Modula
Modula documentation
The tools
AutoFetch
AutoFetch fills the fields of your SmartTexts and SmartMails with information read from your open pages: a customer's name in your CRM, a tracking number at a carrier. It's AutoCopy, on autopilot: instead of selecting the value, you point to it once, and Modula fetches it every time.
How it works Advanced Pro
A field of the insertion form can be linked to an element on a page. When the form opens, Modula reads the value of that element, on the page you're viewing or in another tab, and fills the field. The form always opens: you check what was read, then confirm.
A SmartMail “Quote follow-up” has the fields Customer name and Order no. They're linked to the customer record in your CRM. Alice Martin's record is open in a tab: you type the SmartMail's keyword in your email, and the form opens with “Alice Martin” and “12345” already filled in.
What can be linked: text fields, single-choice lists, date and time fields, {{selection}} and {{clipboard}}. Not the cursor, which is a position, nor a multiple-choice list.
Nothing leaves your computer: the value goes from the page to the form, and Modula only keeps how to find the element again, in an encoded form that contains no readable text from the page — never what it read.
Linking a field Advanced Pro
You set things up in the AutoFetch panel, on the side of Chrome. It doesn't cover the page: you can click freely on the elements to link.
- Open a page that holds the information, for example a customer record.
- Open the panel: ⚡ AutoFetch in the icon menu, in an item's editor, or in the insertion form.
- Choose the item, then click + Source next to the field.
- On the page, elements light up as you hover: click the value. ↑ picks the container, ↓ a more precise element, Esc cancels.
- The panel shows the value read and checks that it finds this element, and only this one. Choose what to keep if needed, then Save source.
If Modula can't find the element again reliably, it tells you right away: aim more precisely, or choose its container. It tries by itself the containers that show exactly the same value.
The item's Preview tab shows the content as it will be inserted, with the values read from your open pages.
Which pages Advanced Pro
A source applies to a type of page, described by an address pattern: crm.example.com/customers/*/record. Modula suggests it from the page's address: the parts that change from one customer to another (numbers, IDs) become *.
You check the pattern when you pick the element, under Applies to pages, before saving the source: a green check mark shows that the current tab matches. After that, the panel shows it next to each source.
* replaces part of the address without crossing a /. The part after ? isn't compared.
Which tab is read Advanced Pro
For each type of page, Modula reads a single tab: the page you're viewing if it matches, otherwise the tab of that type you looked at most recently. So all the values of one type of page come from the same record — never one customer's name with another's address.
A form can combine several types of page: the customer record and the carrier's page are each read in their own tab.
If other records of the same type are open, the form says so at the top: check that the values come from the right one. A tab that's asleep isn't read: show it, then try again.
In the insertion form Advanced Pro
The form opens right away; linked fields show “Fetching…” and then fill in. Under each field:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| “from crm.example.com” | The value was read on that page. Change it if needed: a field you've edited is no longer rewritten. |
| In red: not found, several possible elements… | The page is open, but the element wasn't reliably found there. The field stays empty: Modula never guesses. |
| In grey: page not open | No page of that type is open. That's not an error. |
Pick it here adds a source from the page you're viewing: the form steps aside, you click the value, the field fills in. Stop fetching this field pauses the link without deleting it. The ↻ button reads all linked fields again, except those you've edited, and ⚡ AutoFetch opens the panel on this item.
When you come back to the form's tab, for example after displaying the right record, linked fields are read again on their own. If a value has changed, the form says so. A field you've edited keeps what you typed, and a filled field is never emptied by a new reading.
AutoCopy is still available on a linked field: arm it, select text on the page, and it replaces the value read.
One record, several layouts Expert Pro
The same app can display a record in several ways depending on what's filled in: a block is missing when the information is missing, another takes its place. One source then doesn't cover every record.
A field can have several sources, one per layout. They're tried in order, on the same record, until one answers: the ↑ ↓ arrows set the order.
- After linking a field, check it on another record, ideally one where some information is empty.
- If the field shows in red there, click Pick it here in the form, or + Source in the panel from that record.
Keeping part of the value Expert Pro
The element sometimes holds more than you need: “Order no. 12,345 of 09/03/2026”. For each source, choose what to keep: All the text, First number, Email address, Phone number, Date or Amount.
A date field recognizes the date read (“September 12, 2026”, “2026-09-12”, “2:30 PM”…) and writes it in its own format. A value that isn't in a list is kept, in a warning color.
Linked selection and clipboard Expert Pro
- A linked
{{clipboard}}takes the value from the page; if nothing is found, it falls back to the clipboard, as before. - A linked
{{selection}}also takes the value from the page, wherever it's open; if nothing is found, it falls back to the text selected before triggering, as before.
Keeping an eye on your links Expert Pro
The panel's overview shows On this page: all your content linked to the page you're viewing, with the state of each field. Below, your content list can be filtered to All, Linked or Not linked.
As long as a source works, nothing is shown about it. If it often fails over the latest reads, it's flagged “often fails”. A field's Fetch checkbox pauses its links: it goes back to working as before, and its sources stay ready to be turned back on.
To stop everything at once, uncheck AutoFetch in Settings → Toolbox. Your links are kept, and no value is read any more. Links are included in backups and in the configuration export, not in the content export.
Limits Expert Pro
- Iframes from another domain and closed Shadow DOM aren't read, just like for insertion.
- A page opened before Modula was installed or updated must be reloaded.
- If a site changes its layout, its links may stop working: add a source, or pause the field.