Format an Email with the HTML Toggle

Switch an email body from Plain Text to HTML to add bold, links, headings, lists, a divider, and a call-to-action button — on marketing campaigns, follow-up sequences, and portal messages.

Updated September 19, 2026

Every email body you write in OpsVara starts as Plain Text: what you type is what the customer reads, line breaks included. Switch the body to HTML and a toolbar appears for bold, italic, links, headings, bulleted and numbered lists, a divider, and a call-to-action button. You still write in the same box — the toolbar inserts small marks around your text, and Preview shows how the email will read.

Where the toggle appears

Screen	Field	Notes
Sales and BillingCampaigns → a Marketing campaign → The Email	Email	Marketing campaigns only. Portal invite and autopay setup campaigns keep their plain-text message box.
SettingsAutomationsFollow-Up Sequences → Configure	Email body, and Email body when viewed on quote follow-ups	One setting per step covers both bodies. Text message steps stay plain text.
InboxSend Message	Body	The portal message and the email both use the formatting.

Follow-up sequences are part of the Sales Pipeline add-on

The sequence editor is only available with Sales Pipeline. The campaign and Inbox editors are on every plan.

The message templates under SettingsCustomer Notifications do not have the toggle; those intros are always plain text.

Format an email

Switch the body to HTML
Above the body, click the switch so it reads HTML instead of Plain Text. The field label changes to match — Email (HTML) on a campaign, Body (HTML) in the Inbox — and the toolbar appears. Anything already typed stays as it is.
Use the toolbar, or type the marks
Select a word and click Bold or Italic. Click Link with text selected and that text becomes the label; the cursor lands after https://, ready for the address. Bulleted list, Numbered list, and Heading mark every line your selection touches. Divider and Button insert on their own line. Every control writes ordinary characters, listed below, so you can also type them yourself.
Insert customer fields the same way as before
The chips under the box still say Click a field to insert it at the cursor. Fields work in both modes. A customer's name is always shown exactly as it was entered — it cannot pick up formatting, even if it contains an asterisk or a bracket.
Check the preview
Click Preview above the box. This is the email as the customer reads it, with sample values in place of the fields. Click Write to keep editing.
Send yourself a test
On a campaign, Send Me A Test delivers the formatted email to your inbox with a [TEST] banner. In the sequence editor, Send me a test does the same for one step. Open it in the mail app your customers use most — desktop Outlook in particular lays out lists and buttons differently from Gmail.

The marks

These are what the toolbar writes. The line under the box repeats them while you are in HTML mode.

To get	Type	Notes
Bold	`bold`
Italic	`italic` or `_italic_`	Underscores inside a word, as in `pool_pump_v2`, are left alone.
A link	`[label](https://example.com)`	The address must start with `https://`, `http://`, `mailto:`, or `tel:`.
A heading	`# Heading`	One to three `#` for three sizes. The space after `#` is optional.
A bulleted list	`- item` on each line	`*`, `+`, and `•` also work.
A numbered list	`1. item` on each line	The numbers you type are kept, so a list can start at 3.
A divider	`---` on its own line
A button	`[[Button text](https://example.com)]` on its own line	Renders as a teal button, the same style as the buttons in your other customer emails.
A new paragraph	A blank line
A line break	Press Enter once	"Thanks," and your name on separate lines stay on separate lines.
A literal mark	`\*`	A backslash makes the next mark character show as typed.

A mark with no closing partner is shown as typed: 5 * 3 * 2 stays arithmetic, and a lone ** at the end of a sentence is just two asterisks.

Links with the wrong kind of address are dropped

javascript: and data: addresses are never sent as links, and neither is a bare example.com without https://. The customer sees words, never a link. The preview shows you the same thing, so a link that is blue in the preview is a link in the email.

Switching back to Plain Text

Turn the switch off and the body is sent exactly as typed — asterisks, brackets and all. If the text still contains marks, the editor shows Formatting marks will be sent as typed under the box until you remove them or switch HTML back on.

A campaign keeps the setting it was built with, so turning HTML on for a new campaign does not touch one already built or scheduled. A sequence step is different: each email reads the step as it is saved at that moment, so saving a step with HTML on formats the next send for every quote or lead already enrolled.

What the customer sees

Email — the formatted body inside your usual branded email. Buttons and links use the same teal as the rest of the message. Marketing emails still carry their unsubscribe link, and sequence emails still come from the rep.
Customer portal (web) — a portal message published from the Inbox is formatted on the customer's Messages page as well as in the email.
Customer portal (mobile app) — the app shows the words of a portal message without the formatting for now.
Text messages — never formatted. A sequence text step sends its own text, and if a text cannot go out the email body is sent instead, formatted as you set it.

Not supported yet

Images, tables, and nested lists. Pasted HTML tags are shown as text rather than interpreted.

Frequently asked questions

Can I paste HTML from another tool?

No. Tags you paste, like <b> or <a href>, are sent as the characters you typed. Use the toolbar or type the marks in the table below instead.

Can I add an image?

Not yet. HTML mode covers text formatting, links, lists, a divider, and one or more buttons.

Why does my link show as plain text?

The address must start with https://, http://, mailto:, or tel:, with no spaces. Anything else is sent as words, never as a link.

I switched back to Plain Text and my email is full of asterisks and brackets.

That is expected — Plain Text sends the body exactly as typed. Switch HTML back on, or delete the marks.

Does switching to HTML change emails that are already scheduled?

A campaign keeps the setting it was built with. A sequence step uses whatever is saved when each email goes out, so switching a step applies to the next send for everyone enrolled.

Where does the customer see the formatting?

In the email, and on the Messages page of the web customer portal. The mobile app shows the words of a portal message without the formatting for now.