Reference Guide
Detailed explanations of every feature and function in NutshellThe Email component allows you to draft an email, insert data you’ve collected dynamically, and then send it to recipients of your choice, all without the end-user leaving your app.
It’s important to note that this is not the same as simply opening up the end-user’s email app. There’s a separate component for that in the Device categoryGo to Device - Email.
Creating an Email
To create an email, drag the Email component onto the Canvas from the Essentials tool bar. Double-click the component on the Canvas or click the Edit Email Content button in the Properties Panel to edit the content of the email.
A WYISWYGFind more information on What You See Is What You Get here text editor will open, allowing you to create and style your email. If you’ve ever used a document editor like Microsoft Word, this should all be quite familiar.
The Email editor lets your draft an email from within your Nutshell app
Inserting Data
You can insert dynamic data into your emails. What do we mean by dynamic data? Dynamic data is content that changes based on something your end-user does.
You can insert data into your emails dynamically, from form fields and variables
For example, imagine that your app asks the end-user for their name on the first screen, and then inserts it into a personalised email later. In this example, the name is dynamic as it changes to whatever the end-user has typed in.
Sending Emails
Once you’ve created your email, you can send it to recipients of your choice, including the option to send a Blind Carbon Copy to someone else. Pro Tip: It’s often a good idea to BCC yourself – at least while testing the app – so that you can see the emails being generated.
The Email component properties let you set recipients (inc. CC/BCC) and subject line
Recipients can be either hard-coded – in other words, you hand-type them into the Properties panel when you build your app – or they can be dynamic too – in which case your app can make the decision about who should receive the email just before the email is sent.
All fields in the Email properties can be inserted dynamically from user input
To dynamically insert a recipient from a Variable or form field, use the button next to the To: field in the Properties panel.
Failover Settings
Your app can’t send emails on its own; it needs the help of an email server, which may not always be available – for example, imagine your end-user is an engineer, out on site with no internet connection. In these situations, you can specify what should happen to emails that couldn’t be sent; they can be deleted, or queued for later.
Emails that fail to send can be deleted or queued for later
If you choose to Queue any emails that fail to send, they’ll be added to the queue one-by-one until an internet connection becomes available. As soon as a connection is available, all the emails in the queue will be sent.
Success & Failure Outcomes
You can set your app workflow to follow different routes depending on whether the email was sent or not – for example, you may only want an end-user to continue using the app if the email was sent successfully.
Success and Failure outcomes are set on the links coming out of an Email component. You can set an outgoing link to be:
- a success outcome (which will only be followed if the email was successful)
- a failure outcome (which is followed if it wasn’t successful)
- a normal link (which is followed regardless of the outcome).
Success & Failure outcomes allow you to catch and handle errors gracefully
To set a success or failure outcome, simply draw a link from your email component to the next step in your workflow. In the link’s Properties, you’ll find a panel called “Link Outcome”, with options for:
- Success
- Failure
- None
None is set by default, which means that the success or failure of the email is ignored.
Email Properties
When an email is selected on the Canvas, the following settings are available in the Properties panel:
| Basic Settings | |
|---|---|
| Label | An optional name, that appears on the Canvas. This makes reading larger workflows much easier. |
| To | One or more email addresses to whom this email will be sent. These email addresses can be typed in by hand, or inserted dynamically from a Variable or a form field elsewhere in your workflow. You can add multiple recipients, separating them with a semi-colon. |
| From | Although Nutshell will send the email, you can make it look like the email came from a specific email address – e.g. myapp@whatever.com. This looks a little more professional, and also minimises the chance of your email ending up in a junk-mail folder. |
| BCC | One or more email addresses to whom this email will be sent as a blind carbon copy. You can enter addresses here in the same way you do in the “To” field. This is useful for testing – i.e. when you need to see copies of everything being sent from the app – and can also be helpful for auditing purposes. |
| Subject | The subject line of the email, as it will appear in the recipient’s email software. This can be typed in by hand, or inserted dynamically from a Variable or a form field elsewhere in your workflow. |
| Failures | This dropdown lets you specify what should happen when an email fails to send – for example, if the end-user has no internet connection when they try to send it. Emails that fail to send can be either deleted immediately, or queued to be sent later as soon as an internet connection becomes available. |
Troubleshooting
If your app appears to work fine, but your recipients aren’t getting your emails, there are a few things you should check first, before pulling your hair out:
Check your email addresses
If an email address is spelled incorrectly, the email may bounce back. Double-check the email addresses you’re using and make sure that (a) they exist, and (b) they’re spelled correctly.
Check the recipient’s spam folder
It’s surprisingly easy to inadvertently create an email that a mail server can mistake for spam. Check out these simple guidelines to help you create emails that have a better chance of getting through undisturbed. It may also be possible to have the “From” address white-listed (i.e. verified as a legitimate source) by the mail server administrator.
Just getting started? Try the Tutorials section for handy quick-start guides.
Prefer to watch the action? Try our series of short video tutorials.
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