# Write and approve email variations (spintax)

Source: https://help.meisa.io/articles/approve-email-variations

Variations (also called spintax) let each recipient get a slightly different version of your email, so a large send looks less like bulk mail. You add alternative wordings for a sentence or a subject, and Meisa picks one at random for each person. Every alternative needs your OK before a broadcast that uses it can go out.

## Add variations

You can add variations in the template editor in two ways.

**Write them yourself**

1. Open the template from **Templates** (or click **Edit template** in a broadcast).
2. Select the words you want to vary and click **Add variations**.
3. Your wording stays as **Your original**. Type an alternative in the "Add your own option" box and press Enter, or click **Suggest more** to get suggestions.
4. Click **Done**.

**Let Meisa write them**

1. In the editor, open **Inbox check**.
2. In the variations section, click **Write variations for this email**.

You can also type variations directly with curly braces and a pipe between options, for example:

`{Hi|Hello|Hey} {{first_name|there}}, {here is what's new|a quick update from us}.`

The first option is always your original and never needs approval.

## Approve your variations

1. Open **Inbox check** in the editor. It shows how many variations need your OK and how many different versions of the email exist.
2. Click **Review variations**. The **Read what they'll get** screen opens.

3. On the left, each sentence with variations shows its options and a count like "2 of 3 approved". For each option you can approve it, **Edit** it, **Write a new one** or **Remove** it. **Add your own version** adds another option.
4. On the right, read whole emails as one person would get them ("Email 3 of 8"). Use **Previous email**, **Next email** or **Show a random mix**, and click **Approve this email** to approve every option in it.
5. When everything is approved, click **All approved, save**.

Keyboard shortcuts: J and K move between options, A approves, E edits, R writes a new one, X removes, Shift+A approves the whole sentence.

## Good to know

- **Approval is tied to the exact wording.** If you edit an approved option, it needs your OK again.
- **Broadcasts check before sending.** If any variation in the broadcast's email (including both versions of a two-template test) is not approved, you see "N variations still need your OK before this goes out." Click **Read them** to open the review.
- **Personalisation still works** inside variations, for example `{Hi|Hey} {{first_name|there}}`.
- **Keep the meaning the same.** Variations should say the same thing in different words, so every reader gets the same offer, date and facts.

## Troubleshooting

- **The broadcast will not send even though you approved everything:** you may have edited the template after approving. Open **Inbox check** and click **Read them again**.
- **"No variations in this email yet."** Select words in the email and click **Add variations**, or use **Write variations for this email**.

## Related articles

- [Build an email template](/articles/build-an-email-template)
- [Send your first broadcast](/articles/send-your-first-broadcast)
- [My emails are going to spam: what to check](/articles/emails-going-to-spam)