The main downfall of the standard email templates was the need to know a small amount of HTML code.
The bxp development team have no now added a plugin that will create the HTML for the user and allow the user to save this as a template.
Also with the expansion a test email can now be sent while editing a template so the user can see how the email will appear when received by the intended recipient(s).
On the next screen fill the template name and if the template is available to all users or just the person who created the templateby setting the private or public flags.
Also if the option is available to add an image footer and header if so desired but these are not mandatory.