You know the three ways Bento sends emails (broadcasts, sequences, flows). Now let's actually create some.
This lesson is about getting familiar with Bento's email editors, learning which one to reach for, and setting up the shells we'll use for targeting and scheduling practice in the next couple lessons.
For the full reference on email creation, see the Emails and Email Templates pages in the Bento docs.
The Three Editors
When you create or edit an email in Bento, you choose between three editors:
Stripo (Drag-and-Drop Visual Editor)
Stripo is a full visual email builder.
Drag in content blocks, style them, rearrange, preview on mobile, all without touching HTML.
This is what I use for my branded, designed newsletters.
Anything where the layout and visual polish matter, I build in Stripo.
Shoji (Plain Text Editor)
Shoji gives you a clean, minimal editor for simple text emails.
No layout blocks, no design complexity.
Just text, links, and basic formatting.
Jesse (Bento's founder) uses Shoji for almost everything.
I reach for it when I want the email to feel like a personal message from a friend rather than a branded newsletter.
Casual updates, quick follow-ups, personal-feeling sales emails.
Raw (HTML Editor)
The Raw editor is exactly what it sounds like: you write (or paste) your own HTML.
Use this when you need full control over every element, or when you're importing a template from an external email builder.
Most people won't need this day-to-day.
Which One Should I Use?
- Designed newsletter / visual layout matters → Stripo
- Personal-feeling message / simplicity → Shoji
- Custom HTML from an external tool → Raw
Try creating an email in both Stripo and Shoji to find your preference.
Stripo Power Features
Stripo has a few features worth knowing about early.
They'll save you real time once you're sending regularly.
Templates
You can save an entire email design as a reusable template.
Build your branded layout once – header, footer, colors, fonts, column structure – and start from that template every time instead of rebuilding from scratch.
I have go-to templates for things like:
- Weekly newsletter
- Student updates
- Promo emails
Modules
Modules are smaller than templates.
A module is a single reusable block: a specific CTA section, a testimonial block, a header design, a sign-off block.
Build a module once, save it, and drop it into any email going forward.
I use modules for blocks I reuse across different email types: my standard sign-off block, a specific promo banner format, embedded countdown timer blocks, etc.
Mobile Preview
Stripo has a mobile preview mode so you can see how your email renders on a phone while you're building it.
Toggle this periodically while designing, especially if you're working with columns or images.
What looks great on desktop can look terrible on mobile.
Test Emails
You can send yourself a test email directly from the editor.
Do this before every real send.
It's the fastest way to catch formatting issues, broken links, and rendering quirks that you won't notice in the preview alone.
My Email-Testing SOP
Quick personal workflow I do before sending any email:
- Proofread it
- Check that personalization tokens render correctly, especially the defaults for subscribers who don't have a first name set, etc.
- Make sure all images are appropriately resized and compressed with tinypng.com
- Ensure the footer opt out is present and correct
- Send a copy to your email to double check layout on…
- Web
- and Mobile (look on actual phone)
- Check the subject line and preview text
- Do a final proofread in the copy sent to your email
- Check all links in the copy sent to your email
- Make sure the message doesn’t get cut off if using stripo
- Test the unsubscribe link
- Make sure the timing / delay / batching is correct
- Check the sender
- Schedule it
That SOP has caught embarrassing mistakes more times than I'd like to admit, and most of the steps are there because of a mistake I accidentally sent out to my entire list :)
Action Steps
Now let's create the email shells we'll use for practice in the upcoming lessons.
1 - Create a broadcast shell in Stripo
Go to Broadcasts and create a new broadcast.
Name it something like "Bento Training - Test Broadcast" so it's easy to find later.
Choose Stripo as the editor.
Don't worry about the content yet. Explore the editor, drag a few blocks around, type some jibberish as a placeholder, and save it as a draft.
2 - Save a Stripo template
While you're in the Stripo editor for your broadcast, click the Library tab at the top to view all the built-in templates.
Choose one you like, then in the Stripo editor, make a couple quick changes to it. Maybe change the background color in the Stripo "Appearance" tab, or swap the logo for yours.
Then, back in that Library tab at the top, go to "Saved Layouts" and click the "Save Layout" button to save it for later re-use!
Call it something like "Bento Training - Tmp Layout"
Now if you save your in-progress broadcast shell, exit the editor, and then go to the "Layouts" tab in the Bento sidebar under "Broadcasts," you'll see it there.
Moving forward, you could easily load it up in a new broadcast via that "Saved Layouts" tab within the Stripo editor.
3 - Save a Stripo module
Back in that same broadcast, take one specific block from your email – your header, or a CTA button section – and save it as a module.
Templates save the whole email; modules save individual blocks you can drop into any future email regardless of which template you started from.
Put the word "tmp" in the name so you remember to delete it later.
4 - Create a sequence with one email shell
Go to Sequences and create a new sequence called:
"Bento Training - Example SaaS Free Plan Upgrade Sequence"
Add one email to it (just an empty shell for now).
You can use Shoji for this one.
We'll use this sequence later as a playground for two things:
- Building Jesse's favorite Flow-Driven Sequence Setup (where flows manage sequences)
- Having an AI agent populate it via MCP in the Build A Sequence With Claude lesson
5 - Send yourself a test email
Go back to your broadcast, write a quick test message (even just "Hello, this is a test"), and send yourself a test email from the editor.
Open it on your desktop and your phone. Get a feel for the workflow.
When To Move On
- You've explored both the Stripo and Shoji editors
- You have a saved broadcast draft ("Bento Training - Test Broadcast")
- You've saved at least one Stripo template and one Stripo module
- You have a sequence called "Bento Training - Example SaaS Free Plan Upgrade Sequence" with one email shell in it
- You've sent yourself at least one test email