Overview
Clips is a new feature that will be made available in Postbox 7. Clips enable you to quickly insert pre-formatted HTML blocks into new messages. Similar to Signatures and Responses, Clips is a new content type with two additional capabilities that are important to highlight:
1) Clips can insert CSS styling into the message header.
2) A default Clip per identity can be used when a new message is composed.
Creating Clips
To create a new Clip, go to:
On macOS: Preferences > Composition > Clips
On Windows: Tools > Options > Composition > Clips
Next, click the Add or + button to open the editor dropdown. You can create additional Clips by simply clicking the Add or + button again. To edit an existing Clip, click the Pencil button below the list.
Adding Custom Clips
First, open a new Compose window, then click on the "Clips" button in the toolbar. (If you haven't added the button yet, right-click the toolbar and select "Customize...," then drag and drop the Clips button to the desired location in your toolbar.)
In the pop-up menu that displays, select Custom Clips...
Browse through the Clips, then click the Add button and give your new Clip a name.
Postbox supports nested menus, so if you wanted a top-level menu of "Image Clips" with three sub-entries, you would label as follows:
Image Clips::entry 1
Image Clips::entry 2
Image Clips::entry 3
Editing a Clip
To edit a Clip, click the Clips toolbar button, and then select "Edit Clips..." from the popup menu.
Header Content
In addition to HTML for the message body, Clips can also insert CSS into the message header. This is particularly useful for repeating elements such as bullet/numerical lists and tables where there can be an undefined number of entries or rows.
To insert CSS into the header of a Clip, click the "CSS" button in Clips Editor Formatting Toolbar, enter the desired CSS, including the <style> and </style> tags, then click the "CSS" button again to exit from the code editor. Note that you do not need to add <head> tags to the CSS, Postbox will add those for you.
Important Note: Given that Postbox adds background color and font color automatically, if you wish to style those two elements you'll want to override them with !important, as follows:
<style>
body {
background-color: blue !important;
color: red !important;
}
</style>
If you use two clips in the same message that each contains CSS in the header, note that the CSS code will be combined. This can cause conflicts if the CSS is referencing the same element, so generally, you would want to use the same styling within a message, e.g. only use orange buttons and not mix button colors.
Setting a Default Clip per Identity
Similar to signatures, a default Clip can be used per Identity each time you compose a message. This allows you to set the default font, size, header, or any other HTML or styling you wish to add each time you compose a message using that Identity. For example, you could use the Arial font for work messages and the Times font for personal messages by assigning a default Clip to each Identity.
To set a default clip, navigate to Preferences | Options > Accounts > [your account] > Identity and select the Clip you would like to use.
Adding Clips to Messages
Postbox will automatically use your default Clip when you create a new message. Use the Clips toolbar icon to change the default Clip, or to insert a new Clip if one doesn't exist.
Inserting a Clip Using the Toolbar
Press and hold the Clip toolbar button to select your desired Clip.
Inserting a Clip Using the Quick Bar
When you’re writing a message in the Compose window, type command-L (macOS) or ctrl-L (Windows). The Quick Bar dialog opens.
Start typing the name of the Clip you want. Matching items appear as you type. To make it easy to get your hands on the thing you want, Postbox tells you whether each item is a Clip, response, or topic.
If the Clip you want isn’t already selected, select it now with your mouse, or using your up/down arrow keys.
Hit enter on your keyboard to insert the selected Clip.
Formatting Components
Postbox includes a Library of Clips that you can use or customize. The Clips that ship with Postbox include:
- checked bullets
- numbered bullets
- buttons
- callouts
- description list
- horizontal rules
- image blocks
- quotes
- social follow blocks
- text blocks
- tables
Icons
You'll notice that the callout blocks contain example images. We've included 100 icons that you can use in a variety of colors. To use them, simply replace the image name followed by the color you would like to use.
The available colors are:
- black
- blue
- green
- grey
- orange
- pink
- purple
- red
- yellow
- white
To use the coffee icon in black, for example, change the icon included in the Clip sample to: coffee-black.png.
Available Icons
alarm-bell-ring-[color].png
alarm-clock-[color].png
alert-circle-[color].png
alert-triangle-[color].png
baggage-[color].png
ballon-[color].png
beer-[color].png
birthday-cake-[color].png
blowhorn-[color].png
book-[color].png
bug-[color].png
building-[color].png
bulb-[color].png
burger-[color].png
calendar-add-[color].png
calendar-check-[color].png
calendar-date-[color].png
calendar-disable-[color].png
car-[color].png
check-circle-1-[color].png
check-double-[color].png
checklist-[color].png
climb-[color].png
coffee-[color].png
coffee-to-go-[color].png
computer-[color].png
credit-card-[color].png
crossroad-[color].png
crown-[color].png
dashboard-[color].png
dislike-[color].png
edit-[color].png
envelope-[color].png
flag-[color].png
gift-[color].png
graph-bars-[color].png
graph-line-[color].png
guitar-[color].png
heart-[color].png
hot-[color].png
hourglass-[color].png
house-[color].png
information-circle-[color].png
key-[color].png
laptop-[color].png
like-[color].png
list-to-do-[color].png
lock-[color].png
mailbox-[color].png
megaphone-1-[color].png
money-bag-[color].png
money-[color].png
music-note-[color].png
pen-[color].png
picture-[color].png
pizza-[color].png
plane-[color].png
question-circle-[color].png
question-mark-square-[color].png
rain-cloud-[color].png
reminder-[color].png
ribbon-[color].png
robot-[color].png
sale-[color].png
settings-[color].png
shopping-cart-[color].png
social-facebook-1-[color].png
social-facebook-2-[color].png
social-flickr-[color].png
social-google-plus-1-[color].png
social-google-plus-2-[color].png
social-instagram-1-[color].png
social-instagram-2-[color].png
social-linkedin-[color].png
social-meetup-[color].png
social-pinterest-[color].png
social-reddit-[color].png
social-skype-[color].png
social-tumblr-[color].png
social-twitter-1-[color].png
social-twitter-2-[color].png
social-we-chat-[color].png
social-whatsapp-[color].png
social-yelp-[color].png
social-youtube-1-[color].png
social-youtube-2-[color].png
star-[color].png
store-[color].png
sun-[color].png
tacos-[color].png
target-[color].png
task-list-pin-[color].png
tent-[color].png
train-[color].png
trash-[color].png
trophy-[color].png
truck-[color].png
wand-[color].png
wifi-[color].png
wine-[color].png