ContentAreaByName

by | Apr 21, 2018 | Book |

ContentAreaByName

This function returns the content stored in the specified Content Area and optionally wraps the content in an Impression Region.

Arguments

ContentAreaByName(1,2,3,4,5)

Ordinal Type Required Description
1 String True The full path of the Content Area to return
2 String False Name of the Impression Region to associate with this Content Area
3 Boolean False Return an error if the Content Area cannot be found
4 String False Default content if an error occurs retrieving the Content Area specified in Ordinal 1
5 Number False Numeric status code resulting from the retrieve. A value of 0 indicates the retrieve was successful, while -1 indicates that the content was not found or empty.

NOTE: This function is only for use with Classic Content areas. It does not retrieve content stored in Content Builder. To retrieve content from Content Builder by name, use the ContentBlockByName function.

Example 1

A Content Area named LoyaltyGreeting in the my contents folder contains the following code:

%%[

var @firstName
set @firstName = properCase(AttributeValue("FirstName"))

]%%
Hello, %%=v(@firstName)=%%!

The Content Area can be referenced as:

%%[

var @contentAreaPath
set @contentAreaPath = "my contents\LoyaltyGreeting"

]%%
%%=ContentAreaByName(@contentAreaPath)=%%

Output

Hello, Curt!

Example 2

A Content Area named LoyaltyGreeting in the my contents folder contains the following code:

%%[

var @firstName
set @firstName = properCase(AttributeValue("FirstName"))

]%%
Hello, %%=v(@firstName)=%%!

In the scenario where the Content Area does not exist, fallback content is handled with the value of the fourth argument, or by conditionally showing content based on the value of the @retrieveStatus variable:

%%[

var @contentAreaPath, @content, @retrieveStatus
set @contentAreaPath = "my contents\LoyaltyGreeting_Oops"  /* does not exist */
set @content = ContentAreaByName(@contentAreaPath, "Greeting", 0, "Hello!", @retrieveStatus)

output(concat(@content))

if @retrieveStatus < 0 then
  output(concat('<br><br><a href="https://limedash.com/join">Join Now</a> &raquo;'))
endif

]%%

Output

Hello!

<a href="https://limedash.com/join">Join Now</a> &raquo;