Using Mustache Syntax to Customize Mailchimp Templates

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:

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:

For the "listicle_items_by_groups" List:

(In case you are dealing with multicolumn listicles.)

For the Item object for the "listicle_items_by_groups" List:

Image Choices:

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.