Writing and sending email
Write an email from any record, add a template, a field, photos or a file, send it now or later, undo it, and read its status in the Sent folder.
On this page
- Where do I start an email?
- How is the composer laid out?
- How do drafts work?
- How do fields and fallbacks work?
- How do files and photos attach?
- What happens when I send a quote or an invoice?
- What does Combdex check before it sends?
- How do I send later?
- Where are the emails I sent?
- What does the status mark mean?
- Which address does the email come from?
- What Combdex does not do yet
- Questions people ask
Every email in Combdex is written in one composer, on web and on the phone. On web it opens at the bottom right of the page, over the record, so the record stays readable behind it. The email is logged on each record it is about, and every sent email is in Inbox, Sent.
Available on web and the mobile app.
Where do I start an email?
| Record | Where to press |
|---|---|
| Contact, company or lead | Email in the header |
| Project or session | Email in the header, or Write email in the Email section |
| Quote or invoice | Send email on a published quote or invoice |
One email is open at a time. If you start a second email, Combdex asks which one to keep: press Keep the open email or Start new email. The open email stays a draft on its record. A quote or an invoice has one draft email per user: Send email opens your draft when one exists.
How is the composer laid out?
Top to bottom: To (with Cc and Bcc folded under it), From, Subject, the message, your signature as it sends, the files, and Logged on, the records the email is filed on. Under it, one bar of tools and Send at the right.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Attach | Photos from the project or session of the email, or a file from your computer |
| Template | The company's templates, the open record's kind first |
| Insert | A published quote or invoice of the contact or project as its link card, or a field |
| Format | Bold, italic, lists and links |
| Dex | Say what the email must say, and Dex writes or rewrites the message. Dex never sends. |
| More | Send later, Open in mail app and Delete draft |
On web, the composer has three views: docked at the bottom right, enlarged for a long message, and folded to one bar with the subject. On a narrow screen it uses the full width.
How do drafts work?
The email saves itself as you write, and an email you did not change saves no draft. Close the composer at any time: the draft stays on its records. Open the record again and its Email section lists the draft. Press Continue to open it. To delete a draft, point at its row and press Delete draft.
How do fields and fallbacks work?
Type {{ or / in the message, or choose Field from Insert, to add a field such as the contact's first name. A field shows as a chip with the value from the record, so you read the real email. A money field shows Hidden to a user who cannot see money.
- Click the chip to open it.
- Type a Fallback. It prints when the record has no value.
- Save. The chip shows the field and its fallback.
A field with no value and no fallback shows in red. The notice above Send names each one, and Send waits until you add a value, set a fallback or remove the field.
How do files and photos attach?
Each file shows as a chip with its name and size. Press the cross on a chip to remove it. One email holds at most 20 files and 25 MB in total, a PDF included.
What happens when I send a quote or an invoice?
The email carries a button to the link, for example View and pay invoice or Review and sign quote. The button is always in a quote or invoice email, so it has no remove control. No PDF is attached by default: the contact downloads it from the link, which always shows the current version. To attach the PDF to one email, press Attach the PDF under the files. When the email goes, the quote or invoice is marked as sent.
A draft, or an expired, declined or accepted quote, cannot be sent: Send email is not offered. See Sending, acceptance and signature and Sending and reminders.
What does Combdex check before it sends?
Two things, and neither stops you. If the message says a file is attached and no file is attached, Combdex asks Send this email? and names the problem. If the subject is empty, it asks Send without a subject?. Press Send to go on, or Cancel to fix it.
After Send, the bar says Sent. with Undo for 10 seconds. After that, the bar says the email is sent.
How do I send later?
Open More and choose Send later. Pick one of these:
- Tomorrow at 8:00 AM
- Tomorrow at 1:00 PM
- Monday at 8:00 AM, with the date of the next Monday
- Custom: a date and a time, up to 90 days ahead.
Press Schedule. All times are in the company's time zone. A scheduled email shows Scheduled with its time. It cannot change while it waits: press Cancel schedule, edit the draft, then schedule it again.
Where are the emails I sent?
Open Inbox, then Sent. The list reads like mail, newest first, with the open email in the reading pane. On a sent email, Send again starts a new draft to the same people, and Forward starts one with an empty To. The email also shows in the Email section of each contact, company, lead, project, session, quote and invoice it is logged on, and on the contact's Activity.
On a quote or an invoice, the sent email's row offers Add a task to follow up: in 3 days, in 1 week, or a day you pick. The task is assigned to you and linked to the quote or invoice, its contact and the email.
What does the status mark mean?
| Mark | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Not sent. You can change it. |
| Scheduled | Waits for its time. Point at it to read the time. |
| Sent | The email provider accepted the email. |
| Delivered | The contact's mail server accepted the email. |
| Opened | The contact opened it. Point at it to read the first open. |
| Bounced | The address refused the email. Point at it to read the reason. |
| Marked as spam | The contact marked the email as spam. |
| Failed | The email did not go. Point at it to read the reason, correct it and send again. |
A second mark counts the clicks on links in the email. A mail program that blocks images reports no open, so an email with no Opened mark can still be read.
Which address does the email come from?
The From line shows the sender. The sender name is the company name. Until the company verifies its own domain, email goes from the shared Combdex address. See Send from your own domain. Templates and your signature are in Email templates and signature.
What Combdex does not do yet
- Replies do not come back into Combdex by default. They go to the reply address of the company, and you read them in your own mailbox.
- Combdex does not send from your own Gmail or Outlook mailbox, so a sent email is not in that mailbox's Sent folder.
- Open in mail app hands the words to your own mail program, which then sends it outside Combdex: no status mark and no Logged on.
Questions people ask
Can I send email from the mobile app?
Yes. The phone has the same composer as web, with To, Subject, the message, your signature and files. An email written with no signal shows Sends when online and goes when the phone reconnects.
Where do replies go?
To the reply address of your company: the sender you pick, else the company email on the company profile, else your own sign-in email. Replies do not come back into Combdex yet.
Who can read an email I send?
You, and users who hold the permission See calls, texts and email. Super admins and Admins hold it by default. Access to the contact, or a shared record, does not open the email.
Can I take an email back?
Yes, for 10 seconds. After Send, the bar says Sent and offers Undo. Press Undo and the email returns to the composer as a draft.
Why is Send later off?
The email carries a quote or an invoice. An email of that kind goes now. Send later is available for every other email.