This might just a matter of semantics but...

What is the difference between an HTML Stationery and a Template that uses HTML?

For some reason I can't quite wrap my head around this...

Hi there.

Good question.

So the stationery is the HTML itself. I like to think of it as a single block of text with tags for each "region" mixed in amongst the HTML. A region might be something like [Main Text].

The template then is a record in fmSpark that contains a lot more info: it describes what kind of mailing there is (email, letter or label), the title, which layout to use if a printed mailing, and which stationery to use if it is an HTML email. And here is the difference... the template may contain text for each region in the stationery. So a template might have some actual copy about your company written in the [Main Text] area. In this way you can change the content of the mailing in the template without having to edit the html in the stationery. You could also have a number of templates (Thank you for your order, Sorry you cancelled your order, etc.) share the same stationery (HTML Letterhead).

Hope that helps.