Access to Message Layout Designer

Survalyzer NG offers extensive design options in the survey layout designer as seen in the following screenshot:

The layout designer is a very powerful and “dangerous” tool

The layout designer, which also exists for survey layouts, is a tool that makes it possible to edit a lot of settings and has a lot of tools combined in it. It’s basically the swiss army knife. But as it always is with knives – they can be kind of dangerous.

Why is the message layout designer a very sharp knife?

Because it is also possible to cut yourself (imaginative of course), because it’s possible to change settings which end in a broken layout. This might even happen without you realizing it, because it only happens on a specific screen size. It’s also possible to set absolute sizes here and there which could end in a broken responsiveness. Maybe some layout elements start to overlap each other if set incorrectly.… There are a lot of small things that can end badly. It’s also very close to CSS and HTML, which is also possible to set manually. HTML and CSS is not something to play around with, because the possibilities are endless, and experience is needed to use them wisely.

Is it possible to gain access to the Message layout designer tool?

Yes that is possible, but there are some constraints to it.

1. You need to have the corporate package licensed (for information about the corporate package, please ask our sales team)
2. You’ll need a special workshop before we can grant access. That workshop is included in the corporate package.

What do we need for the workshop?

In the best case you provide the following information as preparation for the workshop:

• Styleguide or Website of your company
• Company Logo
• Company font

Consequences of gaining access to the Message layout designer

As a famous comic book author once wrote “with great power comes great responsibility“. What this means is, that you’ll take over the responsibility for the layout functionality. The layout designer is not part of our 1st level support.

Since the layout designer is a sharp swiss army knife – and therefore kind of dangerous – you take over the responsibility for the used layouts.

So, in consequence of gaining access, every change that our team has to do for you in the layout will be considered a change request. A change request will always be charged with a minimum of 2 hours.

There is the possibility to add a SLA (service level agreement) to your contract, which includes at least 16 hours for 3 years. For more information about the SLA possibility, please contact our sales team.

If you decide against the access and resulting responsibility, our 1st level support includes all changes that are possible without HTML and CSS changes, for up to 1 hour within 1 year. But that only applies if no access to the layout editors is given.

Best practices and guidelines

Separate the message layout into 5 pieces

1. Logo/Picture Section (max. size 150 KB),
   – Hint: use a message text container, not an image, if you want to have a possibility to change / delete image during your sample invitation process.
   – An image in a text area uses the original size so upload the image to the library in the correct size.
2. Survey introduction and context:
   – Reason for invitation
   – Context about the survey
   – Estimated duration
   
3. Start Survey button
4. Invitation conclusion:
   – Include the link to the survey
   – Acknowlegdments for participation
   – Contact details for questions
5. Footer
   – Hint: Use a message text container not a text, this will make the footer editable

Duplicate the Default Invitation as a starting point for additional Message Layouts

We recommend to duplicate your existing Message Layout and edit it from there instead of starting from scratch by creating a completely new Message Layout:

This will ensure that you can always refer back to the original and will save you time.

Do not create the actual invitation in the Message Layout Editor

The Message Layout Editor is the overarching framework for the actual messages that you will create to invite your desired audience. This means that you should not write the actual invitation texts in the Message Layout Editor. The goal is always to maintain a low number of Message Layouts on which you base your messages.

This will help you to:
1. Preserve uniformity accross your messaging
2. Easily work with messages is several languages
3. Maintain a clear overview and structure

Stick to the standard settings

The Message Layout Editor allows elaborate options for customization, however all standard settings have been thoroughly tested to match the industry standards and ensure high email deliverability. The more you deviate from industry standards, the higher the chances are that the invitations will not reach your desired audience.