On this page: Learn how to insert reusable visual fragments into your emails, customize their editable fields, and break or keep their inheritance with the original fragment.
A fragment is a reusable component that can be referenced in one or more emails across Journey Optimizer campaigns, journeys or content template. This functionality allows to prebuilt multiple custom content blocks that can be used by marketing users to quickly assemble email contents in an improved design process. Learn how to create and manage fragments.
➡️ Learn how to manage, author and use fragments in this video
Use a fragment use-fragment
To use a fragment into an email, follow the steps below.
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Open any email or template content using the Email Designer.
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Select the Fragments icon from the left rail.
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The list of all visual fragments created on the current sandbox is displayed. They are sorted by creation date: recently added visual fragments are shown first in the list. You can:
- Search for a specific fragment by starting typing its label.
- Sort fragments in ascending or descending order.
- Change the way the fragments are displayed (cards or list view).
- Refresh the list.
note NOTE If some fragments were modified or added while you are editing your content, the list will be updated with the latest changes. -
Drag and drop any fragment from the list into the area where you want to insert it.
note caution CAUTION You can add any Draft or Live fragment to your content. However, you won’t be able to activate your journey or campaign if a fragment with the Draft status is being used in it. At journey or campaign publication, draft fragments will show an error and you’ll need to approve them to be able to publish. -
Like any other component, you can move the fragment around in your content.
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Select the fragment to display the corresponding pane on the right. From there, you can delete the fragment from your content, or duplicate it. You can also perform these actions directly from the contextual menu that displays on top of the fragment.
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From the Settings tab, you can:
- Choose the devices you want the fragment to be displayed on.
- Open the fragment in a new tab and edit it if needed. Learn more
- Explore references. Learn more
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If needed, you can break the inheritance with the original fragment. Learn more
Once unlocked, you can further customize your fragment as any other component and use the Styles tab.
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Add as many fragments as you want and Save your changes.
Manage conditional content in fragments fragment-dynamic-content
When working with visual fragments that contain conditional content, follow these guidelines. Learn more about dynamic content
- Loss of conditional content variant mappings
- Compatibility mode warnings in the Email Designer
- Inconsistent email rendering
Structure your email properly: When using multiple fragments with conditional content, add each fragment directly into its own structure block at the email level. Avoid nesting fragments with conditional content inside other unlocked fragments that also contain conditional content.
Plan ahead: Before adding fragments to your email, identify which ones contain conditional content and plan your layout accordingly. This helps prevent configuration issues and ensures a clean structure from the start.
Design reusable fragments carefully: When creating fragments that will include conditional content, consider how they will be used. If a fragment needs to be nested within other fragments, avoid adding conditional content to both the parent and child fragments.
Troubleshooting: If you experience lost conditional content variant mappings or compatibility mode warnings, follow the steps below.
- Check your email structure for nested fragments containing conditional content
- Restructure by moving each fragment with conditional content into its own structure block at the email level
- Save and verify that conditional content variants are properly restored
Use implicit variables implicit-variables-in-fragments
The implicit variables enhance the existing fragment functionality to improve efficiency for content reusability & scripting use cases. Fragments can use input variables and create output variables usable in campaign and journey content.
Learn how to use implicit variables in this section.
Customize editable fields customize-fields
If certain portions of the selected fragment have been made editable, you can override their default value after adding the fragment into your content. Learn how to make a fragment customizable
To customize editable fields in a fragment used in an email, follow these steps.
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Add a customizable fragment to your email content, and select it to open the Fragment pane on the right-hand side.
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All editable fields in the fragment are displayed in the Settings tab, under the fragment properties.
In the example below, the image source and alt text can be edited, as well as the “Title”/“Subtitle” fields and the “More info” button URL.
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Hover over any editable field in the central canvas. The field highlights in green and a pencil icon appears when clicking on the text it contains.
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Edit the field text inline directly on the central Email Designer canvas.
note NOTE To easily locate the editable fields in your content, you can also select them from the right-hand pane, but you can only edit these fields in the central canvas. -
For Text, Button, and Html components, the Email Designer toolbar also gives access to rich-text formatting options — bold, italic, hyperlinks, and more.
note tip TIP Fragments created before the rich-text editing capability was introduced have editable fields set to text-only mode by default. To enable full formatting options, go to the fragment editor using the Open fragment button, click Enable to unlock rich-text mode and Save the fragment. Learn more 
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You can click Simulate content to see how the editable content and styling render. Learn more on previewing content
Break inheritance break-inheritance
When you edit a visual fragment, the changes are synchronized. They are automatically propagated to all draft or live journeys/campaigns and content templates containing that fragment.
When added to an email or a content template, fragments are synchronized by default. However, you can break the inheritance from the original fragment. In that case, the content of the fragment is copied into the current design, and the changes are not synchronized anymore.
To break inheritance, follow the steps below:
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Select the fragment.
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Click the unlock icon from the contextual toolbar.
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That fragment becomes a standalone element that is not linked anymore to the original fragment. Edit it as any other content component in your content. Learn more
Locked fragments locked-fragments
If the fragment was locked by its author, the unlock icon is greyed out and cannot be used to break inheritance.
Locked fragments remain synchronized everywhere they appear, preventing local edits that could break brand standards or compliance requirements.
Learn how to lock a fragment in this section.