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Define Editing Restrictions in Modules

Control how content can be changed in modules to stay on brand and protect layout consistency.

Updated over a week ago

Overview

Use editing restrictions to limit how modules can be customized. This ensures that your emails stay aligned with brand standards. These restrictions are set per module and managed from the module editing screen.

💡 Need help setting up modules? Check out:

Available Editing Restrictions

Element Lock Options

Set restrictions on individual content blocks (like images or text), entire rows, or both.

Click on a content element and choose one of the following Element Lock settings:

  • Unlocked – fully editable

  • Lock All – prevents all edits

  • Hide All – hides all components

  • Locked (Text Editable) – editing is locked, but text remains editable

Element lock with unlocked, lock all, hide all, and locked text editable selections displaying

Custom Restrictions

Click the gear icon beside the Element Lock to enable Custom Restrictions. This gives you control over editing options like font type, text color, alignment, and more.

Each setting offers these permissions:

  • Inherit – follows the parent object’s settings

  • Editable – can be changed by email builders

  • Locked – not editable

  • Hidden – locked and hidden from view

View of individually locked settings for text attributes section after custom restrictions is applied


Image Size Restrictions

Add an image to your module. Scroll to the bottom of the image attribute section. You can:

  • Set exact dimensions

  • Set minimum dimensions


Text Character Limit

Add a text block to your module. Scroll to the bottom of the text attribute section. Set a maximum character count for the text field.

Text box with max character restriction added of 55 characters


Alternate Text Settings

Under the Optimize tab, set up how the module handles missing alternate text:

  • Show as a Warning

  • Mark as Ignored

  • Show as an Error

This affects the module’s accessibility impact score (High, Medium, or None).

Alternate text editor restriction section displaying changes that can change the optimize severity

Override Editor Restrictions

Users with the "Bypass Editor Restrictions" permission can override locked module settings while editing the asset.

To override restrictions during asset editing:

  1. Click on a module with restrictions in the asset editor.

  2. Toggle the Restriction switch to “On” to unlock editing capabilities.

You can control whether this switch is on or off by default in the self-service preferences page.

Text attributes section with override restrictions toggled off


Finalizing Changes

When all changes and restrictions are applied, click the Actions menu and press"Publish" in the module builder to make the module available for use.

This step ensures that your restrictions are saved and the module is ready for team use.

Actions menu and unpublished changes section displaying in the module builder in the top right corner

Troubleshooting

  • Important: The “Merge out of date modules” feature requires at least one locked element to function.

  • If a module is not locked, manual changes will not be overwritten during merging.

  • Best practice: Lock layout sections while keeping text editable. This allows updates to formatting without blocking content changes.


Need more help? Contact support via live chat using the chat bubble in the bottom right corner or email support@knak.com.

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