimp allows you to automate your daily or weekly newsletter (using an algorithm to select the top-performing posts of either period) or to use our Entry Editor to create a post, which can then be sent to Mailchimp and distributed to your appropriate lists. You are also able to simply select the correct template for any post you send as a newsletter (or your automated newsletters).


Here we will describe how to use the Mustache template syntax with data to render posts in your newsletters. This is a method that we created to make it easy to augment your newsletters by using Mustache templates. You can learn more about the Mustache template here: https://mustache.github.io/mustache.5.html

To tell an HTML block to render as a Mustache template, we need to create an HTML tag with the "mc:edit" attribute, and have it contain the value "_mustache" as a postfix. For example:

<div mc:edit="posts_list_mustache"></div>

Then, during rendering of the newsletter, the Mustache syntax will be replaced with variables from our posts.

The minimal code needed would be, for example, this code snippet:

<div mc:edit="posts_list_mustache">
 {{#posts_list}}
  {{#image600x}}
  <a href="{{ post_url }}"><img src="{{image600x}}"></a>
  {{/image600x}}
  {{#header}}
   <a href="{{ post_url }}" target="_blank">{{ header }}</a>
  {{/header}}
 {{/posts_list}}
</div>

List of Variables

For the "posts_list" List:

Name

Description

header

Header/Headline of a post

subheader

Subheader/Subheadline of a post

post_url

Post URL

image600x

Lead image 600x

image300x

Lead image 300x

image980x

Lead image 980x

image

Image (this displays an image and works in Gmail correctly)

before_listicle

Body text before listicle/particle

after_listicle

Body text after listicle/particle

authors_names

Author names list

author_name0, author_name1, author_name2, author_name{}

Author names

author_avatars

Author avatars list

author_avatar0, author_avatar1, author_avatar2, author_avatar{}

Author avatars

created_date

Created date

keep_reading_enabled

Is keep reading enabled for the post

tags

Tags list

listicle_items_list

A list of listicles/particles

related_posts_list

A list of related posts

Note: Sometimes you may have multiple authors that you want to attribute a newsletter to. Such as, instead of saying "By Author 1" in the newsletter, you want to say "By Author 1 and Author 2." This simply requires a tweak to the code, as seen below:


<code>{{#author_name1}} //Checking if we have the second author 
By {{ author_name0}} and {{ author_name1 }} 
{{/author_name1}} 
{{^author_name1}} //If we don't have the second author we print only one 
By {{ author_name0}} 
{{/author_name1}}

For the "listicle_items_list" List:

Name

Description

is_image

Check if the image is set for a given listicle/particle

image600x

Listicle/Particle 600x px image

image

image (this displays an image and works in Gmail correctly)

media_html

Sometimes instead of the lead image, media HTML might be defined

headline

Listicle/Particle headline

body

Listicle/Particle body

item_permalink

Particle URL

has_brief

True if the post has brief parameter filled (used to determine Keep Reading)

brief

Brief parameter (used to show the first part of Keep Reading)

For the "listicle_items_by_groups" List:

(In case you are dealing with multicolumn listicles.)

Name

Description

is_multicolumn

Marks if a given particle is multicolumn

is_layout_two_columns

Is this a two-column layout

is_layout_three_columns

Is this a three-column layout

parallax

Is this a parallax layout

ecommerce

Is this an e-commerce layout

item0

First item of a particle

item1

Second item of a particle

item{}

Where {} is a number, it will render information about a given item. So in case we are dealing with a three-column layout, we will have item0, item1 and item2. For a two-layout column, it's item0 and item1. And for single-column layout, only item0 will be available.

has_sponsored_slug

A Boolean that determines if slug of particle is starting with sponsored content or a sponsored response. Used to determine if the post is sponsored.

has_brief

True if the post has a brief parameter filled (used to determine Keep Reading)

brief

Brief parameter (used to show the first part of Keep Reading)

For the Item object for the "listicle_items_by_groups" List:

Name

Description

basename

Item base name

images

Please refer to the "image choices" section

is_first

Is it the first particle

is_last

Is it the last particle

is_image

Does the particle contain an image

headline

Particle headline

media_html

Sometimes instead of the lead image, media HTML might be defined

href

A URL to a given particle

id

ID of a particle

index

Index of a particle

item_permalink

Link to a given particle

body

Particle body (not parsed)

description

Particle description (parsed)

Image Choices:

Name

Description

is_image

Checks if an image is set for a given listicle/particle

image600x

Listicle/Particle 600x px image

image

Image (this displays an image and works in Gmail correctly)

imageorigin

Same as image

image210x

Image 210x

image300x

Image 300x

image600x

Image 600x

image980x

Image 980x

image35x35

Image 35x35

image300x300

Image 300x300

image600x200

Image 600x200

image600x300

Image 600x300

image600x400

Image 600x400

image600x600

Image 600x600

image750x1000

Image 750x1000

image700x1245

Image 700x1245

image1000x750

Image 1000x750

image1200x400

Image 1200x400

image1200x600

Image 1200x600

image1200x800

Image 1200x800

image1245x700

Image 1245x700

image1500x2000

Image 1500x2000

image2000x1500

Image 2000x1500

Here is an example of a simple HTML template with Mustache syntax used: https://gist.github.com/kkszysiu/0dca4715dd55b66e4c7e23478411727c

Creating a Template in Mailchimp

To create a template in Mailchimp, we need to log in to the Mailchimp dashboard, then go to the Templates view and create a new template:

Then select the "Paste in code" option in the next step:

Now you can copy-paste the sample template from the GitHub link above.

Once that's been entered, you simply click Save and Exit in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Then you'll be prompted for a name for the template. Enter a familiar name for your template that helps keep you organized and you're through this part! You can continue to edit the template to make it fully your own, too.

Testing the Template

To test your template, the easiest way would be to create a new "Audience" or "List" in your Mailchimp dashboard, and then add test emails to your newly created audience.

From our Entry Editor, go to the Send a Newsletter tab and select your newly created audience and test template:

After publishing a post, you should receive a test email that uses the test template. Note that if you have any errors in the code in the template, Mailchimp may not receive the newsletter. If you notice that the draft isn't appearing in your Campaigns tab in Mailchimp when you send to Mailchimp, you'll want to check your code to be sure that there are no errors.

You can repeat this flow by changing something in your template, saving it, and then editing this post in Entry Editor and checking the changes in the emails you will receive.

If you have any questions, please contact your account manager or support@rebelmouse.com.

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