# Create an email

Source: https://kirora.io/docs/guides/messaging/email/create-an-email

Write the subject, preview text and sender, design the body, personalise it and send yourself a test.

An email in Kirora has the same parts wherever you create it: who it's from, a subject, preview text and a body you design. You write it in a campaign's **Email** step, in a journey's send step, or as a template your team and your app reuse.

## Where you create an email

- **Campaigns**: the **Email** step. Start from a saved template with **Choose template**, or build it with **Design from scratch**. The campaign keeps its own copy, so editing it never changes the template. See [Create a campaign](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/campaigns/create-a-campaign#email).
- **Journeys**: a send step set to email. It has the same fields and opens the same designer. See [Set up a send step](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/build-a-journey#set-up-a-send-step).
- **Templates**: the template library, for emails you reuse and for the transactional emails your app sends. See [Templates](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/templates).

## The inbox details

These are what people see before they open the email.

- **From**: choose one of your senders. The field shows where replies go, for example *Replies go to hello@mail.juniperkitchen.com*. A sender whose domain isn't verified is marked *domain not verified* and can't send yet. Admins and the owner can add one with **New sender**. See [Add a sender](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/messaging/email/get-started#add-a-sender).
- **Subject**: required. You can personalise it with merge tags, such as a first name with a fallback. See [Personalise the subject line](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/merge-tags-and-personalisation#personalise-the-subject-line).
- **Preview text**: optional, up to 255 characters, shown after the subject in most inboxes. Most show about the first 90 to 140 characters, so put what matters first. Merge tags work here too.

> **Tip:** Make the subject and preview text work together: the subject says what the email is about, the preview text gives the reason to open it. Don't repeat the subject.

## Design the body

Choose **Open designer** (or **Edit design**) to build the email from blocks, such as headings, text, images, buttons, columns, products and social links. The designer previews desktop and mobile, flags issues, and keeps a locked footer with your postal address and an unsubscribe link. See [Design an email](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/design-an-email).

- **Personalise** with merge tags for contact attributes, event data and your workspace's details, each with a fallback. See [Merge tags and personalisation](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/merge-tags-and-personalisation).
- **Show a block only to some contacts**, such as an offer for one segment. See [Show a block only to some contacts](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/design-an-email#show-a-block-only-to-some-contacts).
- **Reuse shared blocks**, such as a header, across emails. See [Shared blocks](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/templates#shared-blocks).

## Links and tracking

- **Link tags**: in a campaign, choose whether to add UTM tags to links, so your analytics can tell which campaign brought each visit. You can follow the workspace's setting in **Settings › Messaging › Sending rules**, tag the links, or leave them untagged. A tag already on a link is kept, and the unsubscribe link is never tagged.
- **Open and click tracking** records opens and clicks unless admins and the owner turn it off. Contacts in the EEA and the UK are never tracked, so their opens and clicks read zero. See [Open and click tracking](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/contacts/consent-and-unsubscribes#open-and-click-tracking).

## Send yourself a test

Choose **Send test** in the campaign, or in the designer for a journey's email or a template. A test is a real email to you, a test list or a teammate, personalised as a contact you choose. Nothing is saved or counted in reports. Tests need a verified sending domain. See [Send a test email](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/campaigns/test-and-preview#send-a-test-email).

## Before you send

- The **Checklist** on a campaign shows anything that still needs work, with a link to fix it.
- Content warnings, such as an email that's mostly images or uses a link shortener, show under *Worth a look before sending*. They never stop the send. See [Content warnings](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/campaigns/test-and-preview#content-warnings).
- On Starter and above, Kiro AI's [Review before launch](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/kiro-ai/tasks/review-before-launch) can check a saved campaign or journey. It advises and never stops the send.

## Next steps

- [Email statuses and metrics](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/messaging/email/email-statuses)
- [Design an email](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/design-an-email)