Communications: Sending Messages: Email

 Created Date: 4/15/2019 5:35:19 PM |  User Level: Regular User |  Views: 3,398

Summary

Although sending emails is something we all do on an almost daily basis sending an email to the masses has a few different levels you need to properly think of for ultimate mass success.

The key to remember is that a communication message (e.g., newsletter) is you're sending an email. Treat the information that you are sending to one user. Users are already tired of reading spam so make certain what you type doesn't come across "spammy."

Requirements

You will need to have access to the Communications module to be able to send your mass email.

Creating Your Message

  1. The first step is to expand the Communication menu.
  2. You will then click on Send Messages.
  3. From within the Grid, you can Edit an existing item by clicking the pencil (Edit) icon or you may click on the + Add New above the top-left corner of the grid.

Note: Whether you are adding or editing a message the steps below will all be the same. The difference will be that when you edit the information will be further along as you're editing something that has already existed.

Top Toolbar

Although this will be the last area you will be going to, we want to cover it sooner rather than later as it will allow you to understand everything.

  • Return to Communications / Send Messages: This allows you to return to the main grid.
  • Add New Communication / Send Message: This will allow you to create a new message to send. If you haven't saved your work it will be lost.
  • Save Communication: This saves your work in progress. It is recommended to automatically save as you go along. This way if your internet would drop out you do not lose any of your progress.
  • Save and Send Communication: This saves your email message and sends it based on your Scheduled Date and Scheduled setting.

General Information

You will start off on the General tab. This screen has the basic information, and it is recommended that this information is filled out first.

Note: You don't need to worry about the header/footer of your document as it will automatically be added. All you need to worry about is filling in the guts of the message. The consistency the system will take care of to streamline and speed your process.

The main areas we're going to cover are what is needed whether you are sending the message as scheduled (e.g., a future date) and who you want to receive the message.

  • Set the Scheduled Date to the date and the time.
    • To choose the date click on the calendar portion (left part of the dropdown).
    • To choose the time you will choose from the right side. By default, the right side shows everything in half-hour increments. If you wanted to send at say 1:33 instead of 1:30 AM the easiest way is to chose your date and your time. Then on the large white text box change 1:30 AM to 1:33 AM.
    • Note: All of the times are shown in military format in your time zone.
  • The next step is choosing the Group that you want the newsletter to be sent to. You will find a list of predefined and user defined groups.
    • The groups that are defined for you are:
      • All Accounts: Upon submission this will show all of the groups that are currently active within your system that have one, or more, email addresses assigned to them.
      • All Portal Users: This will send to all portal users that are active within the system.
      • All Subscribers: This will send to all subscribers, no matter what group they are in.
      • All Account, Portal Users, and Subscribers: This will send to all accounts, portal users, and subscribers in the system.
      • Only Test Users: This will send to all subscribers that are marked as test users.
      • Default Group: This is default group that all subscribers will be put into.
    • Note: If a person you're sending to has a "Do Not Email" option checked they will not receive the email as this setting always wins.
    • Note: If you are scheduling messages weeks, even months in advance, and a recipient unsubscribes or changes their "Do Not Email" settings they will be removed from the email queue.
  • To the right will be several checkboxes. Make certain to choose the options that you want to send to. In most cases, these are the one's you will want checked:
    • Scheduled: Send the message based on the scheduled date/time.
      • If this is not checked the system will send based on the current date/time.
    • Add Tracking Tokens: By adding this you can have the system add tracking tokens to each of the URL's (e.g., links) you include within your document.
      • We recommend having this always checked even if you do not have any links in your message as this is best practice.
    • Uncheck Send Test Only when you're ready to send the message.
    •  

Email Information

This is the heart of sending your message. What's nice is there are only two areas to worry about here.

The first is the subject of your message. If you want to get ideas on message subjects you can click here for a blog article on choosing message subjects that will help you get more opens than "My Newsletter" (e.g., generic subjects).

The main message is a little more complex as there are many options available to you. We will break them down for you. Below are all the settings that are available in the editor:

  • Footer
    • Design: The main editing screen for creating your email.
    • HTMLYou can enter and edit text as HTML code by clicking HTML at the bottom of the text editor. If you have sufficient HTML knowledge, you can directly modify the text, by modifying the HTML code.
    • Preview: A read-only view of what you've created.
    • You will notice an arrow in the lower right corner that allows you to make the editor box larger. This is often helpful when working with tables.
  • Top Toolbar
    • "Font Source": This allows you to choose the font in different areas. These are universal fonts that exist on Windows, Apple devices, and Android devices natively.
    • Font Size: This is the size for your text.
    • Font Format: This allows you to choose some standard font sizes beyond the font size that is to the left.
    • Foreground Color: Use this button to change the color of the selected text.

      Select the text which color you want to change and do one of the following:

      • If the already selected color is the color you want to use, click the letter .
        In this example the already selected color is green.
      • If you want to use different from the already selected color, click the arrow .
        In the dropdown box that appears, click the color which you want to use as text color.

      The system colors the text in the selected color.

    • Background Color: Use this button to change the background color of the selected text.

      Select the text which background you want to color and do one of the following:

      • If the already selected color is the color you want to use, click the bucket .
        In this example the already selected color is yellow.
      • If you want to use different from the already selected color, click the arrow .
        In the dropdown box that appears, click the color which you want to use as background.

      The system colors the background of the selected color.

    • Bold (Ctrl + B)Use this button to apply bold formatting to the text.
    • Italic (Ctrl + I)Use this button to apply italic formatting to the text.
    • Underline: Use this button to application underline formatting to the text.
    • Convert to UPPERCASE: Takes the selected text and converts it all to UPPERCASE.
    • Convert to lowercase: Takes the selected text and converts it all to lowercase.
    • Undo (Ctrl + Z):  To reverse your last action, press CTRL+ZYou can reverse more than one action.
    • RedoTo reverse your last Undo, press CTRL+YYou can reverse more than one action that has been undone. You can use Redo command only after Undo command.
    • Copy (Ctrl + C): Use this function to copy content from one place on the page to another place on the page or to another location.
      1. Select the content which you want to copy.
      2. Open the context menu and select Copy or press CTRL+C.
        The system removes the selected content and copies it to the clipboard.
      3. Place the cursor where you want the content to appear and choose one of the paste options above.

      NOTE: Only the last piece of content you copy can be pasted. If you copy something and then you copy or cut another thing. The first thing you copied is lost.

    • Cut (Ctrl + X): Use this function to move content from one place on the page to another place on the page or to another location.
      1. Select the content which you want to relocate.
      2. Open the context menu and select Cut or press CTRL+X.
        The system removes the selected content and copies it to the clipboard.
      3. Place the cursor where you want the content to appear and choose one of the paste options bellow.

      NOTE: Only the last piece of content you cut can be pasted. If you cut something and then you copy or cut another thing. The first thing you cut is lost.

    • Paste (Ctrl + V): Use this button to paste content from the clipboard in the text editor.
      1. Copy or cut content.
      2. In the text editor, place the cursor where you want the content to appear.
      3. Press CTRL+V or open the context menu and select Paste.
    • Find and ReplaceTo find a piece of text and replace it with another, on Replace tab, in the Find input field, enter the word, part of it, or a phrase.

      NOTE: If you have already used the Find tab to search for this expression, when you click the Replace tab, the Find input field already contains this expression.

      On Replace tab, you can perform the following:

      • Change some occurrences of the search expression with another expression.
        To do this, perform the following:
        1. In Replace With input field, enter the expression with which you want to change the search expression.
        2. Click Find Next.
          The text editor highlights the first occurrence in the page.
        3. If you want to change this occurrence of the expression with the one you have entered in Replace With input field, click Replace, else click Find Next until you find the expression you want to change.

          NOTE: You can change the expression in Replace input field and go to Step a.

      • Change all occurrences of the search expression with another expression at once.
        To do this, perform the following:
        1. In Replace With input field, enter the expression with which you want to change all occurrences of the search expression.
        2. Click Replace All.
          All occurrences of the search expression are changed and a dialog box appears informing you about their number.
    • Bullet List: Use this button to create and remove bulleted lists. Create a bulleted list
      1. Select two or more paragraphs you want to be bulleted list and click Bullet List. The system indents the paragraphs to the right and inserts a bullet to each paragraph.
      2. If you need the paragraph(s) following the bulleted list to be also part of the list, select the paragraph(s) and click Bulleted List.
    • Numbered List: Use this button to create and remove numbered lists.
      1. Create a numbered list: Select two or more consecutive paragraphs you want to be numbered and click Numbered List. The system inserts a number to each paragraph, starting from one.
      2. If you need the paragraph(s) following the numbered list to be also part of the list, select the paragraph(s) and click Numbered List.
    • Indent: Use this button to move a paragraph to the right.
      1. Select the paragraph you want to indent or place the cursor inside the paragraph.
      2. Click Indent button.

      The system moves the paragraph to the right regardless of its alignment. Each time you click this button, the paragraph is indented further to the right.

    • Outdent: Use this button to reverse the indentation of a paragraph and move it to the left.
      1. Select the paragraph you want to outdent or place the cursor inside the paragraph.
        To outdent a paragraph it must have been indented first.
      2. Click Outdent button.

      The system moves the paragraph to the left regardless of its alignment. Each time you click this button, the paragraph is outdented further to the left until it becomes a normal paragraph with no indents.

    • Align Left: Use this button to align a paragraph to the left.
      1. Select the paragraph you want to align or place the cursor inside the paragraph.
      2. Click Align Left button.

      The system aligns only the selected paragraph to the left.

      You can align all paragraphs at once by pressing CTRL+A and clicking Align Left button.

    • Align Center: Use this button to align a paragraph around the center of the screen.
      1. Select the paragraph you want to align or place the cursor inside the paragraph.
      2. Click Align Center button.

      The system centers the paragraph and distributes all words evenly to the right and to the left.

      You can align all paragraphs at once by pressing CTRL+A and clicking Align Center button.

    • Align Right: Use this button to align a paragraph to the right.
      1. Select the paragraph you want to align or place the cursor inside the paragraph.
      2. Click Align Right button.

      The system aligns only the selected paragraph to the right.

      You can align all paragraphs at once by pressing CTRL+A and clicking Align Right button.

    • Insert Table: Once you insert a table in your text, you can use the table wizard, which makes styling and configuring the table quick and simple. The contextual menu provides you with the key table operations, whereas the wizard enables you to change the design and define each detail of tables. You can tweak the properties, colors, and styling of the whole table or of single cells.

      To insert a table in the text:

      1. In the contextual toolbar, click the Create table button.
      2. With the help of the grid, choose a size for the table, for example, 4x3 table with 4 rows and 3 columns.
      3. With the help of the contextual table toolset, after placing the cursor on a cell, you can:
        • Add a row above or below
        • Add a column to the left or to the right
        • Delete the whole row
        • Delete the whole column
      4. Enter content in the cells and format with the help of the contextual formatting toolbar.

      To use the table wizard, choose the Table wizard button on the contextual toolbar. You can configure the following properties:

      • Table: You can change the following properties:
        • Modify the size of the table via height and width, defined in different units of measure, for example, pixels and %
        • Number of rows and columns
        • Cell spacing, padding, and alignment
        • Apply a CSS class and background color
        • Table ID (HTML attribute)
        • Table border thickness, style, and color
        • Select whether to collapse borders
      • Cell: You can change the following properties for individual cell or for all cells:
        • Height and width of cell(s) in different units of measure, for example, pixels and %
        • Cell margin, padding, and alignment
        • Apply a CSS class and background color
        • Cell ID (HTML attribute)
        • Cell border thickness, style, and color
        • Select whether to wrap the text in the selected cell(s) 
      • Accessibility: You can define the following:
        • Table caption
        • Alignment
        • Table summary
        • Whether to associate cells with headers 
    • Show/Hide Border: Turns the borders on for your tables
    • Insert Link
      1. To insert a link, open the contextual toolbar and click the Create link icon and:
      2. To link to a URL or email, enter the respective link or address in the Link to… field.
        1. To link to a page or specific content from your website:
        2. Click Select page or content button.
        3. Under Content type, select the type of content to link to.
          You can choose from all predefined types of content, apart from content blocks, as well as the custom ones you created in the Module builder.

          NOTE: In case your content is multilingual, you can also choose the culture, in which you browse and link to content.

          NOTE: When working in multisite environment, you can also choose from which site to link content to.

        4. Choose the specific page or content item to link to, for example, Summer events page.
          You can narrow down the list of results by typing.
        5. Choose Use selected.
      3. Next, enter the link text that is displayed to visitors of your site, for example, Events this summer.
        Optionally, to open the page or content in a new window, select the respective checkbox.
      4. Under More options, you can optionally do the following:
        • Create an anchor to a specific section in the page or content to link to, for example, to Events schedule section.
        • Enter a tooltip to be displayed upon hovering over the link, for example, Summer events schedule.

          NOTE: You can also set a tooltip for a hyperlink to a website or a hyperlink to an anchor in the text.

      5. Choose the Insert link button.

        NOTE: Before inserting the link, you can always go back to the Link to… field and edit the link or choose other content to link to.

    • Remove Link (Ctrl + Shift + K): To change or modify the properties of a link, click on it and choose the Edit link icon. You can change the website or content, to which the link redirects, or any other link property.

      To delete a link and its formatting, either:

      • Place the cursor on a link and click the Remove link button from the contextual toolset
      • Click on the link in the toolset and then choose the Remove link icon
      • Select the link text and use the CTRL+SHIFT+K combination on the keyboard
    • Insert Symbol: Use this function to insert symbols in the text. Put the cursor on the place where you want to insert a symbol and do one of the following:
      • If you want to use the last symbol you have selected, click the omega .
      • If you want to use different from the last symbol you have used, click the arrow .
        In the dropdown box that appears, click the symbol which you want to insert in the text.

      The system inserts the symbol on the place you have put the cursor.

    • Horizontal Rule: Use this function to insert a horizontal line. The horizontal line serves as a border line for the paragraph after which it has been inserted.
      • To insert a horizontal line, perform the following:
        1. Place the cursor at the end of the paragraph which you want to separate with a horizontal line.
        2. Click Horizontal Rule button.
        3. If you have placed the cursor on a new line, the system inserts the horizontal line below the new line.

          If you have placed the cursor in the middle of a paragraph, the system splits the paragraph and inserts the line.

      • You can change the thickness, the length, and the color of the horizontal line.
        1. Select the line, by clicking it.
        2. Use the endpoints to drag the line to the size you desire.
        3. To change the color select the line and see Additional text formatting functions » Foreground Color.
    • Image Manager: Use this function to insert a video in the text editor.
      1. Place the cursor where you want the video to appear.
      2. Click Media Manager in the toolbar.
        The Insert a video window appears where you choose between the following:
        • From your computer
          You must choose a video that has not been previously uploaded.
          1. Click Select…, browse your computer to find the video you want to upload and click Open.
            You can select and display only one video.
          2. In Where to store the uploaded video?, select the library where you want to put the video, by clicking Change.
            The tree with all created libraries appears. Select the library and click Done.
        • From already uploaded
          You must choose a video that has already been uploaded.
          1. In the right side of the window, select the library where the video you want to display is located.
            The system displays all videos and libraries in this library.
            You can display all uploaded videos by clicking All videos.
          2. Click the video you want to display.
          3. For more information, see Uploading and editing videos.
      3. If you want to display the video in size different than its original size, in Resizing options, select Resize the video width to… radio button.
        From the dropdown box that appears, select the width to which you want to resize the video.
        If you select Custom size… the Width input field appears where you enter the desired width in pixels.
      4. When you are finished, click Insert the video.
        The Insert a video window closes.
    • Document Manager: Use this function to insert a video in the text of the text editor.
      1. Place the cursor where you want the document link to appear.
      2. Click Document Manager in the toolbar.
        The Insert a document window appears where you choose between the following:
        • From your computer
          You must choose a document that has not been previously uploaded.
          1. Click Select…, browse your computer to find the document you want to upload and click Open.
            You can select and display only one document.
          2. In Where to store the uploaded document?, select the library where you want to put the document, by clicking Change.
            The tree with all created libraries appears. Select the library and click Done.
        • From already uploaded
          You must choose a document that has already been uploaded.
          1. In the right side of the window, select the library where the document you want to display is located.
            The system displays all documents and libraries in this library.
            You can display all uploaded documents by clicking All documents.
          2. Click the document you want to display.
          3. For more information, see Uploading and editing documents.
      3. If you want the link to the document to display a name different than the document’s name, in What title to display for this document? input field, enter the text on the document link.
      4. When you are finished, click Insert the document.
        The Insert a document window closes. The document arrears as a link. When you click the link, a download window appears.
  • Main Content Area
    • This is the area you will type your message.
    • The header/footer of your newsletter email blast you do not need to worry about as it is already setup for your success.

Now that you've seen everything you will now be able to send successful email campaigns to your email addresses.

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