Qdabra Software recently was faced with an error when creating a SharePoint Designer workflow. When sending an email, if you insert a variable into the body of the email, it fails to save or publish the workflow.

For example, if you add the following to the email body:

Then the following error comes up when trying to publish the workflow. 

If the variable is removed from the email’s body, there is no problem publishing the workflow.

Qdabra found a workaround for this:

1)      Create a string workflow variable. I called mine BlankString.

2)      After entering the variables in the email body, open the Properties tab for the email step.

3)      Click on the Body textbox and then click the ...

4)      Place the cursor after the text </HTML>.

5)      Click on Add or Change Lookup and insert the empty string variable.

6)      Click OK and publish the workflow.

This simple change will allow you to publish the workflow without issues.