Tutorial - Adding Attachments to Emails

Blanchard Exchange doesn't allow to you attach files directly to emails in the traditional sense, but you can use the library feature of Blanchard Exchange to directly link to files in your account library and include those links in your email templates. This has an added benefit over traditional email attachments as it avoids any file-size limitations that may be imposed on the email server.

To begin the process for including a link to a file, start by loading the file directly into your account library. A tutorial on the library feature can be found here.

Enabling direct links to files

After the file has been loaded into your library, you must enable what's referred to as the "direct link" to the file. A direct link is a URL randomly generated by Blanchard Exchange to access a file. No login to Blanchard Exchange is required to access files served up through this method - the URL is the only required information to access the file.

To enable a direct link:

1. Select the Settings tab on the main navigation followed by selecting the Direct Links – Added option.
2. Locate the desired file on the list, select Get Link, and change the Access Link to On.
3. (Optional) If you wish to set an expiration date for when the file should no longer be accessible through the URL, select Empty next to Active Until to enter an expiration date.
4. Copy the URL and paste it somewhere for later use.

Adding a Direct Link to an Email Template

1. Locate the email that needs to be modified (either in your email templates section, or in a project if this is a one-time edit) and edit the email. For more information, see the tutorial found here.
2. Insert the link you previously saved from enabling the direct link to the file (use the link icon on the editor that looks similar to the chain link) - the link can either be inserted directly into the email, or you can highlight text in the message and turn the highlighted text into a clickable link (ex: "click here").
3. The link options dialog that pops up should not need to be adjusted outside of inserting the previously saved link into the URL field.
   
   For details on inserting a link, see the tutorial.