Template Options for In-App Messages

This document describes configuration options for in-app message templates.

# Table of contents

# Creating and editing templates

To learn how to create templates, read Creating Base Templates. To learn how to edit, clone, preview and delete templates, read Managing Base Templates.

# In-App Template tab

The In-App Template tab provides basic configuration options for email templates:

• Show in Inbox - With this option enabled, messages based on this base template will be available in your app's mobile inbox, if applicable. Additionally, this option enables various mobile inbox-related configuration options on this screen.

• Template Name - The name of the template, useful for locating it when setting up a campaign.

• Message Type - The message type to associate with the campaign. For more information, read Message Channels and Message Types.

• Expiration Time - The last possible time that messages based on with this base template can be displayed or listed in the app's mobile inbox (if applicable). Customize this field on a per-campaign basis as necessary.

  By default, in-app messages expire 90 days after Iterable sends their associated campaigns. That is, if a mobile app does not retrieve an in-app message from Iterable within 90 days of its send time, the recipient will never see it.

  To specify a custom expiration tie, click the calendar icon on the Expiration Time input to bring up a calendar control. Use this control in one of two ways:

  

  • Set a specific expiration time

    Use the calendar to select a specific expiration date (in the local time zone of the web browser making the selection). Select a month and day, then select an hour, then select a minute.

    The expiration date for an in-app message can be up to 90 days in the future.

  • Set a relative expiration time

    Use the relative date text input on the bottom of the calendar control to choose an expiration date relative to the campaign send date. Use the following syntax:

    • y: years
    • M: months
    • w: weeks
    • h: hours
    • m: minutes
    • s: seconds
    • For example:
      • [send time]+3h+14m+7d: 3 hours, 14 minutes, 7 days after send time
      • [send time]+1M+1w: 1 month and 1 week after send time
      • [send time]/d+3d: 3 days after midnight on the day of send time

    WARNING

    If a specific or relative expiration date falls before a campaign's send date, recipients will never see the in-app message.

# Advanced Options tab

The Advanced Options tab provides further configuration options for in-app message templates:

• Enable Template Generation Using Data Feeds

  Data feeds allow Iterable to include data retrieved from an external API in the content of a message. To learn more, read Personalizing Templates with Data Feeds.

• Enable Template Generation Using Data Feeds - Enables customization of the template with data feeds (external web services). For more information, read Customizing Templates with Data Feeds. Enabling this option causes various other data feed-related options to appear:

  • Cache Data Feed Response... - This option causes Iterable to cache responses to the data feeds referenced by the template (to reduce load on the servers that host them). For each recipient, Iterable determines the data feed URL to query by substituting parameters from their Iterable profile into the data feed's pre-defined URL. If Iterable has a cached response for that URL from within the past hour, it will use that data. Otherwise, it will query the URL.

  • Merge the Data Feed and User Contexts - Allows the template to reference data feed data with double curly braces ({{productName}}) instead of double square brackets ([[productName]]). Doubly curly braces can still be used to reference user profile data, too. If the same field exists on both the user profile and the data feed, Iterable uses the value from the user profile. With this option enabled, a merge parameter can prefer user profile data but otherwise revert to data feed data.

  • Use Data Feed Alias - Allows the template's content to reference data feeds by their aliases. Using aliases can make templates easier to read and maintain, especially when they reference multiple data feeds. To learn how to define data feed aliases, read Editing a data feed's alias. To learn how to use data feed aliases to reference data, read Using aliases to reference data feed data.

# In-app message template editor

The in-app message template editor sits below the template configuration options:

The specific editor you'll see depends on which one was selected when the template was originally created. For more information, read Template Editors.

# Additional options

Below the template editor, you'll see various additional options:

• To see the template's revision history, click See Revisions.
• To clone the template to the same project, click Clone Template.
• To send a proof of the template to yourself (with your own data), as random users (to yourself, but using data from random contacts in your project), to an internal list or to someone else, click Send Proof and select an option. For more information, read Sending Proofs.
• To preview the template with user data, click Preview With Data.
• To save the template, click Save Template.

# Buttons and links in in-app messages

In-app messages should contain links or buttons that allow users to navigate to content in the associated app or on the web, trigger custom actions in the app or simply close the message.

Every in-app message must contain at least a single link or button (with a valid URL) so that the user has a way to close it. Otherwise, Iterable's template editor will not let you save the template or message.

A valid URL can be:

• A web URL - For example, https://www.example.com/sample/content

• A custom action - For example, action://customActionName, where customActionName is the name of any custom action supported by your mobile app's custom action handler. If you omit customActionName (leaving only action://), tapping the button or link simply closes the in-app message.

  WARNING

  Earlier versions of the SDK used itbl:// URLs for custom actions. The SDK still supports itbl:// URLs, but they're deprecated and support will eventually be removed. Migrate to action:// as it's possible to do so.

• An Iterable action - For example, iterable://actionName, where actionName is the name of a pre-defined action supported by Iterable's SDK. For example, to create a delete button/or link, use URL iterable://delete. To create a close button/link, use URL iterable://dismiss.

# Example in-app message buttons

Consider the following in-app message template, shown as it's being edited: in Iterable:

• The Close button might be associated with URL iterable://dismiss, which would simply close the message.
• The View Feature button might be associated with URL action://feature, which would tell the app to invoke the custom action triggered by feature.
• The Go To Home Screen button might be associated with URL action://home, which would tell the app to invoke the custom action triggered by home.

# X-style close buttons

If you'd like to create an X-style close button, one option is to use the Bee Free editor with a configuration similar to the following:

• Add a button to the message template
• Set the button's text to X
• Set the button's URL to action://, which closes the in-app message when tapped
• Choose a Background Color for the button
• Choose a Text Color for the button
• For Align, choose right
• Specify a Border Radius of 20
• For Content Padding, specify:
  • 0 for Top and Bottom
  • 10 for Left and Right
• Specify a Solid, 1-pixel border of any desired color.

# Further reading

• In-App Messages and Mobile Inbox
• Sending In-App Messages
• Template Options for Email
• Template Options for Push Notifications
• Template Options for SMS
• Template Options for Web Push Notifications