Click on “Create Message”, on the first page you can select what type of mailing you want, any additional mailing lists to include, templates and filters. When you have this set then click on “Submit/Next.”
The Next page is where you compose your message. You can also add headers and footers on this page and if you would like you could fetch HTML from a URL. When your message is composed click on “Preview Message” at the bottom of the screen.
The last page allows you to preview the way your message looks before sending your mailing out. If you are satisfied with how your message looks then click on the red “Send Now” button at the bottom of the screen.
Below the “Send Now” button there are options to “Go Back to Editing”, “Save for Later”, “Save and Continue”, and “Send Test Email”.
Artopa Email Marketing includes a powerful text editor for composing HTML rich messages. There’s no need to know HTML code. Using our easy to understand MS Word style editor anyone can compose a compelling HTML messages complete with images, tables, text formatting and more at the click of a button. If you do not see the editor it means your browser or computer does not meet minimum requirements for the editor.
Sending filters can be used to subdivide large mailing lists into smaller functional groups of subscribers–for example, by location or age.
To begin adding sending filters select “Sending Filters.” To add a new filter, click on the “Add a new custom filter” link at the bottom of the page. Set parameters for the sending filter based on name, email, and signup date. You have the option to make it a universal template (user admin only or all users) - used by all current and future lists. Click “Submit” to add your filter to the list. Once you have created sending filters you can click on “View matching email addresses” below one of your filter for a list of email addresses matching the parameters specified by that filter. Easily delete any filter by clicking the red circle with the “x.” When you click on “Create New Message” there is a “Sending Filters” drop down menu so that you can begin applying that filter to the message.
Watch as your mailings are sent. The visual message queue allows you to view your message sending status and re-queue your message as needed.
You can view the number and percent of emails complete along with the number left to go. If sending stalls over 5 minutes you can click on the Re-Queue Message link to re-start your sending. Do NOT click on this message unless it stops sending for 5 minutes.
Easily pause, stop, or resume your mailings in progress. Anytime you have a message queued click on “Message Queue” to view your message in progress. A bar graph displays the progress of your mailings
Enhance the look and feel of your mailings by using optional fields. These fields add a personal appeal to your mailings. You can create radio buttons, check boxes, text fields, text boxes, and drop downs using your existing subscriber fields.
To include an optional field in your mailing click on the “Personalize” button on the message composition page and select the field to insert. In addition, you can create a sending filter. Filter your sending to a certain group of subscribers (IE: subscribers with the name bob and an optional field being Illinois)
Click on “Personalize” on the WYSIWG text editor page in “Creating New Message, to easily apply tags to a number of fields: “Subscriber’s Name”, “Subscriber’s Email”, “Subscriber’s IP, “Update Profile Link”, “Unsubscribe Link”, “Web Copy Link”, and “Sent to a Friend Link.” Or enter them manually:
%PERS_UNSUB% - unsubscribe
%PEFS_WCOPY% - web copy of mailing
%PERS_XXXXXXXX% - optional fields.
X should be replaced with the optional field id.
%PERS_NAME% - subscribers name
%PERS_IP% - subscribers ip address
%PERS_UP% - update profile/subscription info
%PERS_FRIEND% - forward to a friend
To create a link that allows to you to forward to a friend use the tag %PERS_FRIEND%. This directs you to a page that asks your name, friend’s email, friend’s name, and a personalized message. After filling out the form the friend receives a “thought you may be interested in this mailing” letter with a link on the bottom.
The update profile tag %PERS_UP% creates a link that allows subscribers to update their name and optional fields on a ‘Modify Subscriber Details’ page with the click of a button.
When you insert a web copy link %PEFS_WCOPY% you create a link to a web version of the mailing. Useful to include if, for example, subscriber’s email client does not support full HTML. Link tracking and read/open tracking still works with the web version.
When you create a new message an automatic unsubscribe link is checked “Yes” by default. This creates a link allowing users to easily unsubscribe to a mailing. To customize your unsubscribe link, type in the message you want to use for your unsubscribe link and highlight it. Click on the hyperlink button on the top of the WYSIWG editor (hyperlink is shown when your mouse scrolls over the right button) and enter “%PERS_UNSUB% and click “OK”. You have just created an unsubscribe link that should now be highlighted.
When you create a new message you have the option to schedule sending. You set your mail to be sent after clicking on “Preview Message.” Schedule your mail to arrived at a specified date and time. Select “Yes” under “Schedule For Sending” and type in the date (ie:use the scroll down menus to specify the year, month, day, hour and minute your message is to be sent. Click on “Send Now” and a confirmation screen tells you that your message is now in the scheduled to queue. To view your scheduled mailing, go to “Scheduled Mailings.” Your queued message appears on the screen. You have the option to send your mailing immediately by clicking on “Force Send Now” or to remove it by clicking “Delete.”
Click on “Archive/Stats” under “Messages” to bring up a list of your previously sent messages. You can also click on the “Message Archive” shortcut on the list startup page. To create a template using one of those sent messages click on the “T” to the right of the message. Select any additional mailing lists to include in the mailings. Click on “Submit/Next.” Your message appears as a template which can be modified using the WYSIWG editor. When your template is to your liking click on “Preview Message” Your sent message is now a template which you can include in a future mailing. Send it as you would any other message.
When you preview a message you can view an HTML and a separate Text message version. You can send at a specific date and time. You have the freedom to add attachments to your message, save your messages for later if they are not complete, go back and edit if your message needs revision, and send a test email. When you are finished and your message is complete, click on “Send Now.”
Before sending a message you can run a test using an email address you have access to. View your message through the eyes of the subscriber before deciding to send it. Before sending a message you will be brought to a previewing message screen. At the bottom to the far right of the screen type in the email address you want to use and click on “Send Test Email.” A popup tells you that “A test email has been sent.” Such areas as bounced management, attachments, and other features may not be included in the test mailing; whereas it will be included in the final mailing.
After your message is sent check the message queue to ensure that it completed without your server stalling the mailing.
If you have enabled your link tracking you can check your link stats at any time. Go to your message archive. Click on “i” beside a message to view its statistics. Click on “view” beside Link Stats to view link stats and the number/percent to view Read/Open stats.
If your message is not ready to be sent you can save it for later and modify it at your convenience. On the previewing message screen click on ‘Save For Later’ at the bottom of the page. To retrieve your saved message, click on ‘Saved Messages’ for a list of your saved messages. Click ‘Use Saved Message’ next to the message you are working on. You can modify your message using the same options you had when creating a new message. After completing your message you can ‘Send Now’ or set a schedule for sending. If you are still not finished ‘Save For Later.’
Link tracking tells you who your subscribers are and what percent of them click on your link after you send a mailing. You get a list with email addresses along with the date, time, and number of times that they clicked on your link.
You are not required to specify what links are to be tracked. Any link with the format xhref=”LinkHere” mce_href=”LinkHere” is automatically tracked by Artopa Email Marketing as long as you check “include link tracking” when sending a mailing.
To view link tracking, click on “Message Archive” or “Archive/Stats” on the menu at the top. Click on “i” beside a message to read its statistics. Click on “View” right beside “Link Stats.” A bar graph tells you how many viewers clicked on your link. Click on the link above to continue viewing statistics. Here you can create a new list featuring responsive subscribers who clicked on the link. You can also export this list to a .CSV file and work on it using Excel. You can create a pie graph display your “15 Most Popular” links in the report generator to the right.
When this feature is turned on during a mailing you build statistics each time a user opens and reads your HTML or multi-format mailings. To view this feature, click on “Message Archive” or “Archive/Stats” on the menu at the top. Click on “i” beside a message to read its statistics. Your Read/ Open statistics are beside “Reads” at the top of the screen. Each time a user opens an email it’s counted as a read. Click on the number of reads for greater detail. Here you can view statistics detailing which users open and read your mailing, when, and how many times. As with link tracking you can then create a list based on those statistics and export the list to a .CSV file for further work on programs like Excel.
Add a file or several files to your mailings such as a PDF or picture for distribution on your list. You can add any number of attachments to your message. Begin by clicking on “General” under “List Settings” on the menu at the top. Here you can set your max attachment size, acceptable file formats, and number of attachments allowed per mailing. Create your message and click on “Preview Message.” Click on “Browse” beside the Optional Attachment field to attach your file. Once your file is attached proceed as you would for any new message.
When erroneous characters such as question marks appear in mailings it is usually the result of the charset being set improperly. Symbols and characters not belonging to a charset that is being used will result in strange characters being added to your message. You can easily fix this by opening up the language file that you are working with. This file can be found in the Lang folder of your root directory or main folder. The default language file is english.php.
If the language file is set to the default ‘iso-8859-1′ then change it to ‘utf-8.’ If it is set to ‘utf-8′ then change it to ‘iso-8859.’ In most instances this will eliminate the erroneous characters from your mailings. The next step is to create a test list with a message using the block of text where the extra characters are being added. Send this message to an email address that you have access to.
Clicking on preview is not a substitute for test sending because the erroneous characters are added to the message composition after the sending process has been completed.
If these steps do not work it is possibly because another charset is required. You will need to find the appropriate charset and insert it into the language file. We have a couple of resources to assist you in determining the proper charset.
http://www.rt.com/man/charsets.4.html
www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets
During message composition you can grab HTML content for your newsletter and place it into your WYSIWYG editor. Upon clicking ‘Preview’ you will be able to view the content from the site you entered. This feature is useful for sending newsletters, news updates, press releases, promotional considerations, etc. from your website directly to your subscriber’s inbox.
When you get to the WYSIWG editor section look for ‘Or, use HTML from my url below for the HTML version of the message.’ Type in the address of the URL where the HTML you are grabbing is located. Click on ‘Preview’ to view your newsletter.
If there is a conflict preventing you from previewing the fetched HTML then you may have to modify the page that you are grabbing the HTML from.
To continue working on the newsletter after previewing click on ‘Go Back To Editing.’ When you are ready to complete sending then click on ‘Send Now.’
