Reference
Outbound email

The outbound email node sends a single email with optional attachments. There are outcomes for 'sent' and optionally 'rejected', allowing you to continue an experience even if there is a sending failure or bounce. You can learn more about this in the outcomes section below.

Configuring the action

Sender Details

• Sender name: The name that appears to recipients, identifying the sender of the message.
• From address: The email address that appears as the sender when recipients receive the email. The 'From address' must be a verified email address, or from a verified domain.

Contact Support to set up a custom From address.

Email details

• Recipient: The individual who will receive the email. Merge fields may be referenced here.
• Email subject: A brief description or summary that conveys the purpose or content of the email to the recipient. Merge fields may be referenced here.

Attachments

Uploading attachments

Use the attachments tab to manage attachments for an outbound email. This tab allows you to upload files from your local machine as attachments, and allows you to view (download) existing attachments; as well as delete them.

You can upload as many attachments as you like, however, the email design and attachment size combined must be less than 10MB to send successfully. As email size can change depending on merge fields used, you must take this into account when designing an email with attachments.

We check attachments before uploading successfully. The cases where a file will not be uploaded successfully include:

• File size too large. You must upload files less than 10MB.
• File type not supported. We support TXT, HTML, ICS, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebM, MP4, MPEG, PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, and XLSX.
• File name taken. Please rename your file and upload again, or delete the existing file.
• Server unavailable. Please contact support.

Attachment indicator

On the flow canvas, outbound email nodes that have attachments are denoted by a circular blue paperclip badge on the node icon:

In the case that you finish designing your flow that has outbound email nodes with attachments, try to activate the flow, and are presented with this message:

• The following attachments are unavailable and can't be accessed...

You will need to either delete the listed attachments, or upload them again to proceed and activate the flow.

Designing email

Design your email choosing from two options. Email message bodies are limited to a maximum of 255KB, and will be rejected if the limit is exceeded.

Build from scratch

Use the email builder to design your email. This tool allows you to edit, drag, and drop content into the email canvas. The design panel includes sections for Content, Blocks, Body, and Images. You can move items around by hovering over them and using the pan icon, and you can use the redo/undo buttons to adjust your design. Once the email is built to your satisfaction, click the Save icon.

Use HTML code

If you prefer to use custom HTML code, select the HTML option and paste your code into the text field. You can preview the template before saving the node.

Export HTML

After designing an email, the HTML can be exported (downloaded) easily by clicking the 'Export HTML' button:

Note that using custom HTML may cause visual discrepancies across different email clients. Pendula recommends using the email builder for consistent visual results.

For a detailed guide on designing emails, see Designing emails for Outbound Email node.

Outcomes

The outbound email node can send recipients down different flow paths based on email delivery; we call these outcomes, and you can manage these on the Outcomes tab.

Sent

The outbound email node waits for failures for 10 minutes before a 'sent' outcome is determined. This wait time is configurable, and exists to cater for the inconsistencies in email client failure / delivery reporting.

If the email is opened or a link within is clicked by a recipient, a 'sent' outcome is determined immediately. 

The experience will continue on this path if no failure notifications are received within the default wait time of 10 minutes, or immediately if the email is opened or a link is clicked. An opened or clicked email event is confirmation that the email was sent successfully.

Wait time configuration for sent path

This configurable wait time exists to monitor for any sending failures that may occur after the email has been sent to a carrier for delivery. You can change the wait time by clicking on the pencil icon. When edited, the 'Rejected' wait time will be synced too.

For example, if no sending failures occur within the wait time, the experience will continue down the 'Sent' path. If the email is opened or a link is clicked during this wait time, the experience will continue the experience down the 'Sent path'.

Configuring the wait frame for Soft Bounces

Soft bounces occur when an email cannot be delivered temporarily, often due to a full inbox or server issues. To cater for soft bounces, we recommend setting the wait time to 960 minutes (16 hours) within Pendula. This gives the carrier enough time to try sending the email again after a soft bounce, and progress an experience based on the final delivery status (Sent or Rejected). Keep in mind that if a recipient opens the email or clicks a link, the process advances along the 'Sent' path immediately.

Rejected path

The experience will either end or continue on this path (depending on its toggle settings) if a sending failure has occurred within the default wait time of 10 minutes.

If a sending failure occurs, a 'rejected' outcome is determined, and you can choose to continue the experience down the 'rejected' path; if configured.

When toggled off, the experience will end and exit the flow.

When toggled on, the Rejected path will be visible on the canvas, where you can further configure the experience on this path. You can refer to Merge fields section below to personalise experiences continuing on this path.

Wait time configuration for reject path

This configurable wait time exists to monitor for any sending failures that may occur after the email has been sent to a carrier for delivery. You can change the wait time by clicking on the pencil icon. When edited, the 'Sent' wait time will be synced too.

For example, if a sending failure occurs within the default 10 minute wait time, the experience will continue down the 'Rejected' path.

Merge field explorer

In later nodes, when viewing the available merge fields for the Conversation node in merge field explorer you can expect to see the below. 

Only one outcomeReason will be displayed. For example, if your email continues on the 'Sent' path, you will see either "opened" or "success-timeout", not a combination of these outcomes.