Smart Emails
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Getting Started

9 articles Manfred By Manfred

What is Smart Emails?

Smart Emails is a visual editor for all 52 supported Shopify notification templates — including order confirmations, shipping updates, returns, gift cards, customer notifications, POS receipts, and Shopify Messaging automations. How does it work? Smart Emails works in two phases: 1. Design phase — Choose a preset and customize colors, fonts, buttons, logo, footer, sections, and content in the visual editor. 2. Installation phase — Generate your templates in Smart Emails, then copy and save the primary-language HTML in the corresponding Shopify notification. Shopify does not allow apps to replace the primary notification body automatically. 3. Live phase — After installation, many day-to-day settings are read from Shopify Metafields when an email is sent. Structural changes still require a new export. What makes it different? - 30 professional presets — 10 design sets with three coordinated color variations each - 52 supported Shopify templates — transactional notifications, POS emails, staff notifications, and selected Shopify Messaging automations - Live settings — colors, buttons, footer, banner, and other Metafield-based settings can update without replacing the primary template code - Auto-translation — currently 33 languages, with more languages added continuously - No code — you never see HTML, CSS, or Liquid Additional languages are translated with Google Cloud Translation and installed for every primary template that is already installed in Shopify.

How do I install Smart Emails?

Installing Smart Emails on your Shopify store takes less than a minute. 1. Visit the Smart Emails listing on the Shopify App Store 2. Click Add app 3. Approve the permissions on the authorization screen 4. You are redirected to the Smart Emails dashboard — ready to start || Note: Smart Emails needs permission to read your shop data (products, orders, logo) to show realistic previews in the editor. It does not modify your existing emails until you explicitly export.

How do I choose a design preset?

Smart Emails comes with 30 preset variations — 10 professionally designed base sets, each with three coordinated color variations. The displayed variation names depend on the selected base set. 1. Open the Smart Emails dashboard 2. Browse the presets — each shows a full preview 3. Click on one you like 4. Select your primary language 5. Click Start Editing Every preset includes coordinated colors, fonts, buttons, spacing, footer settings, and section defaults. You can customize everything afterwards — the preset is only the starting point. || Important: Applying another base preset changes the design and structure used by your templates. Save a design snapshot first if you may want to return to the current version. Structural changes require a fresh primary-language export.

How does the editor work?

The Smart Emails editor opens inside Shopify and has three main areas: - Settings panel — Edit text, colors, images, spacing, and section-specific options. - Canvas — A live visual preview of the currently selected template. - Toolbar — Open global settings, switch preview width, undo or redo changes, send a test, and start an export. Making changes 1. Click on any section in the canvas (right side) 2. Its settings open on the left 3. Make your changes — the canvas updates in real-time 4. Your changes are saved automatically after you stop editing for about two seconds Switching templates Use the template picker to switch between all 52 supported templates. Global design settings such as colors, typography, buttons, logo, and footer are shared. The section structure and template-specific text can differ by template. Desktop and Mobile preview Use the Desktop/Mobile toggle to preview different widths. A real test email remains the final check because Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and other email clients use different rendering engines. Primary and secondary languages The primary-language editor contains the complete design and structure controls. Secondary-language editors focus on translated text. Design changes are inherited from the primary design so all languages remain visually synchronized. | Auto-Save protects your work, but a completed save does not automatically replace the primary HTML stored in Shopify when the structure has changed.

Do I need coding knowledge?

No. Smart Emails is a fully visual editor — you don’t need any coding knowledge. Everything is done through visual controls like color pickers, dropdowns, and toggles. For advanced users, there is an optional custom Liquid code field per section for special display conditions. But for normal use, you never need to touch code.

Where do I find my emails in Shopify?

Your Shopify notification emails are here: 1. Go to your Shopify Admin → Settings → Notifications 2. You see all notification templates (Order Confirmation, Shipping, etc.) 3. Click on any template to preview or edit it This is where you paste the HTML code from Smart Emails during the export process.

What changes go live instantly?

Smart Emails uses Shopify Metafields to push changes live without re-exporting. Here is what goes live instantly vs what needs a re-export: Instant (no re-export) - Colors (background, text, links, buttons) - Typography (font family, sizes) - Button styling (filled, outline, radius) - Header logo (image, size, alignment) - Footer text (legal, copyright, social links, free text) - Message Banner (text, colors, on/off per template) - Marketing sections (discounts, products, gift cards) - Per-language footer, Shop Links, Message Banner, and marketing text stored in locale-specific Metafields Requires re-export - Adding or removing sections - Changing section order - Switching to a different base preset - Converter updates that change the generated HTML structure || Important: Primary template HTML cannot be replaced automatically through Shopify's API. When Smart Emails shows a re-export notice, copy the newly generated primary-language code to Shopify. Installed secondary languages can then be synchronized automatically.

Complete Setup: From Preset to Multilingual Shopify Emails

Use this checklist when setting up Smart Emails for the first time. 1. Choose the primary language Your primary language is the source for the design, template structure, and automatic translations. Choose the language in which you normally write and maintain the email content. 2. Choose and customize a preset Select one of the 30 preset variations, then open the editor. Configure global colors, typography, buttons, logo, Shop Links, footer, and any marketing sections. Review the individual structure and text of the templates you plan to use. 3. Send a test email Open a template, click Send Test, enter an email address, and check the result on desktop and mobile. Test important links, images, footer content, and both light and dark mode. 4. Generate the primary templates Click Export to Shopify. Smart Emails saves the design and generates the HTML for every template available on your plan. 5. Install the primary language in Shopify Go to Exports, select a template, and copy its code. Open the Shopify destination shown by Smart Emails, replace the notification body, and save it. Repeat this for each primary template you want to use. Shopify does not allow an app to replace the primary notification body automatically. This copy-and-save step is therefore required once per primary template and again after structural changes. 6. Add secondary languages Return to the Smart Emails Home page and click Add Language. Select the required languages and confirm. Smart Emails then: - creates a language-specific design set - copies the primary design - translates supported text with Google Cloud Translation - enables and publishes the locale in Shopify - installs the translated body_html for every primary template already installed You do not manually export the secondary-language versions. 7. Check Email Status Open Email Status to verify which primary templates and language versions are present. If a language was added before a primary template was installed, install the primary template first and then run the offered synchronization. 8. Trigger a real Shopify notification Create a test order or trigger the relevant notification. This final test verifies Shopify Liquid data, customer-language selection, the subject line, and the email body together. || Current limitation: Smart Emails automatically installs translated email bodies. Shopify notification subject lines are separate and are not currently translated by Smart Emails.

How Do I Add, Move, and Delete Sections?

Each of the 52 templates has its own section structure. Select the template you want to change before adding, moving, or deleting a section. Add a section 1. Select a section in the canvas. 2. Click the + control at the position where the new section should appear. 3. Choose one of the sections available for that template. 4. Configure its content and settings in the side panel. The list is template-aware. Sections that do not make sense for the current Shopify notification are hidden, and sections that may only appear once cannot be inserted twice. Move a section Select the section and use its up or down controls. Smart Emails respects required positions. For example, the footer remains the final section. Delete a section Select the section and click its delete control. Required sections and globally managed sections can be protected from deletion. Publishing structural changes Section additions, deletions, and order changes alter the generated HTML. After making one of these changes, generate a new export and replace the primary template code in Shopify. Installed secondary languages can then be regenerated automatically from the updated structure. || Undo is available if you remove or move a section by mistake, provided you have not left or reloaded the current editor session.