Knack's Next-Gen Improved Email Formatting
- Dave Parrish
- Apr 5
- 2 min read
I ran into something recently while working with Knack that I think a lot of builders have probably struggled with: email formatting that looks perfect in Knack, but completely different when it arrives in your inbox.
If you’ve ever built a long automated email in Knack, you probably know the drill. You format everything nicely, line spacing looks good, sections are aligned, and then you send a test email… and the spacing is off, lines are grouped weirdly, and now you’re stuck sending test email after test email trying to fix it.
I used to do exactly that. Then I found a much faster way.
The Problem: Hard Returns vs Soft Returns
What this really comes down to is the difference between hard returns and soft returns.
Hard return = Pressing Enter
Soft return = Pressing Shift + Enter
This matters a lot in Knack emails because different email clients interpret spacing differently. So what looks good in the Knack editor might not look the same when the email is actually delivered.
And if you’re working on a long, complicated email with lots of fields, labels, and spacing, fixing this by sending test emails can take forever.
The Trick: Preview Your Email Without Sending It
Here’s the simple workaround I use now.
Instead of constantly sending test emails to yourself, just:
Copy the email content from Knack.
Paste it into a basic text editor (like Notepad or any plain text editor).
Look at the spacing there.
If the spacing looks wrong in the text editor, it’s going to look wrong in the email. Fix the spacing in Knack (usually by adjusting hard vs soft returns), then copy and paste again and check it.
When it looks right in the text editor, it will almost always look right when the email is sent.
This little trick can save you a lot of back-and-forth testing.
Knack Classic vs Next-Gen
One thing I noticed while doing this is that Next-Gen Knack handles email formatting better than Classic. The spacing and formatting tend to behave more predictably, which makes building emails a lot easier.
Still, regardless of whether you’re using Classic or Next-Gen, understanding hard returns vs soft returns and using the copy/paste preview trick will make your life much easier.
Why This Matters
This might sound like a small thing, but if you build Knack apps for clients like I do, you know that email formatting matters. These emails go out to customers, clients, staff, and partners. If the email looks messy or poorly formatted, it reflects on the system you built.
Anything that saves time and makes the output look more professional is worth knowing.
So if you’re building automated emails in Knack, try this workflow:
Use Shift + Enter for soft returns where you want tight spacing.
Use Enter for hard returns where you want larger spacing.
Copy and paste into a text editor to preview formatting.
Only send test emails when you’re confident it’s correct.
That’s it. Simple, but very effective. Thanks!
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