Laravel Mail Editor Laravel Package

Getting Started

Start by installing the package via Composer and running the install command:

composer require qoraiche/laravel-mail-editor
php artisan laravel-mail-editor:install

This publishes the config (config/maileclipse.php) and sets up routes at /maileclipse (configurable). First use case: create a new mailable in your app, then visit /maileclipse in your browser to preview, edit, and test it with live data — ideal for frontend developers or Laravel beginners iterating on email templates without touching CLI.

Implementation Patterns

• Development-only Usage: Restrict access to local/dev environments in routes/maileclipse.php (auto-published), e.g., wrap routes in App::environment('local').
• Template Customization: Use the built-in WYSIWYG editor to modify HTML templates or preview Markdown versions; edits persist in the actual mailable’s Blade view files.
• Factory Integration: Enable use_factories in config/maileclipse.php to auto-populate mailable properties using models and factories — critical for realistic testing with relationships loaded per relations.relation_depth.
• Preview Workflow: Navigate to /maileclipse/mailables, select a mailable, adjust data fields (using Faker placeholders), then “Send Test” to a real email address for final validation.

Gotchas and Tips

• Config Versioning: Upgrading to v4.0.2+ requires explicitly adding 'display_as_subject' => true to config/maileclipse.php if you want subjects shown instead of class names — otherwise, the old behavior persists silently.
• Faker Pitfalls: Ensure custom mailable properties match expected Faker types (e.g., randomElement() must receive arrays) — v3.5.1 fixed JS errors from malformed Faker data.
• Environment Gatekeeping: The UI is not secured by default — always manually restrict routes in routes/maileclipse.php (not via middleware in web.php) to avoid accidental public exposure.
• Relation Loading: If mailables depend on Eloquent relations, configure relations.relation_depth in config/maileclipse.php (max 5). Older configs using relation_depth top-level key must be migrated to the nested relations structure.
• Debugging Views: When edits in the UI don’t reflect in emails, verify you’re saving to the correct view file (the package writes directly to resources/views/vendor/maileclipse/... or your custom mailable’s Blade template).