Newsletters

[AlexWebsites]

Ok, since then at 1 pm, I have had it distributed again at 2 pm, 3 pm, and now 4 pm hourly. (No good) Thankfully I'm testing and only sending to admin. The setting is on Daily and Saturday is checked off.

 

The last distribution is now 4 pm. So it sent at 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and now 4 pm and is NOT following the last distribution time to know it already sent.

 

 

I believe this should be set to weekly and as I mentioned earlier if you have daily, that is every day...no? If that's the case, then why under daily are there days to check off? I just switched to weekly and am curious if it will send out at 5 pm...will update the topic after.

[AlexWebsites]

On 2/16/2017 at 7:02 AM, HeadStand said:

Strange that it should go out hourly. I'll look into it. For future reference, you can always just disable the newsletter, which would stop distribution. 

As to the newsletter going out every time a topic is posted, I'm sorry, but the chances of that happening are basically zero. The newsletter is not connected to the posting process and is not touching it in any way, shape, or form. It's likely the task being triggered by site activity, as was suggested. The newsletter task IS set to run hourly (only to check for newsletters waiting to go out), but IPS handles which tasks are executed when. 

So.... disable the newsletter, and I'll have a fix for you later. 

You're right. I think the current settings were done that way specifically for a single customer back in IPB v3, and then I just ported it over. I'll change it.

@HeadStand Before sending, does the script check the last distribution time or next? Could it be that the newsletter publish task runs every hour and sends the distribution after checking the next distribution time but distribution history gets pruned daily as do the reminders. So, your next distribution time doesn't change hourly like the publishing task. Could that be an issue?

As for running with topics, could be that it looks like it, if you have tasks set to Run Automatically with Traffic (Default) instead of a cron.

[AlexWebsites]

Ok, 5 pm and it distributed again. This is after I changed the setting to weekly to test after the 4 pm send. Next scheduled distribution still says 1pm which has to be the reason. I'm guessing. Why is it not updating?

I ran the two daily tasks (PruneDistributionHistory and NewsletterReminders) manually to see if the next scheduled distribution would change but it hasn't. So I guess my earlier questions have been answered. I looked in the database under ipb_newsletters_newsletters and the next run is the same as start date which is why it stays in a loop and runs every our on the hour with the task. So the question is, what is or isn't updating the next_run?

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by AlexWebsites

[AlexWebsites]

Ok for whatever reason I decided to try and re-upload the application even though in my admin panel it stated I am running 1.0.3. After uploading the .tar over the existing application, next distribution time seems to be working better where its not the same day and it's adjusting my time by 4 hours (GMT vs EST) after I make a time setting adjustment. I think its now just a matter of understanding how the settings calculate time. 

There is a tricky relationship between start date, distribution cycle and what days you have checked off. For instance, for me...every 2 weeks means it goes out once every two weeks, or weekly its once every week. If I want it on Mondays and Fridays every week, I check off daily and and check off Mondays and Fridays. Now what's the difference between that and weekly and then having checked off every Monday and Friday? It's confusing, unless I'm missing something.I think I even mentioned this earlier, must be going crazy..

Now every two weeks can be confusing as well if you check off individual days because to me every two weeks equals 14 days but you could have a next distribution date in 8 days if you start the newsletter on a Saturday and check off Sunday as an option. I guess you need this if you want to send out on 2 days during the week every 2 weeks.  

The time settings are a bit frustrating but once you get it straight, the app does its job well. 

Seem to have it where the next schedule distribution is correct. I would check it after you run a newsletter for the first time and actually test it with just a small group and then add the rest to be safe...I had it send to 10k members 12 times and they all got mad, so I stopped for a while and have been testing and messing around with it.

Edited April 1, 2017 by AlexWebsites

[Vegan Gaymer]

Please forgive this total n00b. Is there a set of all variables somewhere that I missed? I see the example for recenttopics, but are there more? Thanks!

[Vegan Gaymer]

On 2/15/2017 at 3:44 PM, TheSkyLounge.tv said:

Thanks @HeadStand ! Confirmed that it does generate a URL when using the PUBLISH option to a limited set of folks. 

Is there any way to have it make an UNSUBSCRIBE link vs a long url ?

 

Did this ever get addressed? I'm wondering the same thing.

[Vegan Gaymer]

Is there a bank of templates somewhere to use? I think this application is fantastic, but I really didn't expect to have to learn a whole lot of new code to be able to use it. I'm not complaining. I just lack the knowledge and time to invest in learning coding language just to send out a newsletter. So if there is a bank of templates somewhere, that would be awesome. Because this is me right now.. lol

. 

[HeadStand]

4 hours ago, Vegan Gaymer said:

Please forgive this total n00b. Is there a set of all variables somewhere that I missed? I see the example for recenttopics, but are there more? Thanks!

What variables are you referring to? 

4 hours ago, Vegan Gaymer said:

Did this ever get addressed? I'm wondering the same thing.

No. Thanks for reminding me, I had completely forgotten about it. 

[Vegan Gaymer]

On 4/21/2017 at 4:47 PM, HeadStand said:

What variables are you referring to? 

No. Thanks for reminding me, I had completely forgotten about it. 

 

Sorry... things like *|recenttopics|* that is given as an example. Is there a list with the codes like that for inserting into template? Or am I completely misunderstanding the example?

[HeadStand]

5 hours ago, Vegan Gaymer said:

Sorry... things like *|recenttopics|* that is given as an example. Is there a list with the codes like that for inserting into template? Or am I completely misunderstanding the example?

You make them. When you add content to the newsletter, you enter a key. The key is the variable name. Totally up to you. 

[Gabriel Torres]

Hi @HeadStand

I've just bought your app. We currently run a newsletter using a different software, and we want to integrate our newsletter functionality to IPS, so I guess your app is the right choice.

But I am having a hard time to understand its logic. It seems it was created based on the fact that the newsletters would be things like list of stuff already published on our website/forums. However, in our case, we run a newsletter with additional news (and ads) not found at our main website.

So I am having trouble understanding your app's main logic. It seems we need to create a "Newsletter" and then an "issue" for that newsletter everytime we want to send out a newsletter. As in our case the content of each issue is custom with no relation with the contents of our website, we need to have a WYSIWYG editor to add the text and format it, but I can't find this functionatily. There is a way to add a "custom template" for each issue, but that requires HTML editing.

Anyway, I guess my question is: how do I create custom newsletters with custom contents with no relationship with the contents of my website and with a WYSIWYG editor so I can add images and format the text.

I am also struggling to understand the peridiocity configuration as in our case, as each issue is unique and doesn't pull data from the database, what will happen.

Another thing, and this is more of a suggestion, is that here in our company another person currently runs the newsletter, and this person doesn't have access to the ACP. It would be great if an admin had a way to configure everything and add who could send out newsletters, and this person would only have access to the basics to send the newsletter, and not all the hardcore settings. This would lower the chances of a non-technical user messing things up.

I have many other questions, but let me just figure out the basics first!

Thank you in advance,

Gabriel.

[HeadStand]

14 hours ago, Gabriel Torres said:

But I am having a hard time to understand its logic. It seems it was created based on the fact that the newsletters would be things like list of stuff already published on our website/forums. However, in our case, we run a newsletter with additional news (and ads) not found at our main website.

 

In addition to content types like "Recent topics', "recent blog posts', etc, the newsletter also includes an option for "Manual Content". This allows you to put in anything you want. There are fields for title, author, and a WYSIWYG editor for the content. I believe that's what you're looking for.

14 hours ago, Gabriel Torres said:

I am also struggling to understand the peridiocity configuration as in our case, as each issue is unique and doesn't pull data from the database, what will happen.

 

In this case, you likely don't want any distribution interval, and you just want to use "Manual" instead (it should be one of the options in the dropdown - daily/weekly/every 2 weeks/monthly/annually/manual). When you use manual distribution, you schedule the newsletter to go out on a certain date, and it distributes only once, on that date. The next time you want to publish an issue, just change the "Next Distribution Date" and it will go out again at that time.

 

[Gabriel Torres]

5 hours ago, HeadStand said:

the newsletter also includes an option for "Manual Content". This allows you to put in anything you want. There are fields for title, author, and a WYSIWYG editor for the content. I believe that's what you're looking for.

Hi, @HeadStand thank you for your prompt support. But I am still struggling find where to add the manual content with an WYSIWYG editor. Here is what I am doing.

ACP > Community > Newsletters > Create New

I fill out all fields from the Properties and Distribution tabs.

In the Content tab, I enable "Manual Content Required." In this tab there are editors for the header and footer, and a field for me to pull a template for the newsletter. Perfect.

So far, so good.

Then I have to create the issue of my newsletter.

ACP > Community > Newsletters > Click on the newsletter I've just created > Create New

A popup window shows up. I select "Manual Content."

Then I get lost. There is no WYSIWYG editor. See the screenshot below.

If I enable "Use as default", an editor opens up, but it is related to "Articles," so I have no clue. (See screenshot.)

Thank you in advance.

PS: "Distribution times are calculated according to GMT." IMO it should use the date in the user's locale and convert automatically, just like it happens by default on IPS (e.g., on Pages).

Gabriel

 

 

[HeadStand]

On 4/28/2017 at 7:07 PM, Gabriel Torres said:

Hi, @HeadStand thank you for your prompt support. But I am still struggling find where to add the manual content with an WYSIWYG editor. Here is what I am doing.

ACP > Community > Newsletters > Create New

I fill out all fields from the Properties and Distribution tabs.

In the Content tab, I enable "Manual Content Required." In this tab there are editors for the header and footer, and a field for me to pull a template for the newsletter. Perfect.

So far, so good.

Then I have to create the issue of my newsletter.

ACP > Community > Newsletters > Click on the newsletter I've just created > Create New

A popup window shows up. I select "Manual Content."

Then I get lost. There is no WYSIWYG editor. See the screenshot below.

If I enable "Use as default", an editor opens up, but it is related to "Articles," so I have no clue. (See screenshot.)

Thank you in advance.

PS: "Distribution times are calculated according to GMT." IMO it should use the date in the user's locale and convert automatically, just like it happens by default on IPS (e.g., on Pages).

Gabriel

 

 

Ignore the "article" text. I think that's how it was named in my original version (created about 6 years ago) and it stuck. That is what you're looking for, though. 

[Gabriel Torres]

@HeadStand Thank you again for your prompt support. I am running a few tests here and I have a couple of questions at the moment:

1. What is the behavior for new users? Are they automatically subscribed to the newsletters?

2. Does you app respect the "Receive emails from the administrators?" setting when the user created his account?

I also would like to point out that the name of our newsletter is getting a line break in the management screen at the front-end, see screenshot. How could I fix that?

Thanks,

Gabriel.

[HeadStand]

3 minutes ago, Gabriel Torres said:

@HeadStand Thank you again for your prompt support. I am running a few tests here and I have a couple of questions at the moment:

1. What is the behavior for new users? Are they automatically subscribed to the newsletters?

2. Does you app respect the "Receive emails from the administrators?" setting when the user created his account?

I also would like to point out that the name of our newsletter is getting a line break in the management screen at the front-end, see screenshot. How could I fix that?

Thanks,

Gabriel.

1. yes, new members are automatically subscribed (assuming that the newsletter is configured to send to their group)

2. Yes.

I don't know what I can really do about the line break. I'm using the standard IPS form there, there's no special styling or formatting involved. Best I can do is change the form (and it's a code-level change, not something you can do yourself) to put the newsletter name above the toggle. 

[Gabriel Torres]

@HeadStand Thanks for the prompt support once again. No worries, I wanted to check if you were using a custom template for that form, it is all good, I will fix that myself by either shortening the name of the newsletter or increasing it so the line break doesn't look so ugly...

[Gabriel Torres]

@HeadStand

I've just hit another roadblock. I created a test newsletter and the newsletter is being sent with the "Subject" field set as the newsletter's title/name, not with the issue title/name. We need to send each issue with a different title (issue number + date). Please see what I am talking about in the attached screenshots. Please advise.

Gabriel.

[HeadStand]

3 minutes ago, Gabriel Torres said:

@HeadStand

I've just hit another roadblock. I created a test newsletter and the newsletter is being sent with the "Subject" field set as the newsletter's title/name, not with the issue title/name. We need to send each issue with a different title (issue number + date). Please see what I am talking about in the attached screenshots. Please advise.

Gabriel.

I'm afraid this isn't supported at the moment. I can add it to my list, but I have no ETA right now.

[Gabriel Torres]

@HeadStand This is a dealbreaker for us, as it makes no sense sending out newsletters all with the same title... I guess I could edit the source files to make this work the way we need?

[HeadStand]

Just now, Gabriel Torres said:

@HeadStand This is a dealbreaker for us, as it makes no sense sending out newsletters all with the same title... I guess I could edit the source files to make this work the way we need?

Let me see if I can get it done tomorrow. If I can't, I'll give you instructions to edit the source.

[Gabriel Torres]

Thanks! You are the best!

Another thing. I am adding the *|unsubscribe|* keyword to our footer, however it is not being replaced by the proper unsubscription link. See attached.

[HeadStand]

34 minutes ago, Gabriel Torres said:

Thanks! You are the best!

Another thing. I am adding the *|unsubscribe|* keyword to our footer, however it is not being replaced by the proper unsubscription link. See attached.

If you're using the "test distribution" button, the unsubscribe does not work there. It only gets replaced during an actual distribution.

[Gabriel Torres]

@HeadStand Thank you so much for your prompt support. It was really appreciated and shows what kind of person you are -- which is rare to find these days...

[Gabriel Torres]

@HeadStand I have a question about how the app works. As you know, I created a test issue to see how it works. Then, I created a second issue for the same newsletter, thinking that this second issue would be sent as a separate issue. However, the app merges the issues together and send them as a single newsletter. This doesn't make any sense, at least to me.

So I am really confused on how I am going to send different issues of my newsletter, as the option I have right now is to create the issue, sent it out, and then either edit or delete the issue to create a new one. I think it would be way better for the screen below to be a queue of issues. For instance, after the first issue on the top has been sent, it is either removed, moved to another place, archived, or flagged as sent (so it won't be sent again), and then at the next date/time of distribution, the next issue in the queue is sent. So each issue would be treated as separate issues, and not merged all together.

If you could clarify on why the app behaves the way it does I'd appreciate it, so I understand the logic behind the current design.

Thank you in advance.

 

Edited May 4, 2017 by Gabriel Torres