Sending Newsletters to a List

The newsletter template system allows you to create and send fully responsive HTML newsletters without HTML coding experience. LISTSERV comes with more than 75 ready-to-use HTML newsletter and announcement templates, containing a variety of layout styles, color schemes and content blocks that can be used as-is or freely modified as needed. They contain placeholders that, when selected, will let you fill in predefined areas with your own text and images. The process of creating and sending a newsletter consists of four easy steps.

Template Categories

The HTML templates are divided into two categories. Announcement Templates are simpler and contain just a single one-column content block. Newsletter Templates are more elaborate and contain a combination of multiple content blocks and layout styles. Announcement templates all begin with the A- prefix, while newsletter templates begin with the N- prefix. To narrow the list of templates shown in the pulldown menu and the index, simply select the type of templates that you want to view.

Selecting a Template

To select a newsletter template, simply choose it from the pulldown menu or click on the image of the newsletter in the index. The screen will refresh and you will see the selected template in the preview area. Once you have selected the newsletter template you want to work with, click the "Next" button to continue to the next step. To cancel the selection of the newsletter template and refresh the screen, click the "Cancel" button.

LISTSERV also comes with a newsletter template builder that allows you to create completely custom HTML newsletter templates by using a series of pulldown menus to design the newsletter or by copying and pasting an external newsletter into the system. To access the system, use the "Newsletter Templates" option in the main navigation menu. Any newsletter templates that you create there will be available for selection here.

Defining the Content

This step is where you "fill in the blanks". The templates are designed to make creating newsletters quick and easy. All of the HTML coding is already in place. The only work left for you is to enter the content by filling in special template placeholders.

The following fields are available at the top of the screen:

• Name
  
  This field is automatically filled with the name associated with your user account. To change this, simply enter your name as you wish it to appear in the "From" field of the email header. The email address that will be used in the "From" field is the one that is logged into LISTSERV and may not be changed.


• Subject
  
  Enter the subject line for the newsletter.


• Template
  
  If you want to change the template that you are currently using, select a new template from the pulldown menu. Any content that you have already entered will automatically be transferred over to the new template.


• Block 1/2/3 Items
  
  Enter the number of news items you want to have in each content block. This will determine the number of placeholders that you will need to define. The maximum number allowed is 99. A value of 0 will omit the entire content block.

To view the template in HTML format, click "HTML Part". To view the text alternative, click "Text Part". To preview the newsletter in its own window, click the "Preview in New Window" option.

Placeholders

The newsletter templates use placeholders that allow you to enter the content when you create individual newsletters to send out. The following placeholder names are used:

The content blocks are made up of placeholders with the following naming convention, with prefixes and suffixes depending on the block number and the layout style of each content block.

To populate the placeholders, including images and links, simply click on them in the preview pane. A modal window will open, allowing you to enter your desired content. Click the "Save" button to store your changes. A draft of your newsletter is automatically saved when you click the "Save" button. The text alternative version is created automatically based on the same placeholder values.

If you want to see a full list of all placeholders used throughout a newsletter template, click on the "Show Placeholders" link. In the placeholders list, any placeholder without a value supplied is marked with a red exclamation mark. Placeholders where a value has already been supplied are marked with a green checkmark. The placeholders in the list are also clickable. You can leave any placeholder blank, in which case the content will not appear in the newsletter.

Once you are finished defining the content of the template, click the "Next" button to continue.

To cancel the definition of the newsletter and return to the Select Template screen, click the "Cancel" or the "Back" button. If you have a saved draft version of your newsletter and you click "Cancel" or "Back", then the saved version will still be available in the "Message Drafts" section.

Note: Drafts are automatically deleted after 30 days.

Fine Tuning the Newsletter

For those who are familiar with HTML, the fine-tuning screen allows you to make changes directly to the HTML code.

The following fields are available at the top of the screen:

• Name
  
  This field is automatically filled with the name associated with your user account. To change this, simply enter your name as you wish it to appear in the "From" field of the email header. The email address that will be used in the "From" field is the one that is logged into LISTSERV and may not be changed.


• Subject
  
  The subject line for the newsletter.

To view and define additional advanced options, click the "Show Advanced" button. The following options are available:

• Charset
  
  Use this pulldown menu to change the charset (character set) of the newsletter. If your newsletter requires a charset that is different from the default charset for LISTSERV (UTF-8), then you can use the pulldown menu to select one before you type or paste in your content.


• RSS Abstract:
  
  Many lists allow subscribers to read postings through RSS feeds. LISTSERV automatically creates an RSS abstract from the text part of the message. By default, LISTSERV uses a maximum of 500 and a minimum of 250 words for an implicit RSS abstract. These default numbers can be changed either for the entire site or on a list-by-list basis. However, this option also allows you to create explicit RSS abstracts, which can be HTML or text of any length. To provide an explicit RSS abstract, simply enter text in the "RSS Abstract" text box. To use your text or HTML part in its entirety for the RSS abstract, click the "Use as RSS Abstract" icon next to either the "Plain Text" or "HTML" section. The content will be automatically copied into the abstract textarea.


• Attachments
  
  Use the "Browse..." button to find your file on a local drive. Click the "Attach" button to attach your file to your outgoing message. Note that each list can have its own rules for accepting or rejecting messages with attachments. The "Browse..." and "Attach" buttons in this posting interface will function regardless of individual list settings. As a result, your message may be rejected or stripped of its attachment by the list. Be sure to check with the list owner if you have any questions.

You can edit the plain text part in the "Plain Text" section and the HTML part in the "HTML" section. Any changes you make in one section are not automatically made in the other, so make sure that you enter your changes in both.

Clicking the "HTML Editor" button will open a visual HTML editor in place of the HTML source code text box. The HTML editor allows you to edit the HTML part without coding. Note that the editor will parse and rewrite the existing HTML code, which may introduce some changes to the code. To return to the HTML source code text box, click the "Source Code" button.

If you want to continue at a later time, you can click the "Save Draft" button to save a draft of the newsletter. The subject line, the text part, and the HTML part are all stored. Advanced options, such as attachments and RSS abstracts are, however, not stored with the draft. The drafts, which are identified by their subject lines and shown with a timestamp, will be listed in the Message Drafts section. When you return to the main Newsletter Template screen, you can just click on the subject line to retrieve the draft. To delete existing drafts, just click on the Recycling Bin icon next to the draft that you want to delete. Existing drafts are deleted automatically when you have posted them to the list.

Important: The draft you save on the Fine Tune screen will not be the same type of draft you saved on the Define Content screen. The drafts saved on the Fine Tune screen will be shown under the Message Drafts section. When you retrieve a draft saved on the Fine Tune screen, you will not be able to return to the Define Content screen. However, if you want to return to the draft saved on the Content Definition screen, that draft will still be available under the Message Drafts section (presumably with the same subject line) and is unaffected by any drafts that you save on the Fine Tune screen.

Testing and Sending the Newsletter

When constructing a newsletter and before sending it to a list, you can send a test message to make sure that the results are satisfactory. Since email clients vary in their degree of HTML support, sending a test message allows you to double-check that the newsletter is rendered as you intended. If necessary, you can make adjustments to your newsletter before posting it to the list.

Note: When sending test messages, the permalink created by the &*SELFLINK; variable will not lead to an actual message as test messages are not archived. The permalink will function properly once the email is distributed to the list.

The following options are available on this screen:

• Name
  
  This field is automatically filled with the name associated with your user account. To change this, simply enter your name as you wish it to appear in the From field of the email header of the newsletter. The email address that will be used in the From field is the one that is logged into LISTSERV and may not be changed.


• Subject
  
  The subject line for the newsletter.


• Schedule Delivery
  
  Select whether you want the message to be delivered immediately or at a specific time and date. The input format of the date field is yyyy-mm-dd. The input format of the time field is hh:mm using the 24-hour clock. The time zone used is that of the web browser's computer. If you enter a delivery date or time that has already passed, the message will be delivered immediately.


• Test Addresses
  
  Enter the email addresses of those who will be receiving the test, one address per line. The default test addresses can be entered on the "Newsletters" tab on the Preferences screen and will be automatically included here.


• Content Analysis
  
  If your LISTSERV license includes technical support, then you can use this button to check your message and evaluate the likelihood that it will be deemed to be spam by recipient mail systems. LISTSERV will connect to a hosted service at L-Soft, which runs the email message through SpamAssassin. The results will be shown on the screen. If necessary, you can then make adjustments and run the test again.


• Send Tests
  
  Use this button to send a test message to the test addresses listed above.

Use the "Back" button if you want to navigate back and make changes to your newsletter, or click "Send" once you are done testing the newsletter and are satisfied with its content and appearance.

Newsletter Profile

To edit your profile for all of your newsletters, click on the "Newsletters" tab on the Preferences screen. Here you can make any changes you would like to make to your newsletter profile. These changes will be applied to the entire newsletter template gallery and will be associated with your user account only.

All fields are optional. However, it is highly recommended that you enter your newsletter profile before beginning to work with your newsletter. Even though all of the profile fields can be filled out during the content definition stage, filling out and saving the fields at the start will be a time saver for future newsletters.

Message Drafts

The Message Drafts section at the bottom of the screen contains any previously saved drafts. To continue working on an existing draft, click on the draft's subject line. To delete the draft, click on the Recycling Bin icon associated with that draft. Drafts are automatically deleted after 30 days.

Pending Messages

The Pending Messages section displays messages that have been scheduled for delivery. Site administrators and list owners will see all of the pending messages for the given list, while subscribers will only see their own messages. If you want to cancel a pending message, click on the subject line and click the "Revoke" button on the confirmation screen to cancel the delivery. Canceled messages will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.