Custom components overview
Custom components replace and enhance our older, legacy components.
Use Custom components to create reusable blocks of code from scratch. You can add your own Javascript, set your own variables, and reference this code in any email. Unlike snippets, a change to the component file will cascade down through all emails the file is referenced in.
If you're a veteran user of Parcel (before April 23, 2024), you know we've offered a version of custom components for a while. Read on to learn about the latest enhancements and why you should upgrade!
When using components, your email developers or freelance hires can create a range of components using their specialized knowledge (JavaScript, HTML, CSS, etc). They can create reliable, quality code in the Parcel code editor then pass this off to non-technical colleagues to add content and styling in the visual editor.
Components are an incredibly powerful way to build an email. Email code often comes with a lot of repetition - using the same base for a template, using the same styles on each paragraph, link, heading, etc. It can be very time consuming to find or have to recreate the exact block you want to copy to another email. By using components, you can spend your time building custom code correctly once then use this component throughout your messages.
You can make a change to the component file, and those changes will cascade down to ALL messages that reference the file, no need to modify each email! Use standard components within custom components to reduce even more repetition!
Email clients are unpredictable; new bugs crop up all of the time. The email community is great at sharing when these new issues appear and sharing work on how to fix them. However, you then need to apply these updates to all of your messages! You only need to update the component that is affected by the issue. Updating the component file updates all uses of the component throughout your messages. Think of the time saved! This is also useful for updates unrelated to bugs like a rebrand.
Interactive email is often listed as a future trend in email, but we still don’t see many coming into our inboxes. That's because creating these impressive features can be time consuming. Interactive email is often used as a one-off campaign, which may not be worth the time investment, too. However, creating an interactive email component would mean you could make it once then reuse it as you see fit.