osCommerce Knowledge Base
Newsletter Manager | Last Update: 13th June, 2005 Article ID: 150 |
- Introduction
- Newsletter Manager
- Creating A Newsletter
- Sending A Newsletter
Introduction
The Newsletter Manager is a newsletter management system that sends emails to a targeted audience, namely the customers that have given their email address when creating an account. Two newsletter modules are installed by default. One is used for sending emails to customers who have selected to receive newsletters upon creating their user account (newsletter), and one for sending emails to customers who have selected to be notified of product updates (product_notification). Also, a generic email can be sent to customers.
Newsletter Manager
Figure 1 shows the Newsletter Manager listing page under the Admin>Tools>Newsletter Manager section.
Figure 1. Newsletter Manager listing page under the Admin>Tools>Newsletter Manager section.
To edit the details or send a newsletter click on one of the editing tools under the "Action" column next to the "Title" being edited. To remove click the blue trashcan.
Creating A Newsletter
Figure 2 shows the Newsletter Manager listing page under the Admin>Tools>Newsletter Manager>Edit section.
Figure 2. Newsletter Manager listing page under the Admin>Tools>Newsletter Manager>Edit section.
A newsletter can be created by selecting which audience to use,, and by saving the content of the email. Once a newsletter has been created, it can be previewed online before it is sent out to check for errors and omissions.
Sending A Newsletter
Figure 3 shows the Newsletter Manager listing page under the Admin>Tools>Newsletter Manager>Send section.
Figure 3. Newsletter Manager listing page under the Admin>Tools>Newsletter Manager>Send section.
Before a newsletter can be sent, the newsletter entry needs to be locked to show other administrators, who may be online at the time, that a newsletter is pending to be delivered. When locked, a newsletter can be edited, deleted, previewed, sent, or unlocked. This will prevent unsaved changes from being missed during the mailing. Once a newsletter entry has been locked, it can be sent to the targeted audience via the chosen newsletter module (Newsletter, Product Notification or generic Email).
Depending on the newsletter module chosen, the target audience may need to be defined before the newsletter can be sent. This is not required for the newsletter module as the target audience is already known (customers who have chosen to receive newsletters), however the target audience needs to be defined for the product_notification module where the administrator must select which products the newsletter is in relation to so that customers who have selected to be notified over certain product updates can receive the newsletter.
Once the target audience has been defined, a preview of the newsletter is shown for last minute changes to be performed, as well as the number of customers who will receive the newsletter. The newsletter can then be sent when it has been confirmed via the online preview of the content.