Affiliate disclosure: this guide includes a MailerLite referral link. We may earn a commission if you sign up and purchase a paid plan.
We imported our Newsletter template into MailerLite’s custom HTML editor on September 23, 2026 and checked its desktop and mobile previews. This walkthrough follows that import. Testing in real email clients is still pending.
MailerLite’s custom HTML editor requires a paid plan after the trial. Check the current plan details before choosing it for your workflow.
1. Edit and download your newsletter
Open the Newsletter template, choose Open in HTML viewer, and replace the sample brand, stories and links. Prefer a shorter announcement? Browse the other marketing email templates.
Check a narrow preview as well as the full width. Replace every example.com URL with your own destination. If you add images, host them at full HTTPS URLs; a path on your computer will not work in a reader’s inbox.
Open Download and choose HTML to save your edits. The library’s separate plain-text download does not update when you edit the HTML.
2. Connect the footer to MailerLite
Our marketing templates use two placeholders. Replace {{company_address}} with your business’s mailing address. Replace {{unsubscribe_url}} in the link’s href with MailerLite’s {$unsubscribe} variable.
For example, the footer can look like this once you supply your business details:
<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:12px;
line-height:20px; color:#444;">
Your business name · Your business mailing address<br>
<a href="{$unsubscribe}" style="color:#444;">
Unsubscribe from these emails
</a>
</p>The viewer displays the footer’s layout; it does not resolve MailerLite variables. Keep the unsubscribe link visible. MailerLite documents the variable in its unsubscribe-link guide.
3. Import the HTML
- In MailerLite, start a Regular campaign.
- In the email design step, choose Start from scratch, then Custom HTML editor.
- Choose Import HTML code. For the ZIP route we tested, name your edited file
index.html, put it directly inside a ZIP archive, and choose Upload your ZIP. - Wait for Import completed!, then inspect the imported code and preview.
MailerLite also documents paste and URL import. Its interface may change; this guide uses the ZIP import available in our account. Our test template had no remote images or additional asset files.
The importer adjusted the source in our test. Review the result, including the footer and any email-specific markup; do not assume the saved HTML is byte-for-byte identical to your file.
4. Check the preview and campaign details
Choose Preview and test → Preview mode. Switch between desktop and mobile, scroll to the bottom, and check wrapping, padding and links. Choose Done editing to return to campaign setup.
Use a clear subject and sender identity, check the preview text, and review the recipients. Keep the campaign as a draft until your sending account and domain are ready. Review the plain-text version too; it should match your edited message and include an unsubscribe link.
5. Send a test before the campaign
Use Preview and test → Send a test email to send a copy to an inbox you control. Open it in the clients your audience uses, including a phone and dark mode. Check readability, images and every destination.
A test email does not exercise all personalization or unsubscribe behavior. MailerLite’s variable documentation explains that some variables need a real campaign sent to a test subscriber. Keep that test audience separate from your mailing list.
Only send the campaign after those checks and a review of the intended recipients. Our email preview guide explains why a browser preview cannot establish Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail compatibility.