The Classic, Plain text and HTML editors

The Classic editor works like a word processor. The Plain text editor sends words only. The HTML editor is for people who write their own code. The top bar, preview, test send and version history are explained in Choose an email editor.

Classic editor #

It always makes a single column. The left panel, Email settings, holds:

Setting	What it does	Default and limits
Use brand kit	Applies your saved colours, font, button style and logo	Shows when a brand kit is saved
In the inbox > Preview text	Line shown after the subject
Layout	Boxed (card on a coloured page), Centered (no card), Letter (plain, like a personal email)
Text	Font, Size (px), Line height, Text colour, Link colour	Size 12 to 24, default 16. Line height 1 to 2.5, default 1.6
Colours	Brand colour, Page background (Boxed only), Card background (Boxed) or Background
Buttons	Button colour, Button text colour, Corner radius (px)	Radius 0 to 40, default 6
Logo	Add a logo / Replace / Remove, Width (px), Alternative text	Width 40 to 600, default 160
Footer > Add a footer	Your own footer. Off: Hive Mail adds its standard footer to marketing emails	When on: Text, Unsubscribe link text, Preferences link text, colours, Alignment, Show business name and address, Show a link to the preferences page
More	Content width (px), Page title, Language code, Direction	Width 320 to 900, default 600

The right panel, Tips, shows the "Check before sending" notes. Click a picture and it becomes Picture, with Alternative text and Width (16 to 1200 px, empty is full width).

1. Click where it says "Start writing your email…" and type. The formatting bar has: paragraph and Heading 1 to Heading 3, Bold, Italic, Underline, Text colour, Link, Button, lists, alignment, Quote, Divider, Image, {{ }} for merge tags, Clear formatting, Undo, Redo and Edit the HTML source.
2. For a link, select text, press Ctrl+K, type the address and click Apply. Allowed: https://, mailto:, tel: or a merge tag such as {{site_url}}.
3. For a button, click Button: selected text becomes a button, otherwise a centred "Click here" is inserted. Or tick Show as a button in the link box.
4. For a picture, click Image and choose one from the media library.
5. Edit the HTML source shows the code; Apply keeps only allowed tags.

Allowed: paragraphs, headings 1 to 3, lists, quotes, dividers, bold, italic, underline, text colour (hex only), links, buttons, pictures and line breaks. Anything else you paste is cleaned away. A Classic email never has columns.

Plain text editor #

It sends a real text/plain email: no design, pictures or buttons. Tabs: Settings, Write, How it reads.

Setting	What it does	Default
Also send a simple HTML version	Adds paragraphs and clickable links for mail apps that prefer HTML	Off
Track clicks on links	Replaces links with tracked addresses. Opens cannot be tracked in plain text	Off
Language code	Language of the email	en
Direction	Left to right or Right to left	Left to right

1. Type in the box "Write your email…". A guide line marks 72 characters.
2. Put each link on its own line. Click {{ }} for merge tags such as {{first_name|there}}.
3. If lines are too long, click Wrap long lines (the number in brackets counts them). Words and addresses are never split.
4. Check How it reads: your text with sample details and the unsubscribe line.

If you leave out the unsubscribe address, Hive Mail adds an unsubscribe line to marketing emails, with the business name and address, as plain text.

HTML editor #

For people who know email HTML (tables, inline styles). Tabs: Settings, Code, Preview. The code box is WordPress's own code editor; the preview updates about a third of a second after you stop typing.

Setting	What it does	Limit
In the inbox > Preview text	A hidden first line in the body	255 characters
Page > Page title	Title of a fragment	150 characters
Language code, Direction	lang and dir of a fragment	en, Left to right
Import an HTML file	Replaces the code with a file	.html or .htm, 500 KB

1. Paste or write your HTML. A full document or a fragment works; a fragment gets a minimal page around it. The code can be up to 512,000 characters.
2. Insert merge tags with {{ }}. They work in text and in link addresses, like href="{{unsubscribe_url}}".
3. Put {{unsubscribe_url}} or {{unsubscribe_link}} in your footer, or Hive Mail adds its own.
4. Check Preview and use Send test.

Hive Mail always removes scripts, iframes, objects, embeds, forms and their fields, buttons, selects, event handlers such as onclick, and javascript: addresses. The head, <style>, tables and Outlook comments stay as written. If your account lacks the unfiltered_html permission (normal below administrator), the code is cut to a safe list of tags and styles when you save, and the editor says so.

Warning: An HTML email can only be switched to Plain text, never back to blocks. Keep a copy of your code.

Next: Merge tags and fallbacks, The email footer, Email tracking.